BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 5. At the request of Speaker of the Parliament of Azerbaijan Sahiba Gafarova, Member of Parliament and Vice President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) from Azerbaijan Sevil Mikayilova is taking part in the 153rd Assembly of the IPU in Arusha, Tanzania.
During the meeting of the Bureau and Forum of Women Parliamentarians held as part of the Assembly, Mikayilova, Chair of the Gender Partnership Group, delivered the report of the Gender Partnership Group.
Talking about the work of the Gender Partnership Group, she noted that as per its mandate, the Group monitored the participation of women delegates at this Assembly.
"As of yesterday, 39.2% of the delegates announced to be in Arusha were women. If confirmed, this will be the highest percentage ever in an IPU Assembly. This shows the impact of our incentives and sanctions. But we still have 9 delegations of two or more members that do not include both men and women. These single-sex delegations stem from all geopolitical groups. Among them, two all-male delegations are expected to face voting sanctions at this Assembly. Our Group decided to reach out to them to avoid this from happening again in the future," she said.
Mikayilova added that the Group also looked at gender balance in delegations – this means delegations that have at least 40% men and 40% women.
"Out of 132 national delegations announced, 37 are gender-balanced, which is a similar trend to the last Assembly," she explained.
Mikayilova pointed out that the Group also discussed the state of women’s participation in national parliaments.
"We are particularly concerned that many parliaments still have no or few women members. We remain committed to engaging delegations that are facing challenges in this area. To continue to promote progress nationally, as per its mandate, here in Arusha our Group will hold dialogues with other delegations that have less than 10% women in parliament, and offer our support," she added.
The 153rd Assembly of the IPU will last until October 9. All IPU statutory bodies, including the Governing Council, Standing Committees, Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians and Committee on Middle East Questions, as well as the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and the Forum of Young Parliamentarians, will meet on this occasion. The Governing Council will be invited to elect a new IPU President at its session in Arusha.
The General Debate will focus on the overall theme Enhancing good governance and empowering communities through inclusivity, trust and opportunities for all and provide a platform for delegates to deliberate, exchange views and galvanize parliamentary action in this area. The Assembly will adopt resolutions on the emergency item and on the subject item taken up by the Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights entitled Inclusive social development for all: Parliamentary strategies to promote the rights and empowerment of people living with disabilities.
The Assembly is expected to conclude with the adoption of an outcome document on the overall theme of the General Debate.
