March 8: Women, politics and the pandemic

María Noel Vaeza
Directora Regional de ONU Mujeres para América Latina y el Caribe

I begin with some revealing data on women in politics. Twenty-five years ago, there were 12 women heads of state in the world. Today there are 22 in 195 countries. In 1995, there were 10% women parliamentarians globally. Last year there were 23%.

While these figures may indicate that there has been progress in women's political participation, it has not only been painfully slow, but painfully insufficient.

According to our statistics, we will not reach parity until the year 2063 for national legislatures and for women heads of state and government it will be another 130 years. Much less will we have met the Sustainable Development Goals with respect to gender equality.

And it is not just a problem of quotas. What these figures actually say is that there are no mechanisms in place to guarantee and protect women's right to hold high-level positions and to political participation free of violence.

We are far from parity. It is clear that when it comes to politics we women are neither represented, nor valued, nor included. There are also structural barriers and discriminatory gender norms that limit women's contribution to public life.

The COVID-19 pandemic has provided clear examples of how women's leadership in some countries has managed to avoid the most profound consequences of the virus in terms of public health and economic consequences.

Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand, Angela Merkel in Germany and Mette Frederikssen in Denmark brought firmness and decisiveness, but also responsibility and empathy for the people most affected. A successful combination of effectiveness and humanism.

On the other hand, the pandemic and its consequences have been particularly adverse for the majority of the world's women. The abrupt economic slowdown, confinements and the burden of care have had a disproportionate impact on them.

They have been the first on the front line, the first to lose their jobs, and the ones who have had to take on domestic work and care for the sick. They have also been the victims of a dramatic increase in cases of gender-based violence, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean.

March 8, International Women's Day, is the day when we make visible and join forces around the ongoing struggle of women and their organizations to achieve equality.

This year, from UN Women, we have decided to highlight the importance of the historical leadership of women in the civil movement in the struggle for human rights, and the importance of women leading the recovery of the pandemic from all decision-making positions.

In addition to raising our voices and demonstrating together this March 8, international organizations are also taking concrete steps to make this more equal and fairer world for women a reality.

Twenty-five years ago, the world adopted the Beijing Platform for Action, which establishes women's equal rights to participate in government through public office and leadership positions. A strong statement of principles that, unfortunately, has not been sufficient for substantive progress.

Early last year, at the XIV Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean in Chile, we adopted the Santiago Commitment "to accelerate the effective implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action".

On that occasion, we again reviewed what mechanisms, what laws and even what financing we need to ensure that there are more women in politics, in government, in leadership and decision-making positions.

A few days ago, the women's ministers, several vice presidents and representatives of civil society in Latin America and the Caribbean met to agree on the proposals that we will take to the Commission on the Status of Women, an independent body designated by the United Nations so that States, civil society and United Nations agencies can guarantee the implementation of the Beijing agreements, in mid-March.

For us, it is a platform for the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to strengthen their commitment to promoting women's participation in public life, decision-making and the elimination of violence against women and girls.

A strong political will is needed, which translates into the allocation of resources and the commitment of all levels of government to guarantee women's political participation, which is fundamental, as I said before, to overcome the worst effects of the pandemic with an inclusive approach.

This March 8 is the opportunity to speak again about the struggle, to accompany this effort and to reaffirm commitments. But it is also the time to establish a clear and realistic plan to ensure that together, women and men, we contribute equally to the most urgent challenges facing humanity.

It is difficult, and we have tried before. But we have no choice. We can no longer ignore the millions of women and girls who live in discrimination and inequality. No way. We must continue to work for them.  

Originally published in Huffington Post on March 5, 2021.