UN Women Ethiopia together with House of People’s Representatives of Ethiopia conducted experience sharing mission to the South African Parliament

The Experience sharing mission by members of the House of Peoples Representatives (HoPR) of Ethiopia, supported by UN Women Ethiopia was held from 3-7 June 2023. The Ethiopian delegation, led by the Hon. Mrs. Lomi Bedo, Deputy Speaker of the HoPR and overseer of the Women Parliamentary Caucus, engaged with leaders of various sections of the South African Parliament to learn from their extensive experience in pushing for gender equality through parliamentary work. On the first day of the meeting, the delegation met with the Manager of the Office of the Secretary of Parliament to gain insight into the structure and working procedures of the Secretariat.

The Delegation met with members of the Parliamentary Budget Office to learn about their responsibilities, and with the Division Manager of the Core Business Support of the Parliament to learn about matters relating to Parliamentary Committees. The discussions also focused on the issue of gender equality and women’s representation in parliament, including the mechanisms that the South African parliament has put in place to address these issues.

The delegation also met with the Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces and the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa to discuss on efforts by the parliament to promote gender equality and the work of the Multi-Party Women Caucus of South Africa and with the South Africa Parliament Women and Gender Rights Forum, a structure that is set up to promote gender equality for staff of the parliament. It was noted that the Ethiopian Parliament has a similar structure that is institutionalized and funded by the Parliament. This was noted as a best practice appreciated by members of the Forum. During the meeting several issues related to gender-responsive budgeting and constituency outreach work of the parliament and how to leverage that to promote women’s empowerment and gender equality was discussed.

UN Women Ethiopia Office that supported the experience sharing mission recognizes the importance of sharing experiences like this as it strengthens solidarity among parliaments worldwide committed to promoting gender equality at all levels. This exchange of best practices and lessons learned is also expected to fast-track change towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal Five (SDG-5). UN Women would like to thank the Ethiopian Embassy in South Africa and the UN Women South African Multi Country Office for making sure the experience sharing mission happened. The experience sharing mission that took place from 3-7 June 2023, was made possible by the governments of the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark through their support for Strategic Note (2021- 2025) to the UN Women Ethiopia Country office.