Guyana’s Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall has challenged legislators globally to push for the implementation of laws that would engender greater gender parity within their Parliaments, even as they continue to canvass for the removal of all institutional and systematic structures, legislation, policies and programmes, which perpetuate gender inequality.

The Attorney General made the statement while he was addressing the 145th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly in Kigali, Rwanda on Thursday.

The international meeting is focusing on “Gender Equality and Gender Sensitive Parliaments as drivers for a more resilient and peaceful world.”

“Although gender equality is entrenched in the Charter of the United Nations, and forms part of the fundamental guarantees of governing instruments of similar organisations across the globe; and are ensconced in the Constitutions and laws of most countries, the reality paints a starkly different picture, in particular, as it relates to the membership of Parliaments around the world.  For example, only 3 in 193 countries surveyed, have a 50% or more female membership in their Parliaments.  143 countries have below 30% of female membership, and still yet, several countries have no women representation in their Parliaments,” the Attorney General explained.

Minister Nandlall said the process for more representation of women in the parliament begun a long time ago in Guyana, but it remains a work in progress.

“Today, one third of Guyana’s Parliamentarians are women.  It is a requirement by law that one-third of the list of candidates contesting the General Elections must be women. By our Constitution, the supreme law of Guyana, the State guarantees to every citizen, equal treatment and protection against discrimination, as fundamental rights and freedoms. We have broad-based commissions established by the Constitution such as the Women and Gender Equality Commission and the Rights of the Child Commission, designed to promote issues such as gender parity and to preserve and protect the rights of women and children,” the Attorney General explained.

Guyana, he said, also has a strong network of legislation, policies and programmes that outlaw gender and other forms of discrimination, and simultaneously protect women and children from ills such as sexual abuse, domestic violence and trafficking in persons as well as human trafficking. 

“In short, we are playing our small part and I wish to assure this Assembly that it has a willing partner in Guyana, and I daresay, the entire Caribbean region,” he said.

The Attorney General urged Member States of the IPU to move resolutely to make the conference’s theme.

“Our failure will certainly result in greater human rights’ tragedies, societal stagnation and indeed, the global peace for which we strive, will continue to elude us,” Minister Nandlall warned.

He said there is simply no rational basis to resist greater gender balance in Parliaments.

“To do so, we are not only being unfair to women, but we are shortchanging ourselves and undermining human progress as a whole. It is no coincidence that Rwanda, the country in the world with the highest number of women in its Parliament – that is, over 60% – is not only the fastest growing economy on the continent of Africa, but indeed, in the world,” he said.

Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir; Opposition Member of Parliament, Dawn Hastings-Williams, and Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs are also a part of the Guyanese delegation attending the IPU forum.

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