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LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE: LESSONS IN MAINSTREAMING EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

SECTION 7 MAINSTREAMING AND PARLIAMENTS

A recent report ¹⁹² noted the striking lack of information on the work of parliaments in mainstreaming equalities. This absence of focus was seen as all the more surprising given that political will is seen as a crucial variable for the success or failure of such initiatives. The figure below summarises the committees with responsibility for equal opportunities in the national parliaments of the member states of the European Union. The arrangements for European and transnational institutions are also included. As can be seen in Fig. 7.1, specialist equalities committees (often combined with other functions) are the norm at national parliament level in EU member states and within European-level institutions.

At devolved/regional parliament level the picture is more uneven although, in the case of Germany, 13 out of the 16 Länder have specialist committees with a wide range of functions. Figure 7.3 summarises details of parliamentary committees with responsibility for gender equality/ equal opportunities in the devolved parliaments of European Union member states. There are specialist committees in two out of 9 Austrian Landtag; two out of 6 Belgian regions/communities; 13 out of 16 German Landtag; and two out of 17 Spanish autonomous regions. Post-devolution, both the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly have established equal opportunities committees.

Committees are highly heterogeneous but have some or all of the following roles and functions:

• Call evidence / require attendance from ministers and civil servants;
• Hold public hearings and public enquiries;
• Call evidence from outside experts;
• Consult and receive submissions from groups and individuals;
• Commission research;
• Publish reports and minutes of evidence;
• Scrutinise government legislative proposals;
• Propose amendments to government legislative proposals;
• Discuss and draft proposals for legislative change;
• Call debates in parliament;
• Monitor and evaluate government policies and their implementation;
• Monitor and evaluate government performance.

Figure 7.1 Equal Opportunities Committees in National Parliaments, 1997.

Source: Figure 5, USGS, 1998.p.32

Preliminary comparative mapping research was carried out in 1997 by CCEO ¹⁹³ the network of parliamentary committees responsible for equal opportunities for women and men in the member states of the European Union and in the European parliament. An initial typology divides the countries into three main categories: those with a specialist committee; those where equal opportunities is subsumed within functional remits, most usually social affairs, employment and labour committees; and those countries with no committee structure for dealing with equalities issues.

Figure 7.2 Types of Equal Opportunities Committees

The integration of equal opportunities into the work of functional committees in Scandinavia was seen by the CCEO as an indication of the advanced stage of these parliaments in terms of equalities work. ¹⁹⁴ However, it must be noted that there is less compelling evidence that this is the case in other countries which have eschewed specialist committees such as the United Kingdom and Italy.

Figure 7.3 Equal Opportunities Committees in Regional Parliaments (EU)

Source: USGS, 1998, p.34; updated in 1999.

From the limited examples available, it appeared that most committees drew upon the expertise of academic advisers and, where they exist, statutory equalities agencies. In a number of cases close working relationships existed between committees and the equalities office in the Executive. ¹⁹⁵ Many of the parliamentary initiatives reported in the literature concern the commissioning of research on the status of women in general (economic and social position, role in public life) or on the specific issues facing women and men in equity groups (for example, male and female migrant workers). In this respect, parliaments have played a very significant role in establishing baseline data. Parliaments and parliamentary committees have also been active in promoting greater representation of women in decision making (within parliaments, executives and ministerially appointed public bodies and advisory committees) and in putting issues such as domestic violence and the international trafficking of women and children on the political agenda. Despite the paucity of systematic data, the report argued that it was possible to identify a number of areas where specialist parliamentary committees could potentially play a key role in mainstreaming strategies.

• Information gathering and research commissioning;
• Educative and awareness raising;
• Alternative/ additional point of contact/ access for individuals and equality groups;
• Scrutiny of legislation and policy makers;
• Initiation of specific equality legislation;
• Monitoring and the development of analytical tools;
• Monitoring gender balance in public and political decision making bodies within the parliament, the government and public bodies;
• Monitoring equality impact of policies and programmes;
• Monitoring overall performance of government in achieving equality objectives;
• As a symbolic and public expression of parliamentary will.

We found little new available information on the work of parliaments in mainstreaming in the current research although the need for political champions was highlighted time and time again in the country examples. Explicit reference to parliaments were made in the case of Canada, where parliamentarians were considered to be important advocates for the strategy at federal level. A Parliamentary Gender Caucus is seen as a crucial component of the Gender Management System devised for promoting mainstreaming in Commonwealth countries (see Section 2). Comprised of committed members of legislature, the role of the groups are to champion mainstreaming by raising awareness, lobbying, promoting equal participation of women and men; and by scrutinising parliamentary structures, procedures and matters under debate. It is clear that further systematic research is needed in this area to allow parliaments and parliamentary committees to learn from each other.

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