Many wasted resources

March 8 this year - Election Day and International Women's Day - will be conveying a double message to citizens deliberating on their choice of candidates.

It will be a day when important decisions are made within the framework of women's participation in politics - be they MLP, PNP, AD or AN - and the selection will have significant impact on the way our society is organised and managed by its leaders.

The lack of Maltese women at the decision-making level has been a subject for debate and discussion for years both in the national and international scene. It is an issue of concern for both women and men for various reasons.

Women enter the labour market, however, not many years pass before many leave because of lack of structures and support services that do not permit a balance between family and work responsibilities.

One might argue that this is a women's issue and it should be up to them to lobby for change. I argue otherwise. For a start, the investment made by the whole of society on their education and training is not giving a return when they leave the labour market.

But more than that, the family unit is being deprived of an income which may entail hardship on other members of the family. Many times the worse off is the father who takes on extra work and, in so doing, involuntarily distances himself from his family.

It is a fact that the accumulated knowledge , wisdom, skills and experience cannot be fully utilised to benefit our society if women, together with men, are not given the opportunity to formulate laws and make and implement policies and programmes. Even here one can make the economic argument regarding the loss of human resources. We are still very far from using all the potential available.

The celebration of Woman's Day on the day of the local council and general elections may be an occasion to remind the electorate of how important and significant their choice will be to bring about a much-needed improvement to our society. Each citizen, be it man or woman, should consider carefully the need to have a critical mass of women elected together with the male candidates.

As parliamentarians, their combined perspectives, experience, knowledge and wisdom should strengthen not only the democratic process but also the work of the whole executive with the resulting multiplier effect on the rest of society.

It is, of course, in the hands of the electorate to decide on this improvement to our society.

Ms Dalli is a sociologist.