ESTABLISHING A PARLIAMENTARY GENDER CAUCUS
ESTABLISHING A PARLIAMENTARY GENDER CAUCUS The National Assembly of Mauritius joins a number of other Commonwealth Parliaments and globally over 80 Parliaments and Legislatures in establishing a gender caucus to advance democratic governance.
Hon. Santi Bai Hanoomanjee, GCSK is the Speaker of the National Assembly of Mauritius, and the first women to hold the position. Hon. Santi Bai Hanoomanjee spent 33 years in the civil service, before being elected as a Member of Parliament in July 2005, until her appointment as Speaker in December 2014. She was also Minister of Health from May 2010-July 2011. In August 2015, Hon. Santi Bai Hanoomanjee was elected President of the CPA Africa Region.
It is with a deep sense of pride and satisfaction that I contribute an article to this issue of The Parliamentarian on the official launching of the Parliamentary Gender Caucus of Mauritius in March of this year, which heralded a new chapter in the history of Parliamentary democracy on the island of Mauritius. Gender equality has, for some time, been on the agenda in a number of high-level international meetings, and there is substantial and widely available evidence that gender equality can be a catalyst for more inclusive and progressive human development and good governance. As stated by the Rt Hon. Don McKinnon, former Commonwealth SecretaryGeneral: “Gender equality is viewed not only as a goal in its own right but also as a key factor in enhancing democracy and peace, eradicating poverty and violence.” For too many of us still, when speaking of gender equality, the first thing that comes to mind is the protection of women. However, the protection of women constitutes just one component, albeit an essential
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one, to be considered when looking to achieve gender equality in our societies. In fact, gender equality is achieved when women and men enjoy the same rights and opportunities across all sectors of society, including economic participation and decision making, and when the different behaviours, aspirations and needs of women and men are equally valued and favoured. Gender equality is measured by looking at the representation of men and women in a range of roles. Thus, the concept of gender equality deals with the establishment of parity and our target should be to reach a level playing field for women and men. The quest for development, democracy and peace is a legitimate aspiration of the people. Indeed, democracy, wealth, prosperity and opportunity for all, irrespective of gender, are tangible measures of the level of development of a nation. For some time, Mauritius has had a dedicated Ministry which aims to advance the cause of gender equality, and has taken a number of laudable initiatives in pursuit
of those aims, notably with the Gender Unit which aims to conduct oversight, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of
“For too many of us still, when speaking of gender equality, the first thing that comes to mind is the protection of women. However, the protection of women constitutes just one component, albeit an essential one, to be considered when looking to achieve gender equality in our societies.”