“It does not matter which ministry is given to women,” Parwin Hassan, a member of the council, told Rudaw English, reminding that high profile ministries previously have been given to men, while service sector “low-level” positions went to women.
Hassan added that a number of women’s rights groups and her council have demanded for KRG officials and lawmakers to regulate the percentage of women in the new cabinet as “30 percent for now, and 40 percent in the coming cabinets.”
Although they have not been given any guarantees by officials for more women in office, Hassan believes there will be “progress” in the future.
Female lawmakers make up 30 percent of the 111-seat parliament in Kurdistan Region due to a 30 percent quota system. Iraq's parliament has a 25 percent quota for women.
In mid-February, MPs elected two females as speaker and deputy speaker of the legislature in the three-member presidency in the KRG.
The outgoing KRG cabinet only has one female minister, Newroz Mawlood Amin, who runs the Ministry of Municipalities and Tourism. It is not clear if she will keep the position.
Nechirvan Barzani, the former prime minister of the KRG, was sworn in as the president of Kurdistan Region on Monday. He instructed PM-Elect Masrour Barzani to form a new cabinet within 30 days on Wednesday.
The UK’s Consul General to Erbil Martyn Warr also said in a tweet on Wednesday that he wants to see women have as great a share in government as they do in parliament.
Martyn tweeted in a recorded message: “Let’s have a go at a similar sort of figure for the new cabinet and help to build the unity that President Nechirvan Barzani spoke of in his inauguration.”
He was referring to a tweet Nechirvan Barzani posted after taking his oath “to protect the unity, rights & interests of the people of Kurdistan & will do so to the best of my ability.”
Others on social media also emphasized the need for governments to support gender equality.
“Thanks @WarrMartyn for supporting women in Kurdistan especially as leaders in government... Kurdish women are capable of doing great things for their country if the system and society stand with them,” Asia Ihsan, a graduate of the American University of Iraq – Sulaimani, tweeted.
Kosar Karim Rozh, the general director of High Council of Women Affairs, defended the outgoing prime minister’s government.
“We did not have a place in the speech but His Excellency has always practically proven to be the supporter of the role of women and I am sure he will continue,” she tweeted.
She added that she is “optimistic” PM-designate Masrour Barzani will also focus on the issue.
In the lead-up to the Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary election, Rudaw TV held a panel in September about the role of women in politics.
Layla Ali Abdulazziz, a member of an Islamic party, said women's roles in political parties are merely for “decoration.”
“We don’t see women being decision makers in parties. Up to now, our role is merely for decoration. That is why it doesn’t matter who heads lists. Prior decoration roles do not matter. What matters is who has given rights to women,” she said.
Payman Hassan from the women’s council echoed Abdulazizi’s concerns that even political parties — whose leaders decide who should have what position in government — do not give roles equally to women.
Most of decision makers in political parties in the Kurdistan Region are males. Some don't have any women in their politburos or high executive councils.
The female’s role in the workforce is also lower than their male counterparts,’ according to a survey conducted jointly by International Organization for Migration (IOM), Kurdistan Regional Statistics Office (KRSO) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) released last year.
“Over 40% of the KRI population aged between 15 and 64 years is an active part of the labour force. The gender gap, however, is quite large: women in the work force represent barely 15% of the women of working age – compared to 70% among males,” it found.
