13/05/2025 Equality and Non-Discrimination
Parliaments across Europe and beyond should declare the goal of achieving “gender parity” in their representation, backed by strategic plans, as one of a series of measures to ensure the balanced participation of women and men in all areas of parliamentary life, according to a PACE committee.
Approving a draft resolution on the basis of a report by Maryna Bardina (Ukraine, ALDE), the Assembly’s Committee on Equality and Non-discrimination also called for clear rules to allow members of parliament and staff to enter premises with children and infants, and to formally allow for breastfeeding in parliamentary premises.
Working hours should be regulated to prevent late sessions and meetings, and sitting times aligned with the school calendar, as part of moves to achieve a better work-life balance for MPs.
Parliamentarians and staff should be able to benefit from parental leave, and legislatures should consider enabling substitution or proxy voting, or distance voting in certain cases, the committee said.
Male politicians should be encouraged to become “transformative actors”, working together with female leaders to achieve gender equality.
Meanwhile political parties should promote the participation of women and other under-represented groups, selecting candidates in a way that ensures gender equality and diversity.
The committee also called – among other measures – for parliamentary buildings to be made fully accessible for persons with disabilities and reduced mobility.
The report is due to be debated by the full Assembly next month at its summer plenary session.