Gender and Constitution Building - Women for Women International

member of the House of Representatives nominated
by the other women members of the House and appointed
by the president. 23 A Caretaker Bougainville
Executive Council, which will function as an Executive
until appointments to the permanent Executive Council
are made, is also to include a woman member of the
House of Representatives. A Senior Appointment Committee
will have one female representative, whose selection
will be determined by law. There are no special
provisions for inclusion of women in the Judicial branch,
nor is there language for the creation of a Ministry of
Women’s Affairs.
Quotas for Women: Not Enough
The Bougainville Constitution’s guarantees of political
participation by women represent a positive
change; the Constitution of Papua New Guinea, of
which Bougainville remains a part, mentions women
only once, calling for “equal participation by women
citizens in all political, economic, social and religious
activities.” 24 The approved Constitution for the Autonomous
Region guarantees women three out of 39 total
seats in the legislature. While a step forward, especially
considering early drafts of the Constitution guaranteed
only one female representative, this is still a small percentage,
and one falling far short of gender equality
throughout the government. 25 Bougainville’s quota also
falls short of the UN goal of 30 percent participation
by women. 26
In some instances, quotas for women like those included
in Bougainville’s Constitution are able to promote
representation in excess of the minimum required;
in others they function more as window dressing than
true inclusivity. Bougainville’s guarantee of less than
eight percent of women in the legislature is not a very
aggressive quota. To ensure women’s influence, both
politically and in other realms, and to break down gender
barriers, more than token representation is needed.
Otherwise, quotas risk confining women’s participation
to representation of only women’s issues and limiting
their political opportunity. For instance, the requisite
three women on the Bougainville Constitutional Commission
were nominated to represent women’s interests
in their three regions; none were chosen to represent
any other interests, groups or organizations.
Furthermore, representation does not guarantee
influence. Leaving aside whether women, in fact, will
prove to be the best advocates for women’s rights, gender
awareness for both men and women decision-makers
is necessary to advance the position of women. And
those with such awareness must wield real power. 27
It is apparent that Bougainville as a whole can benefit
if women can move beyond these quotas politically
and gain influence in all aspects of society. Perhaps
Bougainville’s flourishing NGO community, of which
women are a large part, bodes well for the continued
involvement of women in society and may translate into
their increased involvement in political life.
Land Issues and Rights
Land ownership, a traditional source of women’s
power, is also integral to women’s broader influence in
Bougainville. 28 All of Papua New Guinea, including
Bougainville, is undergoing land reforms that impact the
country’s development and traditions. The majority of
PNG’s population survives on subsistence farming, curtailing
the availability of land for other uses. Pressures
for land to be made available for cultivation or mining
are forcing an ongoing, often disruptive, transition to a
cash economy, further contributing to land shortages. 29
PNG’s people are closely tied to and dependent on
their land, both for livelihood and as a means of preserving
kinship ties and community structure. For
women in Bougainville, land is especially important because
of the high concentration of matrilineal tribes in
which land is passed down from mother to daughter. In
Papua New Guinea as a whole, only three percent of
the land is alienated, while 97 percent remains under
customary control according to unwritten laws and traditions
and the population is generally wary about governmental
control of customary land. 30 Matrilineal inheritance
could diminish with formalization of land
ownership because formal registration tends to result in
men holding the official land title. 31
Bougainville’s Constitution specifically addresses
these contentious issues. It mandates that the new government
develop a land policy that “provide[s] for the
protection of the customary powers of heads of matrilineal
and patrilineal societies and of customary owners
in relation to customary land.” 32 The government is also
to recognize traditional systems of government, the roles
and responsibilities of traditional chiefs and other traditional
leaders and of the clan system “wherever practicable
and possible.” 33 Finally, in managing and preventing
damage to natural resources, the government of
Bougainville is required to direct the laws and policies
toward the recognition of customary rights. 34
These provisions outline what could be an equitable
land policy if interpreted and implemented in a way that
is sympathetic to women, but that interpretation will be
impacted by tensions between respect for indigenous
populations and their customs and traditions and the
CRITICAL HALF 23