Sogor Csaba

Senator

Romanian IPU Group

 

 

TALKING POINTS

 

The Parliament of Romania has been a constant promoter of a gender perspective within all IPU’s activities and documents. Our proposals, put forward by the delegations to the IPU statutory sessions, are to be found in many resolutions on various topics, such as international reconciliation, post-conflict reconstruction, the prevention and management of natural disasters, to name just the most recent ones.

 

In terms of legislative framework, it is important to point out also that the Romanian Parliament in 2002 adopted the Law on equal opportunities for women and men, in which the main provisions of the European legislation in the field were transposed. The law regulates on a series of measures to promote equal opportunities and to eliminate gender based direct and indirect discrimination in all areas (labour, education, health, culture, information), including the access to the decision-making processes and structures.         

 

A stronger presence of women in national parliaments is necessary, but not sufficient. Women must also participate in leadership positions within parliaments, as a means to ensure that a gender perspective is incorporated in the parliamentary activity, in all its dimensions.

In the case of Romania, unlike in the former legislature, women are now present in the decision-making bodies – namely the Standing Bureaus – in both Chambers. They representation at the head of the Specialised Committees and Political Groups within Parliament has also increased.   

 

We also believe that it is important to ensure a gender balanced national representation in the foreign relations of our respective parliaments, and in the conduct of parliamentary diplomacy at bi- and multilateral levels.  

In our Parliament, at the beginning of this new legislature, the criterion of the representation of both men and women in all delegations to the international organisations and fora was introduced and, to our great satisfaction, it was observed by the parliamentary groups to a greater extent than in the former legislature. As a result women participate now in all but one of the total number of delegations and inter-parliamentary cooperation structures. As far as the Romanian IPU Group is concerned, to give an example, the number of women in the Steering Committee of the Group increased from 3, in the former legislature, to 5, in the current one.      

 

A gender balanced national representation in the various parliamentary organizations and fora, including in decision making positions, must remain priority areas of action. Initiatives to create and develop women networks or bodies associated to the various inter-parliamentary cooperation processes should be welcome and encouraged, as they are conducive to the crystallization and promotion of a coherent gender perspective in all areas of international cooperation.

For many years now, the IPU sets a very good example, as well as the Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of Europe, OSCE, or of la Francophonie, to name but a few. In this connection, I am proud to mention that the PACE Committee for equal opportunities for women and men is chaired by a woman parliamentarian member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies. In our region, an interesting formula is promoted by the Stability Pact in South-East Europe, which has set up a Gender Task Force that includes Parliamentary Focal Point representatives from all the participating countries.