The National Assembly for Wales, Welsh Government and Welsh Local Government Association will sign a joint commitment on 25 June to increasing the representation of women in public life.
All three institutions have undertaken strategic programmes to address the lack of women in public office in Wales in the past but all accept that more needs to be done.
A joint statement will be signed in the Senedd, at 9.00, by:
Presiding Officer, Dame Rosemary Butler AM;
Lesley Griffiths, Minister for Local Government and Government Business; and
Cllr Ellen ap Gwynn, WLGA spokesperson on Equality and Active Ageing.
Dame Rosemary said: “When I received the honour of being elected Presiding Officer of the National Assembly in 2011, I made a commitment to leading on gender equality and taking action to address the deficit of women influencers and decision-makers in Wales.
“My Women in Public Life campaign started with a series of seminars across Wales which aimed to examine the barriers to increasing women’s representation.
“As a result of those discussions I have set up a web portal and development scheme to give women the information, confidence and support to apply for public positions.
“I also wrote to the leaders of all four party groups in the Assembly to consider steps to ensure more women put themselves up as candidates in the 2016 Assembly elections.
“I know that both the Welsh Government and WLGA have also implemented strategic programmes to address this issue but by signing this joint statement today we ensure the issue stays at the top of the political agenda.”
Councillor Ellen ap Gwynn (Ceredigion), WLGA Spokesperson for Equalities and Active Ageing said:
“While women make up over half the Welsh population, only around 27 per cent of our local councillors are female. This is an imbalance that local government is committed to addressing. The commitment signed today with the Welsh Government and National Assembly for Wales will help build on the commitment already agreed by Wales’s 22 council leaders on delivering the recommendations made in the recent ‘On Balance’ report, which seeks to improve diversity in local democracy ahead of the next elections.
"As a council leader I know how demanding, but also how rewarding, such public participation can be, and we have a duty to ensure that the right support mechanisms are in place to encourage more women to stand as candidates for public positions and that they are appropriately supported once they have been elected or appointed. Many councils already review how meetings are run to improve access and engagement, both with councillors and local communities, and councils are also exploring how new technologies, working practices and other support can help overcome some of the traditional barriers to women taking up public leadership roles.
“Ensuring that politicians and civic leaders are representative of Wales’s increasingly diverse communities is crucial to local democracy, and ensuring that as many people as possible engage with the local democratic process is a priority for all councils in Wales.”
Jeff Cuthbert, Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty, who will also sign the joint statement said: “Improving the participation of all under-represented groups in public appointments is a key commitment for this Government.
“We are working with Chairs of Public Sector Boards to do what we can to encourage people from a wide range of backgrounds to consider applying for public appointments, with our ultimate goal being more diverse and representative boards in Wales.
“Increased representation will serve to assure both Ministers and the public that there is a diversity of experience and views in decision-making. It will ensure that boards of public bodies command public confidence because they reflect the people that they serve.”