|
REGIONS
Africa
Americas
Asia
Europe
Middle East
THEMES
Conflict Prevention
Peace Negotiations
Post-Conflict
Reconstruction
OUR WORK
Building the Network
Making the Case
Shaping Public Policy
PUBLICATIONS
IN THEIR OWN
VOICES
Kemi Ogunsanya,
DRC
Martha Segura
Colombia
Mary Okumu
Sudan
Nanda Pok
Cambodia
Neela Marikkar
Sri Lanka
Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
South Africa
Rina Amiri
Afghanistan
Rita Manchanda
India
Rose Kabuye
Rwanda
Sumaya Farhat-Naser
Palestine
Terry Greenblatt
Israel
Vjosa Dobruna
Kosovo
|
|
US Congressional Action Alert
Independent Elections Commission of Iraq
May 7, 2024
On April 27, 2004, the Iraqi Governing Council announced that
it is adopting recommendations created by the United Nations electoral
assessment mission on the formation of the Independent Elections
Commission of Iraq. The UN mission, headed by Carina Perelli, traveled
to Iraq in late March to assess the requirements for free and fair
elections to be held in January 2005. The Commission’s task
will be to prepare, conduct, and oversee the elections in accordance
with the Iraqi legal framework and international election standards.
The Commission will be headed by an eight-member Board of Commissioners
comprising seven Iraqis and one international member. The commissioners
will be nominated and later assessed through a multi-step technical
evaluation process undertaken by the UN.
While the Independent Elections Commission ultimately will decide
how the elections process will work in Iraq, there is a range of
ways that elections have been structured in other countries to
foster women’s inclusion. Alternative approaches that have
been used in such diverse places as Rwanda, Bosnia, Afghanistan,
and East Timor involve:
- requirements that political parties nominate a certain percentage
of female candidates;
- election laws that mandate that women are positioned at or
near the top of ballots;
- allocation of a certain percentage or number of seats for women;
- parallel elections for women and men;
- voting requirements that call for all voters to cast ballots
for men and women;
- setting aside of seats on local governing structures for representatives
of women’s associations; and
- reserving of seats in governing bodies for women appointees.
For additional information on mechanisms to integrate women in
the electoral process, please see:
- United Nations Expert Group Meeting on “ Enhancing Women’s
Political Participation in electoral Processes in Post-Conflict
Countries” January 19 to 22, 2004 in Glen Cove, New York
(http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/meetings/2004/EGMelectoral/papers.html)
- International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
(http://www.idea.int/quota/index.cfm)
Action Point: Ensure that women are involved in the selection
process and that women are elected to the Commission. It is imperative
that women are included fully in all stages of the Commission’s
work, because they are central to the design and implementation
of national elections. Women should be integrated as resources
in the Commission’s activities and not marginalized in the
process.
Action Point: Attached are recommendations for increasing women’s
political participation that were generated recently by several
key NGOs and think tanks involved with the reconstruction of Iraq.
These recommendations can support in planning and supervising the
elections. The recommendations can also be used to support Iraqi
women’s political representation within the Iraqi government,
including a goal of 25 percent in the Iraqi National Assembly. |
We urge you or your representative to contact the following individuals
to advocate for the full participation of women in the Commission
and for implementation of the attached recommendations:
Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi
Chief Representative, Special Envoy to Iraq
United Nations
Ross Mountain
Representative, Special Envoy to Iraq
Department of Political Affairs
United Nations
Carina Perelli
Director, Electoral Assessment Mission Division
United Nations
return to top
|