New Zealand

House of Representatives

Specialized body - Women's caucus

Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians
(August 2010)

About

Formal or informal
Formal
The caucus is open to male MPs
No
The caucus is cross-party
Yes
Notes
All women MPs are invited to join at the beginning of each Parliament. Membership is open throughout the Parliamentary term. The caucus is co-chaired by one member of the Government and one member of the Opposition, selected by the membership.

Part of the parliament’s recognised inter-parliamentary organisation membership (through the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association) also includes women Members of the IPU New Zealand Group – including the parliament's representative on the IPU Bureau for Women

The Caucus develops a programme of objectives and events annually and communication of work undertaken is supported by the Office of the Clerk.
There are rules governing the functioning of the caucus
Yes

Activities

Issues dealt with by the caucus
- Forced and underage marriage and immigration and visa issues related to forced & underage marriage (including getting legislation through the House)
- Female genital mutilation
- Gynaecological health
- Breast cancer
- Sexual harassment and violence (including of women MPs)
- Family and intimate partner violence
- Support for victims of domestic violence
- Empowerment of women and girls
- Male champions for gender quality
- Women’s leadership, economic, & political empowerment (suffrage), including increasing women’s political participation and advocating sport as a vehicle to grow leadership skills
- Supporting increased numbers of women in the Pacific parliaments (mentoring programme)
- Increasing the numbers of women educated and working in the STEM sectors
The caucus has a strategic plan or plan of action
Yes
The caucus has a communication plan
No