PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
15 November, 2019
Put a Woman to work for you in Local Government!
Political Parties urged appoint more Women as Aldermen ahead of 2019 Local Government Elections
Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago – 15 November, 2019 (TTO): The Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWiL) encourages all political parties in Trinidad and Tobago, contesting the Local Government Elections on 2 December, 2019 to appoint women to at least 50% of allocated positions of Alderman.
Equality in decision-making is integral to the advancement of women’s rights. While women are increasingly represented at the highest levels of political leadership in Trinidad and Tobago, 2016 estimates show that female representation in Local Government is still low. Women comprise just:
- 0% of Mayors/Chairs;
- 7% of Deputy Mayors/ Deputy Chairs;
- 4% of Councillors; and
- 25% of Aldermen.
Source: Commonwealth Local Government Forum
The inclusion of more women as Aldermen can address the current inequality between men and women in the sharing of power and decision-making at the local government level and can promote the gender perspective and mainstreaming of policies and programmes before decisions are taken.
The Municipal Corporations Act, the legislation regulating local government, specifies in section 12A (2) that ‘the quantum of names on the List of Aldermen to be submitted by each party in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be equal in number to the number of Councillors to be elected in each Council respectively’. Political parties therefore have the power to appoint as many women as Aldermen in proportion with elected Councillors after the 2019 Local Government Elections. The appointment of women to at least 50% of allocated positions of Alderman will support the commitment of political parties to the inclusion and involvement of women at all levels of leadership.
Ahead of the CSW64 / Beijing+25 in March 2020 it should be noted that ‘Women in Power and Decision-Making’ is a key action for women’s equal access to decision-making positions, including political and public life.
The Beijing Platform for Action calls for removing barriers to equal participation of women. This also supports several international Instruments and commitments, which Trinidad and Tobago is a signatory to, including the
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) – Article 7 on Political and Public Life states that ‘countries shall ensure that women have equal rights with men to vote, hold public office and participate in civil society’ and
- United Nations Sustainable Development Goals – Goal #5, relates to Gender Equality, which aims to ‘Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life’.
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About CIWiL: The Caribbean Institute of Women in Leadership (CIWiL) is a non-partisan and independent institution, established to monitor and strengthen the work of increasing women’s political participation in the region through advocacy, networking, research and capacity building. CIWIL’s work is committed to:
- gender equality in leadership and positions of power in all spaces of society.
- purposeful gender mainstreaming
- realizing a critical mass of personally aware, educated and socially empowered Caribbean women through training, advocacy, mentoring and research
- the realization of equitable and sustainable development of the Caribbean region for the benefit of all of the region’s citizens.
Contact:
Crista Daniel – Gender & Communications Officer
Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWiL)
Room 104
The Professional Centre
11-13 Fitzblackman Drive South
Woodbrook
Port of Spain,
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, W.I
E-mail: cdaniel@ciwil.org
Tel: 1-868-717-2220