Kadaga Sanctions Qatar at Inter Parliamentary Union

The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga has ruled that Qatar will be sanctioned by the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) for its continued failure to include women in their legislature.

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She revealed this while chairing the Gender Partnership Group of the 132nd IPU Assembly that is currently meeting in Hanoi, the capital of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.

“Post Beijing, we are still where we were 20 years ago by way of representation,” Kadaga said.

The IPU recognises gender equality as a key component of democracy and has set the advancement of gender equality as one of the key objectives in the IPU strategy for the period 2012-2017

Qatar’s Consultative Council is the region’s only parliamentary chamber with no women; all 35 members of this council are appointed by the Emir.

While discussing women participation, the group also considered non-coercive actions that would favour the uplifting of the profile of women in politics

“We should focus on the role of the media through the actions of women Parliamentarians to advance the objective,” Mr. Al Shariqi of UAE said, “IPU should focus on the debate of women at the IPU instead of amending the rules and the statutes.”

Ms. I. Passada from Uruguay advocated for greater democracy within the parties to advance the participation of women.

Speaker Kadaga also applauded the UN Women model that targets 50/50 representation by 2030 “Our problem is we don’t have the same universal standard,” she said “It must be more meaningful and more representative.”

The Gender Partnership Group is this week also scheduled to meet the delegation of Palau which sent an all-male delegation to the 132nd IPU despite having three women in their Upper House.

Palau has signed but not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW.)

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