Women in politics should address gender issues: NGO
Low female literacy rate, gender gap, low life expectancy and a range of other women-centric issues which are facing India can only be addressed if more women enter politics, said an NGO here Monday.
Working thus towards the agenda of encouraging more women from the grassroots level to enter the political domain, the Centre for Social Research (CSR), an NGO, organised a workshop for aspiring women politicians in the capital.
Ranjana Kumari, chairperson of the NGO, said: "Major discrepancies in the sex ratio, literacy rate and life expectancy rate of women can only be addressed when there are more women in decision making bodies".
"This workshop that we organised, therefore, brought together 60 aspiring women politicians, to know more about the Indian Constitution, political set up, governance, gender issues, women in politics and the issue of 33 percent reservation for women in parliament," she added.
The workshop was a part of the CSR's United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) project which aims at addressing the gender gap as well as the challenges faced by women in Indian politics.
"Under this project, the CSR is training nearly 1,000 women leaders to contest in state and national elections. At the end of the project, political parties will be made aware about this pool of trained women," Kumari said.
"Key political parties shall be encouraged to ensure voluntary quotas within parties to ensure gender balance. They will also be sensitized and lobbied with to ensure a smooth passage of the Women's Reservation Bill," she added.
Among the women who had been trained in the CSR project was Maya, a village leader from Uttar Pradesh.
Thirty-five years of age, Maya had studied till class seven in her village in Uttar Pradesh before she was married off at a tender age of 12.
"Life was not easy for me. Even after becoming the panchayat leader, I had to face a lot of challenges. This training programme however made me aware of my rights and gave me the confidence to implement my duties," she said.(IANS)
Showing posts with label gender equality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gender equality. Show all posts
Gender equality in Spain's Political Field
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was elected Prime Minister of Spain i
n April 2004. He was born on 4th august 1960 in Valladolid and graduated in Law at the University of Leon. He began his career as a lecturer in Constitutional Law at the same university as well. He joined the Spanish socialist workers’ party in 1979 after being inspired by Felipe Gonzalez speech at a political rally. Although his first name is Rodriguez he is often referred to as ‘Zapatero’ in Spain.
n April 2004. He was born on 4th august 1960 in Valladolid and graduated in Law at the University of Leon. He began his career as a lecturer in Constitutional Law at the same university as well. He joined the Spanish socialist workers’ party in 1979 after being inspired by Felipe Gonzalez speech at a political rally. Although his first name is Rodriguez he is often referred to as ‘Zapatero’ in Spain. He has a strong commitment towards gender equality. This is evidently displayed as he appointed an equal number of men and women to cabinet positions. When he was re-elected Prime Minister for the second term in March 2008 he appointed more women than men to cabinet positions.
In addition he created a new Equality Ministry to ensure fairness in the workplace and combat against domestic violence. In his first term, he passed a law against domestic violence, made gay marriages legal, eased divorce laws and required political parties to practice gender parity.
The president of Madrid based Women’s foundation conveyed that “it serves a pedagogic function: it shows that women can be and are everywhere.” Even maternity leave is extended to 4 months and paternity leave to 15 days. This implies that the gender roles of men and women are constantly evolving.
He appointed Carme 
Chacon Piqueras as Spain’s Defense minister. She is not only the first female to hold that position but she was also seven months pregnant when she was appointed. She did indeed inspect Spain’s troops on her first day at office with a round belly. Despite her lack in military training Zapatero appointed her as he felt that he would be making a kinder and gentler statement about their armed forces. This is due to the fact that 750 troops are deployed in Afghanistan and support from the Spanish population is weak.
Chacon Piqueras as Spain’s Defense minister. She is not only the first female to hold that position but she was also seven months pregnant when she was appointed. She did indeed inspect Spain’s troops on her first day at office with a round belly. Despite her lack in military training Zapatero appointed her as he felt that he would be making a kinder and gentler statement about their armed forces. This is due to the fact that 750 troops are deployed in Afghanistan and support from the Spanish population is weak.Therefore it depicts that women are rising in the political field in Spain. Women are treated and given equal opportunities to men. Hence there is gender equality. Also female politicians are believed to have a softer and gentler side towards politics and policies implemented as seen by appointing Carme Chacon. In conclusion we see that women are empowered and are equal to men.
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