Report

The delegation was composed of Dominique Vien, M.P. and member of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) Network of Women Parliamentarians.

In addition to the Canadian Branch, the following branches were represented: Armenia, Bulgaria, Côte d’Ivoire, French Polynesia, Gabon, Ontario, Quebec, Romania and Serbia.

Leadership Workshop for Francophone Women Parliamentarians

This workshop has been given to francophone women parliamentarians since 2017. It responds to the need for multilateral training in French and aims to increase women’s representation in parliaments, as they currently make up about 26% of parliamentarians.

The 2022 workshop was held at the initiative of the National Assembly of Quebec. Developed in partnership with the Leadership Chair of the École nationale d’administration publique (ENAP), it received support from the APF, Global Affairs Canada and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. The workshop focused on the following themes: women’s leadership, gender responsive budgeting, policies and other tools to combat harassment in parliaments, civil status and gender equality. The workshop took place over five days, during which the participants had the opportunity to attend university-level theoretical presentations, hands-on exercises and coaching sessions. The goals of the workshop were individual capacity building for women politicians, networking and skill building in women’s advocacy.

The workshop combined theoretical training with hands-on exercises. In particular, Ms. Vien heard from the following experts:

• Natalie Rinfret, an ENAP professor who spoke about women’s leadership;
• Laurence Jacquet, a consultant and expert on training, public finance, gender responsive budgeting and instructional engineering, who spoke about gender responsive budgeting; and
• Anik Laplante, Director of the Associate General Secretariat Directorate for Administration, Living Together and Harassment Prevention at the National Assembly of Quebec, who spoke about policies and other tools to combat harassment.

The participants also heard about the importance of improving management of gender equality in the civil registration and vital statistics process. The issue was addressed from two perspectives: discrimination against women and girls in civil registration, and mechanisms and tools for expediting the registration of girls and applications from women to report the births of their children.

Through its participation in these meetings, the Canadian Branch has achieved its objectives of meeting its international obligations, maintaining international ties and promoting its values within the Francophonie.

Respectfully submitted,

Francis Drouin, M.P.
President of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie
Chair of the Canadian Branch
of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie

On behalf of
Dominique Vien, M.P.