On the eve of the 21st Century and more than a hundred years after women were enfranchised, the question of women’s political participation is now on the international agenda, and permeating many regional and national plans of action. Where are we today and where are we heading for tomorrow? This is a question that paraphrases the concerns of many of those who have dedicated their lives, and others who have taken up or been called by the commitment, to better women’s public roles and enhance their conditions, voice, and impact.

In 1995, at the time of the Beijing Platform for Action, only 10% of the members of legislative bodies were women. Today, the percentage has gone up to 12%. Some may argue that an increase of 2% over a period of 5 years is painfully little. But that is akin to maintaining that, when climbing a steep precipice, arriving at flatter platform along the way, is a small achievement. Women’s involvement in public life in this century has been uphill all the way, and thus every small step is a major breakthrough.

It is true to say that the rights women have achieved over the last 100 years and more, whether political, social, economic, or cultural, have not been given, but hard fought for and earned. Even when men presided over the ultimate authority and decision-making structures, it was women who pushed for, expressed, formulated, lobbied, and sometimes simply protested their rights into place.

Alida Brill, quoting Britain’s Virginia Woolf in A Room of One’s Own, tells us that for a long time, women have been holding a mirror to men - a mirror that inflates and enlarges. As women have entered public life themselves however, the mirror being held is reflecting more realistic and life-size images, which are being resented by men, and thus, also fought against [1] .

There are those who would be extremely critical of women’s political achievements, arguing that in many cases, women politicians have become ‘just like other men’ in their attitude, or that many have studiously avoided taking up issues particularly (but by no means only) relevant for women. Brill refers to this scepticism through reiterating some of these questions: “Is there a woman’s voice in politics which is unique? Does it really make a difference that women have achieved political office? Would it be just as good if there were more men in politics world-wide who were sympathetic to the women’s agenda?”

She answers by vehemently insisting that “without our own voices being heard inside the government arena and halls of public policy and debate, we are without the right of accountability - a basic entitlement of those who are governed”[2] . Brill’s subsequent argument, which is equally valid and important, is echoed by Nelson and Chowdhury, in their epic volume on Women and Politics Worldwide, and resides in the nature of the issues which women’s presence in the political arena have impacted upon. Questions related to reproductive health and choice, nutrition, equality in education and in employment opportunities and circumstances, child care and related ‘family-friendly’[3] aspects, and environment are but some of the areas which women have advocated for and around which they have managed to accrue visible dividends on both national as well as international levels[4] .

But Nelson and Chowdhury also take the above point further by adding in two dimensions. These are crucial to considerations of any international endeavour, and are as follows:

• that in addition to issues mentioned above and seen - erroneously - as women-specific, women actually consider all broader social and political concerns within their political interests and mandate; and
• that there are many commonalties between what is seen as crucial concerns by women, regardless of geo-political location and aspects. The examples quoted here were violence against women and economic participation.

The latter dimension, the authors maintain, is significant because it indicates that all societies have their share of difficulties in enabling gender-fair comprehensive changes, and also underlines the power of women as a “mobilising force”[5] .

In the same vein, two more important features of the reality of women in politics are echoed by both Nelson and Chowdhury as well as the 1995 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Report, entitled Gender and Development[6]. These are:
1. In no society are women enjoying the same opportunities as men; and
2. Removing gender inequality has nothing to do with national income or wealth.

Similarly, Marilee Karl argues that women have achieved much thus far, in the field of political participation, with the establishment of many mechanisms for women’s empowerment and a generally growing gender awareness. But, she maintains, “the greatest challenge is to maintain and increase the momentum [since] universal gender discrimination persists and concrete measures are still needed to address the many obstacles”[7] .

Thus, it is not surprising when on the eve of a new millennium, and five years after the last international declaration - the Beijing Platform for Action - questions concerning where and how to proceed become pertinent for everyone, but especially to the largest, and perhaps most concerned global institution in the world - the United Nations.

Assessing Beijing some years later is no easy task, and requires a simultaneous look into the present and the future. In order to do so, this paper is structured along the following lines:
I - A review of the main recommendations made in the Beijing Platform for Action.
II - A review of trends in women’s participation since the 1995 Beijing conference.
III - Key recommendations of major international conferences on governance
IV - An overview of the challenges facing women’s de jure equality in the 21st Century
V - Good governance practices to enhance and deepen building women’s constituencies - Lessons learned and future steps.

Women’s equal participation in political life plays a pivotal role in the general process of the advancement of women. Women’s equal participation in decision-making is not only a demand for simple justice or democracy but can also be seen as a necessary condition for women’s interests to be taken into account. Without the active participation of women and the incorporation of women’s perspectives at all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved.

In such a manner begins the section on Women in Power and Decision-Making, in the Beijing Platform for Action. The above words are part of the strategic objectives and action which the Beijing Platform for Action stipulates, and which the majority of the world’s governments signed.

Some of the recommendations within the Beijing Platform for Action mirror and elaborate those made by the UNDP Human Development Report of 1995, particularly those related to political power and decision-making positions. The latter are summarised in the following points:

• Setting a firm timetable to end all manner of legal discrimination against women (along the lines of CEDAW), as well as establishing a framework to promote legal equality.
• Initiating specific measures targeted to acquiring a short-term threshold of 30% for women in national decision-making positions, with a long-term aim of reaching 50%.
• Mobilising national and international efforts to facilitate for everyone - and for women in particular - greater access to economic and political opportunities.

The Beijing Platform for Action advocates for institutional mechanisms in the form of national machinery to focus on mainstreaming (integrating at all levels) gender concerns within national policy, creating the conditions for gender-equality at all levels, and allocating specific national and international resources towards these ends. The Platform for Action (the full text of which is elaborated in Annex 1) highlights the main recommendations with two main strategic objectives in mind: ensuring women’s equal access to and full participation in power structures and decision-making; and increasing women’s capacity to participate in decision-making and leadership. The recommendations are thus specifically directed to governments, political parties, the United Nations (UN), and civil society.

Almost four years later, many of the injunctions in the Beijing Platform for Action still remain agendas for the future - issues that have yet to be heeded in some countries, while in others, they are the defining characteristics of policies already in the implementation phase. Though the signatories to most international conventions are governments, it is very often non-governmental organisations which have contributed a great deal towards bringing attention to some of the most pressing issues in this regard, as well as assisted in setting standards and providing alternatives in terms of solutions. Although it is often argued that the era of globalisation has reduced the impact of the nation-state, the Governance and Sustainable Growth and Equity Report of the UNDP International Conference in New York stressed that this does not mean that governments are by any means powerless.

The United Nations is one of the organisations in which much hope is invested (in the past, present as well as for the future), and which has consistently been the motor for ensuring the gender issue is on the global agenda in a number of ways, thus validating the mission for women’s advancement. However, it has also had to struggle with issues of credibility and efficiency, particularly when it comes to the implementation of its recommendations[8] . This underlines the importance of working in partnership with a wide array, not only of institutions, but also of objectives and visions, as a sine qua non of a successful global enterprise.

It is important to note that equality and enhancement are not necessarily one and the same goal. In fact, it should be kept in mind that in some countries; equality with men is not necessarily the highest goal to achieve, since in some cases, men themselves lack developed social, economic, and political positions. This does not nullify the case for equality. In fact, in most cases thus far, priority does go to gender-equality policies - which is a difficult enough enterprise.

What may be also needed is a reorientation of those mind-sets, which concentrate on equality in numbers, at the expense of more strategic objectives, such as enhancing the performance of those women already in decision-making positions. This is not to indicate that women’s performance is monitored more closely than men’s or those expectations on women should be higher. Neither is this to negate the statement put forward by UNDP in its Human Development Report of 1995, that there should be a target of 30% of women in all spheres of political and social life for an impact to be felt. On the contrary, it is merely to highlight that the political sphere has traditionally provided men with lessons on how to perform, whereas women are relatively late entrants to this scene, and thus could do with some systematised methods of exchanging experiences with veteran men and women politicians. The latter is as key to political impact as the 30% threshold.

In fact, the emphasis of most studies, projects, conferences and initiatives around women’s political participation has concentrated almost exclusively on the aspect of increasing the ‘critical mass’, or the number, of women in politics. While an extremely vital aspect of participation and component for development, the time has now come to also look at how women are making an impact, what their needs are as women politicians (and not just as leaders of nations), and what mechanisms already in use, have been shown to be powerful, effective, and different. No matter how simple or ‘common sensical’ these ways and means are, no matter whether they have been used, by, for, or even against men, if they have made an impact, they are worthy of being spelled out and shared.