IPS-English POLITICS-TRINIDAD: The Women Are at the Gates
 
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:38:01 -0700

 
Peter Ischyrion

PORT OF SPAIN, Oct 17  (IPS)  - This year, Christmas came early for
social activist Hazel Browne, coordinator of the Trinidadian Network
of NGOs.

Two days after candidates were nominated to contest the Nov. 5 general
election in Trinidad and Tobago, Browne has not stopped smiling and
even her own staff describes her demeanor as that of a kid who has
just been given the gift she wanted for a long time. 

Thirty-two women are listed among the 130 candidates representing
the three major political parties. While this is still a long way
from gender parity, Browne is ecstatic. 

”I think the message has gotten to the parties, the political leaders
and the gatekeepers. They now realise that this strategy (of having
only male candidates) will not work for them and in fact if they are
interested in the development of the country that will only come from
the constituency of women,” she said. 

Browne noted that no matter the outcome of the polls, there will
be more women in parliament than over the past five years, when just
seven women were elected as legislators. 

In at least six of the 41 constituencies to be contested, there are
only women candidates, making it certain that ”we already have six
seats”. 

The Network of NGOs is part of a global campaign by the U.S.-based
group Women of the World to get at least 30 percent women in political
power in their respective countries by 2007. Over the past decade,
Browne's group has used local government elections as a testing ground
for its strategies. 

”When we started in 1996, we had only 25 women as candidates in local
government elections. Now we have doubled that,” she said.

This year, the Network of NGOs has received funding from the Commonwealth
Foundation, the Organisation of American States and the United Nations
Fund for Democracy for its project to ”Put a Woman in Parliament”.


With catchy radio jingles declaring ”A Woman's Place is in the House
-- the House of Assembly”, the Network of NGOs has also been involved
in training women candidates, providing support ”and everything you
need to know in order to become a candidate and win an election”. 

Browne said that the training project is so intense that women candidates
are also taught how to deal with their male partner ”and even the
dog and laundry at home”. 

”We prepare them how to be successful in the arena. It is a structured
programme with a workbook with trained tutors which works,” she told
IPS, adding there are 14 modules on 10 topics ”with feedback and interaction”.


”Many of the women who come are now managing campaigns,” Browne said,
adding also that half of the 32 candidates contesting the November
general elections went through the programme. 

Browne said the long-term goal of getting more women into politics
will also boost good governance.

”There is research that shows there is a direct correlation between
having women in government and less corruption,” she said. 

”Our concept of good governance is not governance by one person.
It is governance of the collective and representation of the people
in which people are participating. What we are looking for is a critical
mass inside,” Browne explained. ”If there are not sufficient of them
(women) to make their priorities strong enough to be accepted by the
leaders, they may become sidelined.” 

Based on the experience the Network of NGOs has had with women's
participation in politics in Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent
and the Grenadines, Browne said that emphasis would also be placed
on helping the women succeed while being part of the decision-making
process in either government or parliament. 

”We found that when women go in there (government or parliament)
and they get into the policy-making arena they aren't prepared for
that,” she noted. ”If the women go inside there without the support
of a constituency of women outside, they can't succeed.”

Browne said that the women could also ”fall back” on the Network
of NGOs, which can use its resources to ensure that they are properly
briefed on any matter before the parliament or government, whether
it is on women's issues, the environment or the economy. 

She likens the process to a journey up a steep mountain, in which
goats are blocking the path and cliffs loom on either side.

”I have seen people in that exercise say they would lie down and
let the goats jump over them, others say they would turn back, some
would feed the goats and others said they would kill the goats,” she
said.

”How you choose to deal with the challenge you face is a function
of the information you have, which commitment, what level of risk
you are willing to take or whether you want to do like the other people
and turn back or lie down and let them jump over you,” she said. 

While acknowledging that ”there may be no right way”, Browne said
the ultimate decision would depend on personality -- ”who you are
and what you want to achieve”. 

She said that political parties are generally interested in getting
”good competent effective candidates...putting one woman to say you
are putting a woman in the race is a thing of the past”. 

She cited the situation in Guyana, where in 2005 with the help of
the Network of NGOs, women got together with the Guyana Lawyers Association
to effectively lobby for a change in the constitution ”so that a party
can't contest (an election) unless they have 30 percent of women on
their list”. 

She said even after the election results were known and the women
were celebrating their victory -- which happily coincided with International
Women's Day -- some of their male colleagues were already searching
for a loophole and claiming that while the party lists had said ”30
percent, it did not say seats”. 

In the end, the women ”did not budge, and we were given 20 seats.”

Neisha Ali, a researcher with the Trinidad and Tobago's Elections
and Boundaries Commission, said that nearly 5,000 more women than
men are likely to vote in the general election this year. 

There are 990,351 registered voters, and Ali said as it now stands,
496,987 are women while the figure for their male counterparts stands
at 492,399. 



*****
+ JAMAICA: First Woman PM Edged Out (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39222)
+ DEVELOPMENT: The Missing Piece of the Poverty Puzzle (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39670)
+ Q&A: ”The Advice I Give Women Is to Leave Hang-Ups Behind” (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39500)


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