The United States introduced in the UN General Assembly on Tuesday a draft resolution entitled Women and Political Participation.
The resolution was co-sponsored by 48 countries representing cross-regional support, the US State Department said. They include Columbia, Cyprus, Honduras, Monaco, Palau, Maldives, Moldova, South Korea, Tunisia, Ukraine and Britain.
Speaking on the draft resolution, Courtney Nemroff, US Counselor for Economic and Social Affairs said the need for proactive measures to ensure that women enjoy their right to participate on an equal basis with men in political processes and decision-making has become increasingly evident, especially during times of transition.
The resolution draws attention to such situations across the globe, where women's voices in political decision-making are still muted. Discriminatory laws and practices persist. Recently, after taking great risks to call for an end to repression and to advocate for democracy in a number of countries undergoing political transitions, women activists often now face exclusion from key political negotiations.
The resolution reaffirms and builds upon the pioneering UN General Assembly resolution 58/142 from 2003.
The new resolution notes that, throughout the world, discrimination and poverty can marginalize women, and that the active, equal participation of women is essential to achieve sustainable development and democracy.
The operative section of the resolution calls on all states to eliminate discriminatory laws, regulations and practices; and to promote and protect the human rights of women with respect to engaging in political activities, taking part in public affairs, voting, holding office and formulating policy, associating freely, assembling peacefully, and expressing their views freely.
Turning from the general to the specific, the resolution calls upon states in situations of political transition to ensure women's participation on an equal basis with men with respect to a range of political decisions and activities.
An action-oriented paragraph urges states to appoint women to all levels of government posts, to commit themselves to the goal of gender balance, to support public/private partnerships and to support the role of women in conflict resolution and peace-building. It invites the Working Group of the Human Rights Council on Discrimination in Law and Practice to continue to include a focus on political participation during times of political transition in its work. The resolution requests the UN Secretary-General to submit a report in two years on the status of political participation of women and the implementation of the resolution.