PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

A representative parliament I 33
case of Cameroon. ‘The rules of procedure of the National Assembly of
Cameroon stipulate that every deputy must be a member of at least one and
not more than two committees. Pursuant to judicious consultations, therefore,
there is at least one woman on each committee. Two out of six general
committees are chaired by women.’
As a more wide-ranging initiative, some parliaments have established
gender equality committees, with a brief to promote gender equality in society
as a whole. These committees usually have equal membership from men and
women members, as in France, and some also take on the responsibility of
keeping parliament’s own procedures under review from a gender perspective.
The Swedish Parliament has established a ‘Working Party on Gender Equality
in the Riksdag’. Its report of November 2004 concluded with fifteen
proposals for a Riksdag with gender equality, of which the main ones are
given below.
■ We propose that a programme of equality is drawn up for every mandate
period with the aim of promoting equality in the Riksdag.
■ The Riksdag Board approves the programme for every mandate period.
A civil servant is given the operative responsibility of implementing the
programme.
■ We propose that regular seminars are arranged for committee bureaux to
discuss working methods, the chair’s role, meeting culture, etc.
■ The Riksdag’s homepage should be developed with regard to gender-segregated
statistical information.
■ There should be a professional support function for members who feel they
are subjected to negative treatment.
■ The introduction for new members is developed to include more informal
knowledge of the Riksdag.
■ Investigations set up within the Riksdag should report on any consequences
for equality.
■ The committees’ work planning should take into consideration the
feasibility for members to combine their Riksdag assignment with parenthood.
Such initiatives are typically the product of pressure on the part of women
members. In several parliaments they have established cross-party women’s
caucuses to promote such changes, as well as to review forthcoming parliamentary
business from a gender perspective.