Topic: Encouraging Political Participation by Women
Country: Russia
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Russia position papers GLIMUN 2017 committees
With a global population that is fifty percent women, it would make sense for half of the world’s lawmakers to be women. This, unfortunately, is not the case in much of the world, and most nations’ governments consist mainly of men. The primary issue with this common occurrence is that when only men are involved in politics, women’s voices tend to get lost and therefore their views are not well represented. While many Russian women have succeeded in occupying official positions (notably, Valentina Matviyenko, chairwoman of the Federation Council) and the involvement of women in politics is increasing, the political gender gap is still a global issue that needs to be resolved.
As a strong proponent for women’s participation in politics, Russia recognizes and commends the efforts that UN Women has made to help women’s voices be heard, especially in places where they have previously been suppressed. However, it is important to recognize that the gap still exists between men and women, and even more so to understand that the root cause of this division lies within cultural and societal norms that have existed for a very long time. For centuries, women have been seen as inferior to men and these patriarchal beliefs still linger in most of modern society in practice, if not in law.
Changing these deeply rooted ideas is something that will take a lot of time, but there are questions that we as a committee can consider in order to further our understanding of the problems that women are facing and why. Firstly, how do we address the lack of female officials in a way that considers the lack of qualified candidates running? Secondly, how can we work to reduce the harmful effects of cultural biases against women that still considers that no two countries’ cultural and economic systems are exactly the same? A sound resolution will consider these issues and ensure that in working to solve them, the sovereignty of states that may be deemed worthy of intervention is still respected.
The only way to ensure progress as a committee is to take into account every nation's perspectives on this issue, and to be willing to work together as united nations. Russia looks forward to engaging in effective debate and creating a resolution that takes a step in the direction of political equaliy for women and men.
