Side Event: Gender Sensitive Parliaments: Inclusive Institutions

This side event seeks to explore the potential of gender sensitive parliaments for building effective accountable and inclusive institutions for all. 2024 is being described as a ‘super election year’ where a majority of eligible voters in the region will have an opportunity to cast a ballot. With the subsequent new convocations of legislative institutions, what more can parliaments do to advance gender equality? How can parliaments better provide equal opportunities for women and men to hold office, influence decision making processes, and produce gender sensitive legislation? The side event will align with the SDG 16.7 target to "Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels".  The side event highlighted good work on gender sensitive parliaments in the region with both practical and aspirational examples from Parliaments and tools which Parliaments can use.