EVENT

On January 11, 2002 the Gorbachev Foundation hosted a conference entitled "Women and Elections," dedicated to the seventieth birthday of R. M. Gorbachev [Mikhail Gorbachev's deceased wife] and organized by the Raisa Maksimovna Club and the Women's Information Network. More than 120 participants gathered at the conference, including representatives of both non-governmental and political organizations from 15 regions, expert and research institutions and the press.

The conference opened with introductions from the President of the foundation, Mikhail Gorbachev, the Vice-President of the Raisa Maksimovna Club, Olga Zdravomyslova, and the President of the Lady-Leader Club, Marina Korosteleva. Reports were heard from Duma deputy, Elena Mizulina ("Why Politics Needs Women: the Contemporary Russian Experience"), from Doctor of Political Science, Nadezhda Shvedova ("The Experience and Lessons of Western Democratic Societies"), from Doctor of Juridical Science, Ludmila Zavadska ("The Constitutional Principle of Equality: Mechanisms of Implementation"). Practically all participants took a lively part in the discussion and in the following round-table "A Slogan for Upcoming Elections--More Women in Politics." The outcome was a group statement, the text of which follows.

An Appeal by the Participants in the Conference "Women and Elections" To the President of the Russian Federation, The Parliament, and the Political and Societal Organizations of Russia.

We, the participants of the conference "Women and Elections," express our concern about the exclusion of women from the political life of the country. In contemporary Russia, women make up more than one-half of the population and 47% of all people employed in the national economy, and they are the overwhelming proportion of our voters. In these last few years of reforms, women have shown a unique capacity to adapt to new social and economic circumstances. Many of them are the chief-or only-breadwinners for their family.

Nevertheless, public opinion is still not ready for serious discussion of women as full partners in politics. Participation of women in law-making and governing bodies in no way represents the magnitude of their role in society. In this aspect, Russia is now in 80th place worldwide. The percentage of women in our country's parliament decreases yearly. While under the Soviet regime women made up a third of all deputies, today they are less than 8% of the present State Duma. In most developed countries this percentage is on the rise!

The increasing exclusion of women from politics has already reaped a sad harvest: social problems in our nation have been pushed to the back burner. Insufficient attention goes to questions of health and children's education, to families and youths, and this could have irreversible consequences for Russia in coming years and decades. Now, when the job of humanizing our policies is becoming high priority, women's participation will be crucial. If the situation is to change, we will need to see purposeful, goal-oriented efforts by our entire society, strengthened by political willpower.

We challenge our country's leadership and law-making bodies to uphold the constitutional principle of equality and to introduce gender quotas into election laws. We ask of political parties and movements that they include on future ballots equal numbers of male and female candidates, listed in alternating order.

Participants in the conference "Women and Elections"