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CSD NGO Women's Caucus
CSD Delegations: How Many Women?
CSD-8,
2000 CSD-6,
1998 Earth
Summit II / UNGASS 1997
In 1997, 1998 and 2000, women have monitored the percentage of women on
official delegations to the CSD, looking also at the number of women who are
heads of their delegations. Nothing much seems to have changed since 1997.
With regard to some indicators, such as the percentage of all-male
delegations, the situation has even become worse:
1997: 30,8 % of all delegations are made up of men only
1998: 35,3 % of all delegations are made up of men only
2000: 41,9 % of all delegations are made up of men only
We know that men can also cover gender aspects and women's issues - but not
with as good results as women! How do governments and
intergovernmental bodies hope to successfully gender-mainstream their
positions and policies if they do not balance their delegations? ... And
this is comment does not even address the question of gender equity!
Women on
Delegations at CSD-8
We checked the numbers of women on CSD-8 delegations using the
Provisional List of Delegations to CSD-8 by the CSD Secretariat, 3 May 2000.
Heads of delegations
CSD
member states |
headed
by women: 4 (8 %)
France, Mexico, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea |
headed
by men: 45 (92 %)
Algeria, Angola, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada,
China, Colombia, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Czech Republic, Democratic
People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark,
Djibouti, Egypt, Germany, Guyana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Islamic
Republic of Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazaksthan, Lebanon,
Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Netherlands, Panama, Paraguay,
Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Sri Lanka,
Sudan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, UK, USA,
Venezuela |
States
members to the UN represented by observers |
headed
by women: 10 (14 %)
Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Estonia, Finland, Guinea, Iceland,
Jamaica, Liechtenstein, and Norway |
headed
by men: 71 (86 %)
Andorra, Antigua & Barbuda, Armenia, Australia, Austria,
Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Belize, Central African
Republic, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, Eritrea, Gabon, Greece,
Guatemala, Haiti, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Lao People's Democratic
Republic, Lesotho, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Mongolia,
Morocco, Nauru, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Poland,
Republic of Moldova, Romania, Saint Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi
Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa,
Suriname, Sweden, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad
& Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Republic of Tanzania,
Zimbabwe |
Entities
& non-member states represented by observers |
headed
by women: 0
|
headed by men: 3
(100 %)
EU, Holy See, Switzerland |
UN;
specialised agencies & related organisations; intergovernmental
organisations |
headed
by women: 1 (5 %)
ECA
|
headed
by men: 18 (95 %)
ECLAC, UNEP, UNFCCC, UNCCD, ILO, FAO, UNESCO, WHO, IMF, IFAD, WTO,
Caribbean Community, Commonwealth Secretariat, International Tropical
Timber Organisation, International Organisation of la Francophonie,
League of Arab States, Organisation of African Unity, Organisation of
Islamic Conference |
On the average, 15 out of 143 - or 10,4 % - of delegations were headed
by women.
Composition of delegations, incl. their heads
MEMBER STATES
0 % (13 countries) |
Cote d'Ivoire,
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Djibouti, Egypt, India, Islamic
Republic of Iran, Japan, Kazaksthan, Mauritania, Mauritius, Sri Lanka,
Sudan, Tunisia |
1 - 25 % (14
countries) |
Algeria, Brazil,
Bulgaria, Cameroon, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy,
Paraguay, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, The
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia |
26 - 50 % (16
countries) |
Angola, Canada,
China, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Mexico, Netherlands, New
Zealand, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Slovakia, UK, USA |
51 - 100 % (3
countries) |
Colombia, Guyana,
Venezuela |
UN MEMBER STATES / ENTITIES / NON-MEMBER-STATES /
INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS AND AGENCIES
REPRESENTED BY OBSERVERS
0 % (N = 41) |
Belarus, Benin,
Eritrea, Haiti, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali,
Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nauru, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea,
Republic of Moldova, Romania, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands,
Suriname, Syrian Arab Republic, Uganda, Ukraine, United Republic of
Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Holy See, EU, Switzerland, UNEP, UNFCCC, UNCCD,
IMF, WTO, Caribbean Community, Commonwealth Secretariat, International
Tropical Timber Organisation, League of Arab States, OAU, Organisation
of Islamic Conference |
1 - 25 % (N = 12) |
Bolivia, Chile,
Ecuador, Luxembourg, Pakistan, Senegal, Thailand, Tonga, Turkey, EU,
FAO, International Organisation of la Francophonie |
26 - 50 % (N = 22) |
Belize, Central
African Republic, Costa Rica, Croatia, Gabon, Greece, Guatemala,
Guinea, Iceland, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Monaco, Poland,
Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago, ECA, ECLAC,
ILO, UNESCO, WHO, IFAD |
51 - 100 % (N =
11) |
Antigua &
Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Estonia, Finland, Jamaica,
Liechtenstein, Norway, Saint Lucia, San Marino, Sweden |
41,9 % of all delegations are made up of men only.

Women on
Delegations at CSD-6, 1998
As we have done for UNGASS last year and the CSD
Intersessional meeting this year, we looked again at
the Provisional List of delegations to the CSD Sixth
Session, published April 29.
MEMBER STATES
Heads of Delegations: 9 women, 41 men, i.e. 18 % of
the 50 members states which were listing their
representatives in the provisional list had women as
heads of delegations.
Percentages of women among alternates and advisors (numbers
in brackets):
0 % (N = 12) |
Bangladesh, Bulgaria,
Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Gabon, Iran,
Niger, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sudan, Ukraine |
1 - 25 % (N =
16) |
Belgium, Benin,
Brazil, China, Egypt, France, India, Indonesia,
Japan, Mozambique, Netherlands, Poland, Russian Federation,
Slovakia, Thailand, Zimbabwe |
26 - 50 % (N =
12) |
Australia, Bolivia,
Canada, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Papua
New Guinea, Peru, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom |
51 - 100 %
(N = 5) |
Bahamas, Colombia,
Ireland, Panama, Philippines |
UN MEMBER STATES / ENTITIES / NON-MEMBER-STATES /
INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS AND AGENCIES
REPRESENTED BY OBSERVERS
Percentages of women on delegations (absolute numbers in
brackets):
0 % (N = 29) |
Algeria, Botswana, Cameroon, Chile,
Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, Fiji, Guinea, Haiti,
Jordan, Lebanon, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria,
Paraguay, Republic of Korea, Romania, Seychelles, Solomon Island,
Tunisia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Yemen, Commonwealth
Secreteriat, ILO, UNESCO, WMO, UNIDO |
1 - 25 % (N = 18) |
Austria, Czech Republic, Greece,
Guniea-Bissau, Italy, Kenya, Kazakhstan, Lesotho, Malawi, Malta,
Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Syrian Arab
Republic, Uruguay, European Community, Holy See, World
Bank |
26 - 50 % (N = 16) |
Cuba, El Salvador, Eritrea, Guatemala,
Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Marshall Islands,
Moldova, Monaco, Nicaragua, Norway, Slovenia,
South Africa, Turkey, OECD |
51 - 100 % (N = 8) |
Argentina, Jamaica, Kuwait,
Liechtenstein, Saint Lucia, Samoa, San Marino |
AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN ON DELEGATIONS: 21,01 %
(incl. member and non-member states, heads /
representatives, alternates, and advisors)
35,3 % of all delegations are made up of men only.
From a social psychological point of view, this could be
bad but promising: around 15 - 25 % is assumed to be
the "critical mass" regarding the perception
of minorities. Percentages above this level are likely
to cause people to perceive the minority members as individual persons,
not (only) as members of their group. This can cause to be listened
to with less stereotypical expectations. However, the large amount
of delegations without a single woman member (N = 41) contradicts this
conclusion; a rough third of countries with purely male delegations adds
to the perception of women as "other".
We will keep looking at the numbers of women and men on
delegations and maybe, as the centuries go by, we will
be able to track down some significant
changes....Wasn't there a song by Laurie Anderson, called "Beautiful
Red Dress"...
"...I just want to say something.
You know, for every dollar a man makes
a woman makes 63 cents.
Fifty years ago, that was 62 cents.
So, with that kind of luck, it'll be the year 3888
before we make a buck.
But hey, girls?
We can take it..."
(Minu Hemmati, UNED-UK; circulated via CSDGen, 20 May
1998)

Women
on Delegations at the UN General Assembly Special Session / Earth Summit
II / Rio+5 / UNGASS, in 1997 Was
Earth Summit II a male-dominated meeting like so many others before? Or did
female voices penetrate the atmosphere of the meeting?
This answer to this is again dismal news for women. In the general assembly,
hardly any woman spoke on behalf of their countries. To find significant
numbers of women at all, we had to look at the delegations.
Counting the men and women on delegations showed disappointing results: Only
2 out of the 94 listed member states (Provisional List of Delegates) have
more than 50 % women on their delegations. Worse, 29 delegations did not
have one single female member. In addition, in most delegations, women were
by and large present either as alternate members or advisors. Among the 94
delegations reviewed here, we found only one with a female head: the Swiss.
Among the government speakers to the GA, only 2 were women.
Are women still not "suitable" representatives of their countries
at the international level? How will women become equal and equitable
partners in leadership and decision-making when they are not even granted a
voice? How long will countries allow themselves to operate without the
perspective, expertise and effective contributions from half of their
populations? ... We could as many such questions. But here are the facts and
figures which speak for themselves:
0 % (ZERO PERCENT)
(29 countries) |
Afghanistan, Albania,
Andorra, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burundi, Cape Verde, Czech Republic,
Egypt, Guinea-Bissau, Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Lao People's
Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Oman,
Poland, Republic of Moldova, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Solomon
Islands, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Yemen |
1 - 25 % (40
countries) |
Armenia, Austria,
Belgium, Central African Republic, China, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia,
Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Iraq,
Kenya, Kyrgyzthan, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta,
Marshall Islands, Mozambique, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand,
Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea,
Romania, St Kitts & Nevis, Seychelles, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Sudan,
Suriname, Ukraine, United Republic of Tanzania |
26 - 50 % (23
countries) |
Antigua &
Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican
Republic, Eritrea, Gambia, Grenada, Ireland, Jamaica, Latvia,
Lithuania, Monaco, Norway, Portugal, Samoa, San Marino, Slovenia,
Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United States of America |
51 - 100 % (2
countries) |
Barbados, Finland |
30,8 % of all delegations are made up of men only. (from
the article "WHO said WHAT at the General Assembly Special Session? An
analysis of the speeches to the General Assembly" by the Women's Caucus
Monitoring Working Group; summarized by Minu Hemmati; published in OUTREACH,
11 July 1997) |