The 20th century became the time of active
social–and–political and economic changes, which transformed many social
paradigms and changed the world political landscape. The gender gap, the
successfulness of which is defined, first of all, by the fact of giving
political rights and liberties to women, forming gender strategies directed at
the widening of political opportunities, has become one of the most impressive
results in the history of social development.
The development of women politization started in the 19th century since the time of their participation in the solutions of key political and social–and–economic problems in a number of states, for example, slavery abolishment in the USA, work conditions improvement in England, national liberation movements and so on. The experience of such a political activity had become the basis for early feminist movements formation, the programs of which included issues of giving women rights in the sphere of citizenship, voting, access to education and public health, which were primordially men’s prerogative.
In
spite of the fact that the issue of gender equality was first raised in the
middle of the 19th century, its solution took a few decades. Thus,
American feminists’ call for giving the right to vote to women, reflected in a
“Declaration of Feelings” (1848), where it was claimed that women and men should be
treated equally. It also demanded the right to vote, gained finally in 1920 in
the United States, and years later in other regions of the world.
Analogous
demands were also put forward in other states, whose political system included
representative institutions. As mentioned above, for the first time in the world
political history women’s right to vote was given in New Zealand and Australia
in 1893. Two forms of right to vote –
to elect and be elected – for the first time were simultaneously given in
Finland in 1906.
High effectiveness of the feminist movement led to such a situation when
the right to elect and be elected was achieved last century practically in all
countries with the representative political system: in England (1906), Norway
(1907), Denmark (1915), Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom (1918), the USA
(1920), France (1944), Italy (1945), Switzerland (1971).
Legislative
consolidation of women’s civic status has become the result of long fight for
gender equality. Primarily the receipt of political rights was spread only on
women, meeting certain criteria (land–ownership, ethnical belonging, etc.). In
developing countries, which obtained political independence, women got the right
to vote simultaneously with gaining national sovereignty.
In
opinion of Byelorussian political scientist Irina Chikalova,
“… the first demands that were included into the political agenda and
received universal acknowledgement, were the vote, equality in education and
employment relations in the part of payment, status and opportunities. The
second group of demands is traditionally considered as related exclusively to
women, though the effect of their advancement directly influences men: child’s
care vacation, day nursery, children’s allowances. The third group encloses
reproductive rights (abortion, contraception, family planning problems
consultations) and has relation to the biological functions of women and men…
Family violence, problems at workplace connected with sexual harassment,
stalkerism have also become the part of political agenda” /70/.
Having
realized the main demands on a suffrage stage, the world feminism concentrated
itself on the creation of women’s further political advancement mechanisms,
giving opportunities in decision-making sphere and including them into the
higher organs of government.
The
world history of parliamentarism shows that after the World War II “out of 189
countries where there whenever the elective organ existed only in 38 countries
woman was elected to the leading positions in the parliament itself and in one
of its chambers. In 1927 and 1932 woman was elected to the position of a
Bundestag chairperson in the parliament of Austria, in 1950- in Denmark. Till
1960s women did not occupy high parliamentary positions in the countries with
representative electoral system. It is noteworthy to say that in the mentioned
38 countries, where women occupied high positions in the parliament, the
presidential position was more often given to the Upper Chamber, than to the
Lower one: 58% versus 42% of cases. Besides, 36% of senators were appointed but
not elected in a democratic way” /71/.
Five
main arguments for women’s more active participation in movement management
are being outlined in the western political research works. These arguments are
based on that the conception of democracy consists of the following components:
egalitarianism, gender equality, political system legitimacy ground; differences
in interests; new view on the policy conception and its focus; effective use of
human resources /72/.
Methods
of political advancement depend on what access limits are established within the
frame of the given political system. In general, political system means the form
of organization of political, social, judicial and other spheres of modern
society life, reflects spectrum of circulating values and characterizes
political formations: parties, governments, political culture, etc. Political
system carries out a number of functions, connected with the social development
strategy definition, resource mobilization, society consolidation on the basis
of common goals and values.
Depending
on the character of political regime totalitarian, authoritarian and democratic
political systems are singled out. Other typologies based on the signs of
readiness and ability of outside innovation perception pick out open and closed
political systems.
In
accordance with the gender analysis political systems can be divided into
balanced and non-balanced in gender relation, which are in their turn divided
into really and nominally effective (or progressive).
As
the world experience shows priorities, principles and mechanisms of gender
policy realization in the conditions of different political regimes are to a
great extent different; this is conditioned by different system purposefulness
on the national and on the international level as well.
The
processes of women ‘s stirring up and society political life involvement are
characterized by multilevel tendency, where:
A. High level includes processes of
world consolidation in the gender equality problem solution (UN, international
organizations’ and funds’ activities on gender equality maintenance,
women’s status improvement, elimination of discrimination against women,
etc.).
Cardinal
restructuring of social relations is much connected with the creation of world
approaches to gender policy, which is reflected by the chronology of
international solution development of gender problems:
1945
- Creation of the United Nations Organization and including the issue of men’s
and women’s equality (as inalienable condition of women’s rights observance)
into its charter.
Primarily,
out of 189 United Nations members, “only in 30 states women had equal right to
vote and could manage public office” /73/.
1975
– Proclamation of the Women’s International Year, the First World Conference
on Women, held in Mexico, at which the problems of discrimination elimination
mechanisms, women’s integration into the processes of social development and
peacemaking were discussed.
1976-1985-
proclamation of this period by the UN as the Decade for Women under the motto:
“Equality, Development and Peace”.
1979 – adoption by the UN General Assembly of the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) – one of basic program documents on the equality issue. In an internationally legal form it defined principles and measures directed at provision of equal rights for all the women, called upon States parties to take "all appropriate measures, including legislation, to ensure the full development and advancement of women, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men" (article 3). States parties are therefore obliged to work towards the modification of social and cultural patterns of individual conduct in order to eliminate "prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women" (article 5).
1980-
the Second World Conference on Women held in Copenhagen, where the equality
issues are comprised by the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women were discussed.
1985
– the third convention, remarkable for the world feminism, held in Nairobi,
the
strategies of which were accepted by 157 states. There goals were brought
forward in the “Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women
for the period of 1986 till 2000” – Equality, Development and Peace with the
equality considered as not only legal concept, but as equality of women’s
rights and opportunities to participate in the development process as an active
working force, directly connected with the task of all–round social and
economic development, and as a basis of the whole society progress achievement.
1995 – the Fourth World
Conference on Women, held in Beijing, where the Platform for Actions (Beijing
Declaration) was adopted. The Beijing Declaration, with equality, development and
peace as its fundamental theme, affirmed progress made by the international
community in raising the status of women and identified existing problems. It
reiterated the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United
Nations and dealt with issues such as poverty, health care, education and
violence against women that were of special concern to developing
countries. The declaration called on the international community to adopt
immediate action for the early attainment of the goals outlined in the Nairobi
Strategies. It also called for mobilizing sufficient resources at both
national and international level to implement the Platform of Action and
particularly providing additional fund to developing countries to
help them enhance the status of women.
The
Human Development Report (1995), the theme of which was devoted to the
“revolution in the interests of men’s and women’s equality”, was
prepared under the auspices of the UN Program of Development.
2000
– UN General Assembly special session “Women – 2000: for equality,
development and peace in the XXI century” which is also known as
“Beijing+5”. It
concentrated attention on the consideration of successful experience examples,
positive changes, lessons taught and on the obstacles and key problems analysis
as well. Further steps and initiatives on gender equality achievement in the new
millennium were outlined /74/.
Mechanisms
of gender misbalance equalizing are contained in the pack of international
documents, including the United Nations Organization Charter, Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, Convention on Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women, Beijing Platform for Actions, which confirm the
principle of men’s and women’s equality in the sphere of management and
decision-making. In different countries they stimulated working out of the
conceptual approaches, strategy and tactics of state policy, national mechanisms
creation, monitoring of accepted current and long – term programs realization.
As
the analysis of the European Union countries’ state policy shows the most
significant changes in the approaches to the women’s problem solution, to the
increase of their role in a society are connected with the processes of
collective social planning in order to:
a)
defend social initiatives from the destructive influence of bureaucracy. The EU
Council of Ministers is recommended to provide conditions for the fair
distribution of leading positions between men and women in all the EU
structures;
b)
guarantee the effectiveness of realization of EU program of actions on the
national and local levels through local institutions which would be able to
provide men’s and women’s participation in the process of social
transformation on an equal basis. Governments – EU members are expected
constructive cooperation in this sphere;
c)
provide such conditions at which political decisions and changes would be
coordinated with the interests of all the citizens without any discrimination on
the basis of gender /75/.
Acceptance
by the majority of countries of the international programs items, initiated by
the UN, led to that in 1970s-1980s cardinal restructuring of gender relations
took place in the world.
In
western states in this period the process of conceptual comprehension of social
reality is starting, the proving unsatisfaction of traditional approaches to
women’s problems solution is revealed.
In
Lerner Max’s opinion “five changes, so cardinal that they are sometimes
characterized as revolution, took place in the mid of 1960s in the USA and other
developed countries in the women’s status and way of life. Suffragist
revolution was followed by sexual, which in its turn was followed by revolution
in behavior, further – kitchen revolution and at last revolution at workplace,
which changed the character of work force and the role of woman in economics”
/76/.
Thanks
to new gender paradigm of development, practical realization of which is
illustrated by international experience examples, gender gap took place in the
sphere of not only social–and–economic relations, but in political branches
as well, where traditionalism manifested itself in exclusive monopolization of
men.
According
to the UN review research data about human development, held in 1995 (see
appendix B), in average:
-women
in developing countries were presented: in parliament - 10%, in ministry offices – 5%;
-in
industrially developed countries: in parliament – 12%, in ministry
offices – 8%.
The
portion of women in national parliaments is 30% and higher only in a few
countries: Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Netherlands and
South Africa. In a majority of world regions this data is quite different. Thus,
in Africa women occupy 30% of seats in South African Republic, while their
portion in Ethiopia and Togo does not exceed 2%. Analogous variation in indexes
exists in the countries of Asia and Pacific Ocean region and in Latin America
and Caribbean basin as well. In Western Europe and other developed countries it
is even more great: from Sweden, which is the only country having achieved
equality in the number of men and women in national parliament to Greece (the
portion of women there is 6%). According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union data
on the 1st of July 2001 the portion of women in parliaments of world is
distributed in the following way (see appendix G).
Significant
variation within the regions depends to a great extent on differences in voting
systems. In some countries the number of seats occupied by women in parliament
is limited by the constitutions of these countries. Other political parties can
fix quota or proportions for women – candidates at the elections /77/.
The
comparison of different countries is found difficult because of the following:
-representatives
of legislative structures can have
insignificant authorities in decision-making process because of the control on
the side of political parties or executive branch of power;
-women
in organs of power can belong to a definite social group and follow the policy
profitable only for their own group, but not for the majority of women;
-women
in organs of power are not able to change the existing norms because
functionaries do not understand how the first ones place women in an unfavorable
position.
In
relation to the increase of women’s political representation, in the opinion
of Russian political scientist Nadezhda Shvedova, “Three main factors promoted
general increase of women’s political representation in the high level of
legislative branch of power in the so-called democracy settled countries:
-the
presence of realized political will which is expressed in that the aim of
increase of women – candidates in parliaments, elected according to
proportional voting system (political party quota) is put forward as the
priority of party policy;
-the
existence of laws, demanding correspondence of gender ratio in the party lists
of candidates to the ratio of gender in the country;
-
change of electoral system from single-mandate (majoritarian) to proportional
representation” /78/.
B. Low level is formed by local
intranational actions and transformations (gender problem inclusion into the
sphere of state policy, mechanisms of political recruiting, development of local
feminist movement, creation of different forms of political participation,
peculiarities of women political representation regulations, etc.).
Peculiarities,
forms and mechanisms of political representation are determined by many factors,
which are in the most general view can be joined in the following groups:
-connected with the general characteristics of dominant type of
political system and peculiarities of political processes regulation mechanisms.
This group is correlated with the mechanisms of state structuring and represent
the first (high) level of political representation coordination;
-conditioned by the degree of civic society development, which are
characterized by the level of political culture, electoral behavior and social
initiatives. This group creates the second (low) level of political
representation formation.
The
division of political recruiting mechanisms into two blocks is expedient at this
stage of analysis:
The first – mechanisms of involvement
(related to the high level of political representation coordination) worked out
and implemented by the state (type and principles of voting system, form of
party system, measures of women’s advancement into representative and
directive organs (quota, percentage threshold) and others.
The second – mechanisms of participation
(formed by the low level of political representation formation)
actions of which are
initiated by the civic society itself (civic society dynamism, level of
political culture, forms of political activities, personal interest, initiative
and etc.).
In
our opinion, mechanisms of involvement
related to the state prerogative, can be divided into the following:
1. Legislative – normative
(existence of adequate, gender balanced legislative basis, working out the new
generation of laws, directed at leveling gender balance in the society, etc.).
For
example, as a result of actualization of women’s status and role in a society
special laws on equality of rights and opportunities for men
and women which defined norms, regulating equality of opportunities at
hiring and dismissing, awarding for the work, professional training, career
advancement, family duties distribution were adopted in a number of European
states: in England (1975), Iceland (1976), Denmark (1978), Austria and Norway
(1979), Sweden and Germany (1980), Finland (1987), France (1993) and others.
On
the post – soviet area laws on gender equality were accepted in 1998 in
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Besides, in countries of North Europe and
Lithuania there exists an Ombudsmen Institute on gender equality realization.
2.
Administrative – political, or formally political (provision of practical
equality of rights and opportunities for men and women, creation of favorable
regime for women’s political advancement in all the levels of power, ability
of electoral and party system to propose women-politicians as candidates and
promote their entering the parliament, etc.).
One
of the significant factors in this plan is the type of electoral system:
majoritarian, proportional or mixed. The most spread in political practice is
proportional representation. Gender analysis of this system of elections showed
its most effectiveness for political representation of women. In opinion of
political scientists, “as in 1970s so in 1990s women representation in
parliaments on the basis of electoral system by the party type (proportional
representation) in the largest and middle size countries of settled democracy
was everywhere higher than in those countries, where the prevailed form or type
of electoral system was single-mandate (majoritarian)” /79/.
Till 1970 the advantages for women in conditions of proportional system were not great and composed no more than 2% of difference in comparison with the single-mandate majoritarian system countries. But starting with 1970s till present time sharp increase of women representation in proportional system took place. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union research “in mixed electoral systems women representation is one third less in comparison with their representation in countries with proportional electoral system (those countries were compared where women occupy 15% and more in parliament) ” /80/.
Investigating peculiarities of electoral systems, political scientists
stress the following advantages of proportional system for women representation.
First. The magnitude of electoral
district (number of seats allotted to the district) in conditions of electoral
– representative system increases and that influences the magnitude of parties
(number of seats which they win in the district). These indexes are of especial
importance as the party strategy formation in candidates selection is carried
out taking into account the magnitude of districts and parties.
Party
gatekeepers are guided by different incentives depending on the type of
electoral system. If the magnitude of district is equal to one unit, which is
characteristic to majoritarian system, a party can win no more than one seat.
Besides, it has no possibility to balance its party bulletin; this causes direct
competition and political fight between woman and man. Often a party nominating
a woman is obliged to decline a candidate – man from this district.
If
the magnitude of district increases, chances of the party to win a few seats
increase as well. In this case it can balance its electoral ballot. Electors
divide the party list into slots according to different internal party
interests.
Some
reasons exist for such a balance:
First
of all, party gatekeepers consider it as a means of voters’ attraction: the
work of a few candidates with separate sections of voters is much more effective
than the work of one candidate with mass public. Candidates
who have got different electoral support, can attract more attention of
the voters to their party. In this aspect women – candidates also can bring
use to their party not demanding the decline of men as it happens in
majoritarian systems. Moreover party can lose part of voters when proposing only
men.
The
second reason for balance is a fact that within a party the balance of party
list is often considered as an act of equality. Different fractions in a party
state that it will be fair to include those representatives into a party list of
candidates who have real chance to win. On this basis especially active women
branches of party can also demand the inclusion of their representatives in the
ballots.
The
third reason of party list balance is the division of potential seats among
different fractions in order to support peace and secure permanent support of
different groups within a party.
Secondly, the advantage of proportional
systems for women in the most is often a manifestation of a factor of contagion
(in political science contagion is considered as a process in which parties
accept the policy suggested by other parties) as compared with majoritarian
system.
It
is set up that in conditions of exactly proportional system main parties quicker
come to the nomination of women when it has already been done by any other
party. The latest promotes this process because of the lower cost of election
participation than in majoritarian system. That is, if a party has a few seats,
there is an opportunity then to
allotting a seat for women nomination
in contradistinction to majoritarian system where a party proposed only one
candidate.
In
proportional systems inclusion of women into a party list does not give large
increase of votes and this increases the opportunities of a party to win more
seats.
An example of Norway can serve as a proof of contagion effect.
The labor party there increased the number of women in party lists in
those districts where New Democratic party introduced quota for women
representation for the first time. In
Canada there was no such an effect in spite of the same actions of the party.
That is, contagion is effective in countries with proportional but not
majoritarian system.
But
proportional systems have their own peculiarities, which can assist or,
vice versa, cause difficulties to women representation. The most important
factors, defining the form of proportional system, are as follows:
-
district magnitude;
-
electoral threshold;
-
type of electoral ballots (open and closed).
In the worked out rules of elections organization, women were given
support as by large district magnitudes so by electoral threshold which
influences the medium magnitude of parties.
There exist strict positive correlation between the magnitude of a
district and medium party magnitude. With the increase of seats in a district a
party increases its party lists and wins more seats.
When
electoral systems are projected, the effect of compromise between voters
representation, voting for small parties, and the increasing legislature
representation in the form of larger amount of women from large parties is taken
into account. To check this hypothesis data from Costa Rica and Sweden were
investigated. Both of these countries have electoral threshold.
Political
modeling shows that threshold has an exactly predicted effect on women
representation increase. Women will get an advantage if the whole country has
become one electoral district, but then the
electoral threshold serves as a significant addition to it. In many
countries regional representation is considered important, that’s why
districts there are cut by territorial (geographical) principle. This system is
equal to that one which was used in Netherlands with a high percentage of women
representation (31, 3%) and in Israel (with low – 7,5%).
As
their experience shows, electoral systems cannot by themselves guarantee high
level of representation. Israel practice shows that high electoral threshold
(less percentage of votes allowing parties to get seats in parliament) is very
important for the increase of women’s chances.
Electoral
threshold in Israel is only 1,5%. Low threshold encourages creation of
mini-parties, which often get 1-2 seats. Everywhere parties strive to propose
men-leaders who by all means put themselves in the first places in party lists.
Women are put somewhere in the middle or at the end of lists when parties try to
secure balance. If party wins 1-2 seats women don’t get them even if they are
in a party list.
The
other characteristic, distinguishing proportional systems from one another, is
the use of closed party lists by parties, in which the rank of candidates’
turn and open electoral ballots, where electors are able to influence the
election of this or that candidate, are defined.
Researchers
suppose that closed ballots are more favorable for women. For example, in Norway
where during the last 25 years open electoral ballots were used at the elections
to local organs of power, the number of elected women decreased from year to
year. That is, while some voters gave preference to women or moved them to more
profitable positions in bulletins, the others declined them at all. In this case
negative effect blocked constantly the positive one.
It
is important to point out that if such an effect revealed itself in Norway, the
country with high reputation in the issues of gender equality, then in the
countries with traditional view on the role of woman such an effect increases
repeatedly.
So,
the first obstacle is a reverse effect of the use of privileged elections for
women; the second - it allows to take responsibility from parties for the
results of elections which are, as a matter of fact, lay on the conscience of
voters, who have made individual choice. If the sum of votes does not allow
women to enter the parliament all the responsibility lays exactly on them.
An
opposite picture is observed in practice of closed electoral ballots: when women
are insufficiently represented in them, parties cannot take off the
responsibility and shift off the entire fault on the voters. The use of closed
ballots gives parties the opportunities of looking through the composition of
the whole delegation. If women representation does not increase, women will be
obliged to leave party; this stimulates it to a more
attentive relation to women’s demands /84/.
Difference
of electoral systems defines different results of women’s political
activities. In developed countries with proportional representation they could
transform their requirements to a more representation. In majoritarian systems
within the same requirements results are more modest.
3. Structurally
institutional (formation of necessary
conditions for political formations development, oriented at gender development,
and increase of civic society political culture, etc.).
It
is characteristic that reforming or creation of legislature basis of women’
social feminology have principally important meaning and is indissolubly
connected with the creation and working out of technologies of national
mechanisms functioning, organizational structures actions, directed at the
women’s problem solution. In 90 countries of the world national mechanisms are
worked out and institutionally legalized on a state level, and in five of them
the control over their activities is carried out by prime-ministers. In spite of
differences in approaches to gender problem solution, one common tendency is
traced: the policy directed at the acceptance of a system of measures on
equality provision is effective in that case when it is worked out and
controlled by a government.
It
is noteworthy to say that organizational structures (to the competence of which
there belong realization of gender equality principle within the frames of
programs being worked out, reaction to concrete cases of discrimination,
informational activity on the defense of political, economic and social rights
of women, organization and initiation
of corresponding scholarly research, study of other countries’ experience)
function as in large so in small countries as will.
4. Conceptual (working out of
development strategies, adopting special, state, gender based policy, etc.).
The determining international document in the sphere of gender development is the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, 1979), which defines main ways and possible means of its eradication. By the beginning of the year 2000 the Convention was signed by 165 countries, moreover three of them signed without ratification, and 49 – ratified with reservations, 20 out of the whole number of countries – UN members did not sign it.
On
a national level in the majority of countries conceptions and strategies on the
women’s status improvement have been adopted. But in the majority of cases,
especially in developing countries, they are oriented at social-and–economic
branches and the problems within these frames.
5. Program,
which supposes working out and implementing purposeful programs and addressed
measures. Thus, for example, in Bangladesh a program, due to which 10% of high
positions in civic services were to
be reserved for women, has been adopted. In Ireland mechanisms of annual
reporting for realization of initiatives on equal opportunities provision, have
been worked out. In Nicaragua women have been given the privacy right
(agricultural plots). Norway holds on guarantee maintenance in equality on the
basis of a system of quotas and legislature on equal opportunities. In Pakistan
for the first time a woman was
appointed to a position of a judge in the Supreme Court thanks to revision of
some traditional approaches in state policy. In Shri-Lanka it was acknowledged
that the improvement of women’s status is the necessary condition for any
progress. In Turkey judicial measures for elimination of discrimination against
women are being in action.
Mechanisms of participation in
political activities are composed of a system of determining principles of a
civic society functioning, level of political traditions, development of civic
initiatives sector, personal interest of a society in participation in political
institutions activities.
Significant
factor widely spread in the world are traditionally cultured stereotypes of
functionally role-played triad “mother-wife - housewife”, dominating in a
society. In spite of active social modernization the relation to politics as to
the sphere of men-monopolized activity stays traditional. On this level low
degree of women’s participation
in political institutions activities is conditioned by passiveness and political
nihilism of women themselves.
Ukrainian
researcher Setline Kupryashkina considers that «wide enlightenment policy among
voters, especially women, is necessary to make political representation of women
a mechanism, really expressing their interests» /82/.
Intermediate
link, related to the mechanisms of participation and involvement, is unfavorable
social background, blocking the possibility of political activity, which in this
case goes out of the frames of women’s main interests. According to the
results of sociological investigations «men have approximately the following
hierarchy of interests: first come business, trade, finance and then
national security at the end. Women’s hierarchy of
interests has another sequence: starts with social defense of population
(even not with children), then comes public
health, children, ecology and the list finishes with peace in the whole world»
/83/.
But
at the existence of high-level social-and-economic or political crises this
factor can become motivating to the sharpening
of political activity, including women’s one.
Years
after the collapse of the communist system in the USSR and East European
countries show that women’s problems have not become prior for the governments
of the region; international duties on securing equal opportunities are not
carried out in fact, the newly born democracies are characterized by frequent
change of governments and leading staff of all the levels, which leads to the
absence of consistency in women’s problems solution; gender consciousness is
absent at all the levels of society; that is why a special mechanism promoting
its development is necessary.
All
the above-mentioned facts depict either full absence or insufficient
effectiveness of national mechanisms, included into the governmental structures
of separate countries.
In
Kazakhstan a national mechanism is also created on the level of president’s
administration. Since December 1998 National Commission on Family and Women
Affairs has been functioning under the President of RK. It is responsible for
state policy realization towards women (National plan on Increasing the
Women’s Status in Kazakhstan, 1999), and also for the assessment of other
governmental programs concerning family and women. It is also used as a
mechanism of a dialogue between women’s NGOs and the government. But there is
still no mechanism, legalized by a separate legislative act of the Parliament,
which makes it vulnerable in conditions of frequently changed staff of the
government. The law on equality of rights and opportunities being worked out is
aimed to do it. Absence of its own budget, dependence on the decisions of
administration of the President also do not allow the Commission to regulate the
immediateness of tasks carried out and the fullness of their financing itself.
Thus, the fulfillment of the National Plan is often hampered because of the
resources lack, while women’s forums are mainly financed by foreign agencies.
In this case the agenda and ways of fulfillment of the given forum’s
resolutions are often fastened by this agency.
There
are also no state funds for the gender investigations included into the National
Plan. Without scientific data it is impossible to form the right strategy, work
out our own approaches to the problem solution and also to adapt western models.
Women’s
NGOs of Kazakhstan, the analysis of which will be given in the next chapter, are
related to the low level of political participation; gradually from social
problems solution move to political ones; this shows level of maturity and
understanding of consolidation necessity. These organizations do not yet form a
shaped unity, at the same time they strive for share of opinions, information,
contacts, reveal interest to the work of women in the neighboring countries and
to the world women movement in the whole.