Women in power and
decision-making
6. Positive action, including such mechanisms as estab-
lishing a minimum percentage of representation
for both sexes and/or gender-sensitive measures
and processes, is needed to speed the achievement
of gender equality and can be an effective policy
instrument to improve women's position in sectors
and levels where they are under-represented. All
responsible actors in government, the private sector,
political parties and non governmental organizations should review the criteria and processes used
in recruitment and appointment to advisory and
decision-making bodies, including leadership structures, so as to ensure a comprehensive strategy to
achieve gender equality.
1. Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action
should be accelerated to ensure women's full and
equal participation in decision-making at all levels.
2. Achieving the goal of equal participation of men
and women in decision-making and ensuring equal
political, economic and social participation of
women in all spheres would provide the balance
that is needed to strengthen democracy.
3. Governments and bodies and agencies of the
7. Governments should commit themselves to
United Nations system, as well as other international organizations, social partners and non
governmental organizations, should collectively
and individually accelerate the implementation of
strategies that promote gender balance in political
decision-making, including in conflict prevention
and resolution. They should mainstream a gender
perspective, including the use of gender-impact
assessments, in all stages of policy formulation and
decision-making. They should take into account
diverse decision-making styles and organizational
practices and take the necessary steps to ensure
a gender-sensitive workplace, including a workplace free of sexual harassment and noted for its
ability to recruit, promote and retain female staff.
Decision-making structures and processes should
be improved to encourage the participation of
women, including women at the grass-roots level.
establishing the goal of gender balance in decisionmaking, in administration and public appointments
at all levels and in the diplomatic services, inter alia,
by establishing specific time-bound targets.
8. Governments and civil society should promote
awareness of gender issues and call for their consistent mainstreaming in legislation and public policies.
9. Governments should examine their own commu-
nications and policies to ensure the projection of
positive images of women in politics and public life.
10. Use of the media both as an image-setting instru-
ment and as a tool to be more effectively used by
women candidates should be further explored.
11. Governments, the private sector, political parties,
social partners and non-governmental organizations should review the criteria and processes for
recruitment and appointment to advisory and decision-making bodies so as to establish the goal of
gender balance. At the same time, the business sector should take the challenge to optimize business
by promoting a gender balance in the workforce at
all levels and to facilitate the reconciliation of work
and personal life.
4. Research, including a gender-impact assessment
of electoral systems to identify measures that
would counter the under-representation of women
in decision-making and reverse the downward
trend of women in parliaments worldwide, should
be supported.
5. Political parties are urged to remove discriminatory
practices, incorporate gender perspectives into party
platforms, and ensure women's access to executive
bodies on an equal basis with men, including access
to leadership positions as well as to appointed positions and electoral nominating processes.
12. Political parties should be encouraged to fund
training programmes in conducting campaigns,
fund-raising and parliamentary procedures to
enable women successfully to run for, be elected to,
and serve in public office and parliament. In order
to promote reconciliation of work and personal
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