Factors Limiting Women’s Participation In Political Decision-Making: The Mongolian Case
Mr. Enkhsaikhan Mendsaikhan (Mongolia)
Honorable chairman,
Dear guests,
Ladies and gentlemen
First of all, I would like to thank Xinhua News Agency and the Chinese Society for Human Rights Studies for inviting us to participate in the Forum on Human Rights Governance. We are also grateful to the Information Office of the State Council of China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the China International Development Cooperation Agency, who are co-organizing the conference.
In a time when humanity is more desirous of peace, progress, cooperation and human rights than ever before, the Forum on Human Rights Governance is a significant event.
It is the need of the moment for each country to share their experiences on the governance of human rights. This problem is a huge topic and has many dimensions. I think your opinions and discussions will be a big contribution to improving the governance of human rights.
As a member of the Democratic Party of Mongolia, which has a multi-party system, in this forum, I think it will be of interest to all of you to speak about the research conducted by our researchers on the factors that limit the participation of women in political decision-making in Mongolia.
Ensuring the full and equal participation of women in politics is not only a matter of human rights, but also, in a broad sense, the basis of sustainable development and democracy. Any decision adopted with the participation of women is essential for equality in society. Unfortunately, statistics show that gender equality is not achieved in many areas of social life, including in the political arena, due to the influence of many factors: the history and cultural characteristics of the country, socio-economic development, differences in the behavior of men and women. This situation is one of the main obstacles to achieving equitable and inclusive development, which is why the UN's “Sustainable Development Goals 2030” set out the goals of achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls. On the other hand, in 2020, the Beijing Declaration and Agenda for Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality was adopted.
In this historical period, more than ever, efforts are needed not only to assess progress, but also to address challenges and obstacles. The global average percentage of female members in national parliaments in countries around the world was 1995 at 11.3 percent and is now 24.4 percent. But overall change is slow.
According to the World Economic Forum estimates, if change goes at this pace, the gender gap in politics will persist this century.
Over the past 20 years, no significant progress has been seen in increasing the representation of women in Parliament worldwide. According to a UN report, as of 2019, Women make up only 24.3 percent of all national parliaments in the world. As of 2020, 6.6 percent of the elected heads of State (out of 152 countries) are female, and 6.2 percent of the elected heads of government are female. Despite some positive progress globally, according to the World Economic Forum's Gender Gap Report of 153 countries in 2020, it will take another 99.5 years to close gender inequality globally. This is an indication that the struggle for gender equality is on the rise.
Mongolia has incorporated the idea of equal treatment of women and men into its four constitutions, adopted in 1924, 1940, 1960, and 1992, as well as acceding to international treaties and conventions. The results of the 2012 election, in which 14.5% of the total number of MPs were women, the results of the 2020 election brought the total number of MPs to 17.6%. Although this is a historical figure for our country, it is still below the global average (2020-24.9 percent) and the Asian average (2020-20.5 percent).
According to data from the National Statistical Office, 49.15 percent of the country's total population is male and 50.85 percent is female. According to the World Economic Forum's annual Global Gender Gap Index, Mongolia has seen a decline. The reason was the insufficient level of political power and participation of women.
The Mongolian electoral law provides for a minimum threshold of 20% for the number of nominations by party-coalition parties. In 2020, an electoral law was passed, but there was a proposal to raise the minimum participation rate for women to 30%. Parliamentary elections will be held in Mongolia in 2024. A bill under the new electoral law, in which at least 30% of the candidates are women, has been discussed these days.
International practice suggests that opening positions of political power to women creates opportunities for more effective and well-implemented development policies. The positive side is that increasing women's political participation improves welfare.
At the same time, the high number of women in government makes progress on issues of education and nutrition for children, and the women's enterprise is heavily invested. Improving education and nutrition and supporting small businesses run by women are the most common and effective ways to combat poverty in developing countries. Studies have shown that in the case of increased representation of women in politics, the above-mentioned advances may occur.
The study was conducted in Mongolia in the context of factors that limit women's participation in political decision-making.
According to the survey, the main reasons for the lack of participation of women in political decision-making are, firstly, the male-dominated political structure (35 percent), and secondly, the low support of women by voters (13 percent) and the work and role of women in the family (12 percent).
A focus group was set up to examine the issue in depth. The following results were achieved during the study. These include:
1. The “double” burden of family responsibilities limits women's political participation.
2. Gender experts conclude that gender stereotypes are the fundamental reason women limit their political participation.
3. Due to gender stereotypes, women's need for recognition is a limitation to political participation.
4. Women are required to be perfect women and flawless politicians. Both women politicians and gender experts have recognized that higher demands are placed on women than on a male politician. In other words, it means that society imposes “different” standards on female and male politicians.
The above research suggests that education may play an important role in changing and eliminating stereotypical attitudes about women's role in society.
Further, it is important to study International good practices. For example, Sweden was the first country to initiate the introduction of quotas for female party members. However, the demands of female members were repeatedly rejected, as opponents argued that the quota was contrary to the merit principle. However, as a result of political struggle, women's participation has gradually increased. Women's participation has also been increased in various forms, from non-binding recommendations to internal party requirements for the inclusion of male and female candidates on the party list (known as the zipper system).
The “zipper” issue was raised during the discussion of the new election law in Mongolia. No final decision has been made, but interest in action in the above areas is emerging among political parties.
On the other hand, research has shown that women politicians have a higher level of fundraising for their campaigns than men. The examples of the countries mentioned in the study show that the government funding political parties is the main solution to this problem. For these countries, it is necessary to study the experience of aligning government funding to political parties with their contribution to gender equality.
In this way, attempts are still being made in Mongolia.
The study and effective implementation of the best practices in many countries to increase the participation of women in political decision-making will be a step towards perfecting the global governance of Human Rights.
Thank you for your attention.
