While the proportion of women in the highest positions, in businesses and in administration, is struggling to evolve around the world, the Colombian Constitutional Court has just declared constitutional the draft organic law which modifies the rules on equality of gender in decision-making and state management positions, as well as in the participation of women in positions of popular representation. The country has gone from 30 to 50% in decision-making positions in the executive at the municipal, departmental and national levels. So from now on, women will no longer be under-represented in the corporate ranks, and especially in management positions.
Its essential objective is to expand the compulsory participation of women in the highest decision-making positions in the State and other decision-making positions from 30% to 50%; establish parity between men and women in participation in official delegations to international events; and determine that in the lists of public establishments intended to offer fewer than five seats, at least one of the candidates must be a woman.
The Court considered that these provisions, by modifying provisions of a legal nature and regulating positive actions concerning access to public functions and democratic participation, were subject to the reservation of statutory law. Likewise, the legislative procedure respected all the constitutional and organic requirements applicable to this type of initiatives.
In order to provide context for the material analysis of the bill, the Plenary Chamber analyzed the cross-cutting aspects of the regulations under consideration, namely the content and scope of women’s participation in constitutional democracy, the norms of international law of human rights which provide for parity of the sexes in the exercise of political power, the development of positive action measures in favor of women in Colombian constitutionalism and within the framework of the validity of the principle of equality opportunities, the temporality of these measures, the assessment of achievements and challenges of the effectiveness of quota measures and the limits inherent to these measures.
From these analyses, the Court concluded, among other aspects, that quota measures in favor of women are an instrument that, in general, develops the constitutional principle of equality, which is why they are prima facie compatible with the Constitution .
It should be remembered that gender equality is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) included in the United Nations 2030 Agenda. States are committed to “guaranteeing the full and effective participation of women and their equal access to leadership positions at all levels of decision-making, in political, economic and public life”.
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