ANNUAL REPORT 2014–2015 2. Encouraging gender equality within our members The Paris Principles require that NHRIs demonstrate pluralism, including membership that broadly reflects the society in which they work. Too often, however, women are under-represented at the leadership and senior management level of NHRIs. The APF promotes the principle of gender equality4 within our members, including equal representation at the level of Chairpersons and Commissioners. At the time that the APF member survey was completed in 2015, seven of our 22 members fell within a “gender equitable range”5 of 40-60% women (40-60% men) among their government-appointed Commissioners (see figure 3). The conclusion is that women are not yet effectively represented in leadership roles. Given that terms of appointment are usually several years, and in some cases the legislation governing the NHRI hinders or prevents equity, this situation will take time to improve. Governments in the region, however, should be advised of the importance of ensuring that appointments to NHRIs are representative of their societies and that a focus on gender is incorporated into the appointment process. Figure 4 illustrates the gender composition in relation to senior and junior staff among our members. Ten members fall within the “gender equitable range” (41-60% women) for senior staff and six members fall within the “gender equitable range” for junior staff. Figure 3: Gender balance of APF member Commissioners 7 5 2 30 Vast majority men Definition Number of members Vast majority men 80-100% men, 0-20% women 7 More men than women 61-79% men, 21-59% women 5 “Gender equitable range” 40-60% women, 40-60% men 7 More women than men 61-79% women, 21-59% men 2 Vast majority women 80-100% women, 0-20% men 0 7 More men than women 'Gender equitable range' More women than men Vast majority women Source: APF Member Survey 2015 (note one member did not provide usuable data) The Brave Men Campaign – an initiative of the National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh, in collaboration with UNDP and other partners – encourages young men and boys to take a stand against the prevailing culture of sexual harassment and violence against women. Credit: Brave Men Campaign/Facebook 4 In this context, gender equality refers to equality of representation between men and women. The APF acknowledges the diverse range of gender identity that exists beyond a female:male binary. 5 If there are five Commissioners, for example, and two are men and three are women (or vice versa), this is considered to fall within the “gender equitable range”. This range is proposed as the most practical, as opposed to a strict 50:50 ratio of women and men Commissioners, which will never be achieved when a member has an odd number of Commissioners. 23