#POWiPL – Assembly’s Women in Democracy Caucus meets

Published 31/03/2014   |   Last Updated 14/07/2014

#POWiPL – Assembly’s Women in Democracy Caucus meets

31 March 2014

The National Assembly for Wales’s Women in Democracy Caucus will meet for its first evidence session on 1 April.

It was set up under a commitment made by the Presiding Officer, Dame Rosemary Butler AM, as part of her Women in Public Life Campaign - #POWiPL.

Each political party that is represented in the National Assembly has nominated a Member to sit on the Caucus, which is chaired by Dame Rosemary.

The aim is to look at best practice, particularly from other parliaments around the world, to increase women’s parliamentary representation.

“We have performed relatively well in terms of women’s representation in the National Assembly,” said Dame Rosemary.

“At one point it was split fifty-fifty, men and women, but that number has declined in recent elections.

“The Assembly is still ranked ninth in the world in terms of female representation but you only need to look at Westminster to see that there is still a long way to go in terms of increasing women’s parliamentary representation.

“In order to address this issue I believe we need to learn about measures parliaments and political parties, around the world, put in place to encourage and ensure female representation.”

On Tuesday, they will start that process by taking evidence from:

  • Dr Ruth Fox - Director of the Hansard Society. Dr Fox will draw on the themes developed in her 2010report to explore the progress that has been made in improving the levels of female representation in the devolved legislatures over the last ten years.

  • Adele Baumgardt – an independent consultant who has carried out research for the British Council on the role of Parliamentarians in respect of equality.

The Caucus will also seek to identify:

  • whether parliaments with strong female representation create distinct policies and legislation as a result of this positive representation;

  • the pastoral needs of women politicians; and,

  • what the Assembly Commission can learn from this and benchmark accordingly.

The members of the Caucus are Dame Rosemary Butler AM (Chair), Jocelyn Davies AM, Rebecca Evans AM, Eluned Parrott AM, Antoinette Sandbach AM.