UN-CSW, New York 27 February-10 March 2005

Day: Wednesday 1 March
13.15-14.45: Nordic seminar – address
Ministry of Children and Equality, Norway

DRAFT 28-02-2006
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STATEMENT OF NORWAY
KARITA BEKKEMELLEM, Minister of Children and Equality

Political parties – a route to power.

I am delighted to have this opportunity to say a few words about the role of women in politics. And what it means for women and society as a whole.

There are many benefits to having equal representation of each gender in politics – one of them is that it creates role models for women in other parts of society, which is highly needed.

We have made good progress in Norway in terms of women in politics. Today Norwegian women are an integral part of the political decision-making process. Following the general election in 2005, 36 per cent of the members of the Norwegian parliament and 47 per cent of government ministers are women.

Having both genders equally represented in all decision-making processes is crucial for democracy. If we neglect to make use of half of the population’s

Competence we will not have a full and fair democracy. We might not make the right decisions on behalf of the people who elected us – half of them are women!

So how do we reach our goal of equal representation in politics?

I think there are many issues we must address at the same time.

First of all the political parties have to understand that equality between men and women is positive culturally, economically and politically. They need to develop a strategy to reach these goals. A strategy that gives inspiration and is possible to comply by in everyday life.

We must create a climate for women in our political organisations and our political bodies. The political scene has been a male arena for such a long time that it does not consider what women needs.

One way is to create women’s network or women’s organisations within the political parties.

Within our political organisations we can give women confidence trough political training in an environment that is safe. That means sometimes arranging events just for women.

We know that women’s leisure time almost always is combined with their family time. That means that we have to start thinking about new forms of political meetings – very few women will choose to spend

4-5 hours in the evening at a political meeting if they also have commitment at home.

Do we really need 2 feet of documents for every meeting we attend? It takes time to read all these papers – time few women have!

Finally one of the most effective ways to make sure women have a place in politics is with the use of quotas by the political parties. In Norway political parties has used this since 1975. This has also led to the fact that since 1989 the different governments have adapted the unwritten rule of ensuring that at least 40 % of the ministers are women.

I am proud to say that my own party, the Labour Party, has gone one step further. Last year the party congress passed a gender parity resolution that will ensure that half of the appointed or elected representatives of the organisation are women.

But quotas will not solve anything alone – I think we need to do all of this at the same time!

Equal representation just in numbers is not enough - we need equal representation also when it comes to different political fields.

If we create political systems where the women only handle areas concerning children, youth and health -while men handle the economy, defence and energy, we will have new democratic problems and conflicts. Both male and female politicians must choose differently!

The Nordic report (The Nordic Region as a Global Winner Region (INFO 2005:217) shows that gender equality and the input of both women and men are needed to create an innovative and sustainable society.

The integration of women into politics has led to major changes in Norway’s political culture and has proved to be of great importance. This experience gives reason for optimism.

I have been in politics for a long time and I know that it exists many forms of discriminations in this area.

We must fight these views and establish a common understanding that equality is the only way to real democracy and development in all parts of society!

Thank you for your attention.