Report

The parliamentary delegation of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) that attended the Global Conference of Women Parliamentarians of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism in Doha, Qatar, on June 26 and 27, 2024, has the honour to present its report.

The delegation representing the APF Network of Women Parliamentarians (Network) was composed of Marie-France Lalonde (Canada), and Yéya Diallo, Member of Parliament (Senegal). They were accompanied by Isabelle Kempeneers, Network advisor.

BACKGROUND

The UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) created a parliamentary engagement program in November 2020. Launched in June 2021, it aims to:

• Support and strengthen the capacity of the world’s parliamentarians to counter terrorism;
• Strengthen parliamentary contributions to drafting, implementing and overseeing counter-terrorism legislation, policies and strategies;
• Aid parliaments in addressing gaps in the implementation of international law standards, principles and instruments for countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism; and
• Help parliaments promote a balanced implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and General Assembly.

Although the need to mainstream gender in the international normative framework was acknowledged, counter-terrorism measures, particularly security-related ones, do not account for it. Since national parliaments are the main legislative bodies for member states, it is key that parliamentarians, both men and women, include gender perspectives when developing legislation and counterterrorism and preventing and countering violent extremism (CT/PCVE) policies in accordance with the main resolutions and recommendations of the Security Council and General Assembly.

Given the importance of empowering women to achieving gender equality, women parliamentarians as legislators should also bolster their CT/PCVE.

The Global Conference of Women Parliamentarians had three goals:

• Support and promote leadership and the equal and meaningful participation of women parliamentarians in the development, implementation and oversight of CT/PCVE policies and strategies
• Promote gender mainstreaming in the development, implementation and oversight of CT/PCVE legislation, policies and strategies
• Facilitate the establishment of the CT/PCVE Network of Women Parliamentarians

GLOBAL CONFERENCE OF WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS

This event brought together over 100 women parliamentarians from more than 55 national parliaments of member states from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. Nearly 80 participants from embassies and United Nations agencies based in Qatar, top regional universities, media and the Qatar government were also in attendance.

The conference focused on the following topics:

• Parliamentarians’ role in the legislation and CT/PCVE policy drafting processes
• The mainstreaming of gender in CT/PCVE measures
• The effects of terrorism and violent extremism on people of all genders
• Best practices for engaging women parliamentarians in CT/PCVE legislation and policy development
• The identification of challenges, gaps and required measures
• Coordination and partnerships

Ms. Lalonde presented the various actions the Network has taken to strengthen the role of women parliamentarians, such as a leadership workshop and a legislative database on gender-responsive budgeting.

She also stressed the need for a holistic approach to countering the effects and causes of violent extremism and terrorism. She said that young girls’ education, the social and economic development of local communities and support for their resilience, through partnership between parliamentarians and the use od traditional mediation mechanisms, should be priorities.

CONCLUSION

The conference paved the way for strengthening the global engagement of women parliamentarians in preventing and combatting terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism through key recommendations that take gender relations and gender differences into account. The conference also led to the creation of a network of women parliamentarians to combat terrorism and the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.

Respectfully submitted,

Darrell Samson, MP

Chair, Canadian Branch, Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie