The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), in its 2013 Plan of Action for Gender-sensitive Parliaments, has drawn attention to the need for gender sensitivity in the composition, structures, operations, methods and work of parliaments. In the plan, it noted that "gender-sensitive parliaments remove the barriers to women's full participation and offer a positive example or model to society at large" (p. 8). The Working Group considers the IPU plan of action to be adaptable for other public and political institutions in which women's equal representation must be secured.