Participants in ODIHR-supported conference in Warsaw mark 100 years of women's suffrage rights

The road to women’s increased political participation in Poland and ways to further strengthen women’s voices in politics and society were the focus of a conference on the history of women’s rights co-organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Warsaw on 6 March 2018.

The event – “100 Years of Women’s Suffrage: Honouring achievements and learning from Poland and Nordic countries" - brought together more than 15 Polish and international speakers and over 70 participants, including parliamentarians, scholars, activists and practitioners, who shared good practices and lessons learned for advancing women’s rights.

“One hundred years ago, in an era of great political changes, women were granted suffrage in 15 OSCE participating States,” said ODIHR Director Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir. “Today, as we celebrate these achievements, we must also ensure that women are able to fully exercise those rights and participate in decision-making on an equal footing with men. Experiences from the Nordic countries have shown that when women contribute to politics and are active in all spheres of life, the whole society benefits.”

“Women are amazing. They are strong, wise and entrepreneurial and have broken through so many barriers against all odds,” said Bożena Szydłowska, Member of Parliament and Chair of the Parliamentary Group of Women at the Polish parliament, the Sejm. “However, we still have to fight for our rights and place in a world dominated by men. Here in the parliament, there is also still a lot to be done.”

Hanna Lehtinen, Finland’s Ambassador to Poland, said: “It is valuable to be able to exchange views on what we can learn from each other in this respect. Women's political participation has been one of the key factors in the building of Nordic societies over the past decades, and this work continues.”

The conference was organized as part of ODIHR’s programme on advancing women’s political participation in the OSCE region, which provides technical assistance, guidance and support to a range of participating States. It was co-organized with the Parliamentary Group of Women at the Polish Sejm, the Polish-Finnish Parliamentary Group of the Sejm and the Embassy of Finland in Warsaw, in co-operation with the Embassies of Denmark, Sweden and Norway in Poland.