CWP AT 30 YEARS: ACHIEVEMENTS AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS: LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT 30 YEARS Sixth triennial Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Conference 23 to 24 September 2019
CWP AT 30: REFLECTIONS BY THE FOUNDER OF THE COMMONWEALTH WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS Norma Cox Astwood (Lady Blackman), OBE, former Senior Psychologist to Schools (Bermuda) and former VicePresident of the Senate, Bermuda. At the annual Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference held in Barbados in 1989, twelve of the four hundred delegates representing countries across the Commonwealth were women. At the end of the morning’s discussions on the last day of the 35th Conference, a female Minister from Trinidad and Tobago queried why an agenda item concerning women had not been included in the Conference agenda. My unfamiliarity with the Trinidadian accent led me to misinterpret what was said and to believe that the Minister asked why the agenda item concerning women had been deleted. When the Conference broke for lunch, delegates travelled by bus to a nearby hotel where I mentioned my dismay regarding the issue to another female delegate who shared similar concerns. I suggested that we write to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Headquarters and indicate our objection to the deletion of the agenda item about women from the plenary sessions. Overheard while standing in the queue awaiting to be served was another female delegate who asked to join the conversation. She was accompanied by another female who, while wanting to be a part of the group, told us that she could not be identified as a participant in the conversation because if she did her tenure in Parliament in her home country would end. I mentioned our concerns about exclusion of agenda items concerning women to the other female delegates and all but one of them, who told us that she had
planned to go shopping, asked to participate in the discussions. I suggested to the rest of the group that we return to the Conference Centre on the first bus leaving the hotel so that we could continue our discussions. Our discussions began with the suggestion that the eleven of us would each send an individual letter to the then CPA Secretary-General at the CPA Headquarters in which we would voice our concerns. That process began, but soon changed its focus when I asked the group if they thought our purpose would be served by sending so few letters. Change of direction then focused on our returning to our respective Parliaments and inviting other women Parliamentarians to join the discussion and participate in the letter writing. That suggestion was accepted. It was then decided that we should choose a name for the Group. The Commonwealth Women’s Caucus was chosen as a temporary title. I was chosen as Coordinator for the Group and to see the formation formalised. That I did. By mid-afternoon, when the Conference was winding down, I felt a need to inform all delegates that women delegates had formed a group because we wished to highlight the need for increased inclusivity of women Parliamentarians and to give greater attention to the fifty or so percent of constituents not directly represented in our Parliaments. A message via a brief circulated note to the eleven was passed around to indicate that I wished to make such an announcement and asked each to let me know if there were any objections to my so doing. No
one raised an objection. My effort to get the attention of the Conference Chairperson via a note dispatched to him failed to ignite his interest in attending to my attempt. That led me to shift my efforts to the CPA Secretary-General by gesturing to him to open, read and act upon the note. That worked and I made the announcement which resulted in silence among the audience except from one male delegate who voiced his objection as he exited the room. Apparently, there was significant surprise that such an effort met success so quickly. The CPA Secretary-General asked how we had been able to form a group. A few weeks later the CPA Secretary-General let us know that in order for the Commonwealth Women’s Caucus to be accepted into the CPA organisational structure, the Regional Secretariat of the Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic would have to ratify our decision as the annual conference was held in that Region. As the then Coordinator of the Group, I wrote to the Regional Secretariat. The Regional Secretariat’s Secretary responded on their behalf. Their answer indicated their unwillingness to ratify our request. Undaunted, but not surprised, I contacted the CPA Secretary-General, indicated the Region’s negative response, and asked for the assistance of the CPA Executive Committee to ratify the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians’ request at their next meeting. The matter was taken to the next CPA Executive Committee meeting and was ratified.
Rejection at that time was, as now, unacceptable, but part of the political culture of the era. It is a type of behaviour that has at its roots, ingredients that undermine efforts to establish a democracy and prevents Parliaments from representing all the people. It is especially an affront to the human rights of women seeking to or already working in politics. The Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians was the name chosen for the group at a subsequent meeting. That is the history of how the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians network of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association began. The purpose of forming such a group was to increase the number of women Parliamentarians in Parliaments across the Commonwealth; to increase attention to issues facing countries because of a lack of understanding about how the paucity of women in Parliaments presents difficulties to the general population; and to show how that lack of women negatively contributed to less effective service to each country’s female population. It was also intended to bring attention to issues facing women across the Commonwealth and to implement legislation that assisted in bringing about appropriate change. Now thirty years later, it is even more apparent that complaints that existed then continue. Many of those complaints are exhibited to a larger extent in underdeveloped and developing countries. Examples of those conditions
The Parliamentarian | 2019: Issue Four | 100th year of publishing | 329
