Set up supporting structures

Engage the following groups to deliver and oversee the gender equality action plan. Make sure that the groups you establish and work with for the development of the gender equality action plan are suited to your context.

High-level working groups or committees

Establish a high-level working group or committee (under the auspices of the bureau) for the specific purpose of delivering and overseeing a gender equality action plan. The group can be comprised of the following.

  • Individual leaders in parliament (i.e. presidents, speakers, etc.), to ensure that the plan is viewed as a political priority throughout the institution.
  • MPs representing different political parties, to ensure that the plan receives cross-party support. Ideally, the MPs would also be members of different committees, that can advocate for the promotion of the gender equality action plan in their legislative work.
  • Representatives of different departments of the parliamentary administration that can provide technical support for the development of the plan and ensure the mobilisation of resources to implement it. You can also select ‘focal points’ from each department of the parliamentary administration that are not members of the high-level working group but can be regularly consulted throughout the process of developing the plan.

Ensure that women and men (with different backgrounds in terms of age, socioeconomic situation, disability, race, ethnicity, religion, family status, sexual orientation, rural or urban location, etc.) are part of the high-level group or committee.

Ensure that the high-level working group or committee will have access to adequate human and financial resources to develop the plan and agree that funding will be made available at a later stage to implement, monitor and evaluate the plan.

Example of a high-level working group or committee

In Sweden, the national parliament’s Board of Directors is responsible for establishing a working group during each electoral period that will oversee the delivery and implementation of their gender equality action programme[1]. While the gender equality working group has become a permanent body in the parliament, the board renews its members each term. For the 2022–2026 electoral period, the board appointed a gender-balanced working group consisting of eight members from different political parties[2]. The efforts of this group are led by the First and Second Deputy Speakers of the parliament, which signifies that their work is of high political importance.

Permanent gender equality offices (in the administration)

In addition to a high-level working group or committee, a gender equality office (that sits in the parliamentary administration) can help to provide technical support for the design and delivery of the gender equality action plan. While the members of the high-level working group or committee change each term, staff employed in the gender equality office would carry on the lessons learned from previous gender equality action plans. This permanent gender equality office should be comprised of both men and women, with specialist expertise in the field of gender equality.

Example of a permanent gender equality office in the administration

In Catalonia, autonomous community of Spain, the Parliament established both a Gender Equality Working Group and an Equality Office (in the administration) to support the implementation of their 2020–2023 gender equality plan[3]. The Gender Equality Working Group included a representative from the Board of the Parliament of Catalonia, representatives from all parliamentary groups and subgroups, representatives from the Parliament’s Staff Council, General Secretary (in the development phase), the Office of the Presidency, and legal services (in the implementation phase).

This working group is responsible for the development and oversight of the plan, while the Equality Office provides technical support to the working group and is also tasked with implementing specific actions in the plan (for example, implementing the protocol against sexual harassment and harassment on the grounds of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression).

External experts or organisations

You can also work with an external expert or organisation that can support the development of your gender equality action plan, with the supervision and support of an internal steering body or working group.

External experts and organisations can:

  • offer a perspective which may be less prone to bias;
  • possess specialised knowledge on gender and intersecting inequalities;
  • share best practices from other parliaments they have worked with.

There are also limitations associated with working with external experts and organisations. For example, these groups may not have a full understanding of your organisational and cultural context, or may be considered an ‘outsider’, resulting in resistance to the plan. To mitigate this, any external experts or groups involved in the development of the plan should be aware of the local norms, practices, and cultural context that your parliament operates within, and the political dynamics that exist between groups within your institution.

Example of external experts supporting the development process

In Finland, the Parliamentary Office hired an external research group to carry out a gender equality assessment in the Parliament of Finland[4]. The assessment consisted of written surveys and qualitative interviews that collected data on the state of gender equality in their institution. The work was overseen by a steering group which consisted of MPs from all parliamentary groups, an academic gender expert and representatives from the Parliamentary Office. The results of the assessment were publicly disseminated prior to the beginning of the 2019–2023 parliamentary term.

The Parliamentary Office provided recommendations to the Speaker of Parliament for promoting gender equality and non-discrimination in seven thematic areas. The recently established Parliamentary Equality Council ordered a follow-up assessment to identify changes in the state of gender equality since the previous assessment, which replicated its methodology[5]. The assessment was published in 2022 prior to the beginning of the 2023–2027 electoral term.

Checklist: Establish support structures for your gender equality action plan

  • Establish a high-level working group or committee that includes diverse groups of women and men and people representing both the political and administrative sides of parliament (i.e. members of the bureau, MPs, parliamentary employees, etc.), and different political parties.

  • Determine the human and financial resources that can be allocated to the high-level working group or committee for the development of the gender equality action plan.

  • Make sure to engage the gender equality office in the administration. Keep in mind that other departments in the administration (such as the human resources (HR) department) also play an integral role in ensuring the success of these plans.

  • Decide whether any external experts or organisations will support the development of the gender equality action plan. If yes, familiarise them with the organisational and cultural context. Ensure that your high-level working group, committee, or a similar steering body is available to provide guidance to the external experts.

  • Assess any factors related to data privacy and protection that need to be considered when selecting internal and/or external experts. For example, consider who can access employee data or other sensitive information (such as complaints related to harassment and sexual harassment).