Dopis Evropské ženské lobby předsedovi vlády ČR

Dear Sir,
We write to you on behalf of the European Women’s Lobby, to express our deep concern at the absence of women in the current government in the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic, like all other European Union (EU) countries is a signatory of international instruments on women’s rights and gender equality such as the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Platform for Action. As a member of the EU, the Czech Republic is also legally bound to the mission of promoting equality between women and men as enshrined in the EU Treaty. The nomination of a European government without a single woman is a curiosity in Europe, as the average representation of women among senior ministers in EU countries’ governments is currently at 27%. The Czech Republic together with Hungary are the only countries with men-only governments and only 2 other countries have fewer than 13% women senior ministers.

The European Women’s Lobby (EWL) is the largest umbrella organisation of women’s associations in the European Union (EU). EWL membership extends to organisations in all 27 EU member states and three of the candidate countries, as well as to 21 European-wide bodies, representing a total of more than 2500 organisations. The EWL national coordination in the Czech Republic is the Czech Womenn’s Lobby. Working with its members at national and European level, the EWL’s objectives are to lobby for the realisation of gender equality and to monitor all European policies, in order to ensure the integration of a gender equality perspective in all areas and to ensure progress towards equality between women and men and full respect for women’s human rights.

The equal participation of women in decision making is an integral part of modern democracy, as the EWL stressed in its 50/50 Campaign for democracy* supported by more than 300 prominent supporters across Europe. The absence of women in the highest executive organ of a country is a breach of democratic principles and it undermines the legitimacy of the government. By nominating a men-only government you have sent a clear message to the citizens that women have no say in decision-making.

The Czech Republic has been repeatedly criticized by the United Nations Committee on the Eliminationof Discrimination against Women for its low representation of women in decision making, which is one of the important parts of the CEDAW Convention1. The lack of implementation might put the Czech Republic in a difficult situation in its upcoming reporting to the CEDAW Committee in Geneva in October this year.

We trust, Sir that you will honour your commitments as a democratically elected head of government and ensure that the interest of all people living in the Czech Republic, both women and men are represented within your government. We look forward to hearing from you on this matter.

Sincerely yours,

Brigitte Triems, EWL President and Myria Vassiliadou, EWL Secretary General

* For more information on the EWL’s ‘50/50 Campaign for European Democracy’ and a list of signatories, please see: http://5050campaign.wordpress.com/