Global Policy Forum

By Thalif Deen

UN - Three Nordic countries -Sweden, Denmark and Norway - have the largest percentage of women parliamentarians in the national assemblies of eastern and western Europe, according to a survey conducted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). Of the 349 seats in the Swedish parliament, 149 (or about 42.7 percent) are held by women. In Denmark, the percentage is 37.4 (67 out of 179 seats) and in Norway 36.4 (60 out of 165). The only other countries with more than 30 percent of women in their parliaments are the Netherlands (36 percent), Finland (33.5 percent) and Germany 30.9 percent).

In contrast, an IPU survey found that Moldova, Bosnia Herzegovina, Belarus and Albania do not have a single woman in their all-male national assemblies - which have as many as 155 seats. A 113-page study by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) released Monday says that one of the biggest obstacles facing countries in Eastern Europe and former Soviet republics is the ''marked increase in gender equality in the political, economic and social spheres.'' ''Paradoxically, the emergence of more democratic societies and the growth of civil society have led, not to greater participation of women in decision-making, but to their greater exclusion from public life,'' the report points out.

Although women have been very active in the initial stages of the democratisation of Eastern Europe and former Soviet republics, ''their participation has been alarmingly curtailed after the first democratic elections.'' However, says the study titled ''Transition 1999'', the initial shock of transition has caused enough alarms among governments and civil society for the restoration of special measures to address the issue of shrinking visibility of women in public life.

Both through lobbying efforts of women's organisations and non- governmen-tal organisations (NGOs), the number of women in new parlia-ments and cabinets has seen a slight increase since 1998. The transition has opened up many opportunities for women, the study argues, but these opportunities will be turned into real positive changes only if the goals of gender equality are not given secondary importance but are directly taken into account when priorities for government policies are formulated.

A review of legislation in countries of the former Communist bloc does not show any explicit discrimination against women. In fact, most constitutions guarantee equal rights for men and women and bar discrimination at all levels in all spheres. ''However, the reality behind the laws is a systematic and rapid deterioration of women's status, which, if not redressed, will threaten the very basis for the political legitimacy of govern-ments, '' the study notes.

The report calls for special measures to address the growing discrimination against women in societies influenced by the rapidly advanced un-regulated market economy. At least four countries - Lithuania, Moldova, Poland and Russia - have drafted equal opportunities legislation. According to the study, the main reasons for the increase in gender inequalities include both general problems and problems specific to the region based on the Soviet legacy and the continuing influence of traditional stereotypes and patriarchal values.

In the Soviet system, women had gained a relatively high level of partici-pation in public life, but these achievements remained arti-ficial because they were not grounded in the political culture of the countries. Women were appointed in a top-down manner, by decree and on the basis of quotas. ''When these quotas were removed and more democratic political forms were introduced, women's gains were quickly eroded.''

In Central Asia, for example, the proportion of women deputies in parliament fell from an average of 30 percent to 5.0 percent. In Azerbaijan, women hold only 3.0 percent of ministerial posi-tions and 6.0 percent of the positions of executive bodies at the municipal level. The study says that the economic dynamics of transition has also led to a greater work burden on women. They have been forced to devote more time to reproductive labour in the household because of such factors as the closing of schools, preschool institutions, healthcare clinics and facilities for the elderly.

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