A/HRC/56/CRP.8 armed groups, political party members, legislative committees, and youth, women, and civil society organizations. It is led by seven members, two of whom are women at the time of writing. Zue Padonmar, who was previously a Joint General Secretary of the Burmese Women’s Union, serves as the IEC first secretary. 212. Seven of the 17 representatives of the Ta’ang Political Consultative Council are women. Ta’ang women serving on the Council told the Special Rapporteur they feel they have meaningful participation and decision-making power within the Council. The Council has agreed to establish a ministry dedicated to women’s and gender issues and adopt a quota system that would require women’s representation of 30 percent or more at all levels of governance, two proposals advanced by women representatives. There are also six women on the 15-member Ta’ang State Constitution Drafting Committee, which will play a critical in deciding future political arrangements in Ta’ang areas. 213. Activists have also shared that, in some areas, women’s representation in local village and township administrations has greatly expanded, especially as men have left positions to join armed resistance groups. In Karenni State, a local political leader estimates that nearly all local administrations are being led by women. 214. Even where there have been improvements in representation, women face barriers in participating meaningfully in decision-making processes due to gender stereotypes and cultural norms. Across resistance governance bodies, sources have repeatedly shared concerns about the “tokenization” of female political appointees to fill gender quotas, noting that women tend to hold little actual influence and decision-making authority. Women are often assigned to work on “soft” issues traditionally perceived as suitable for women, including education, health, humanitarian support, and women and children’s affairs. They are sometimes tasked with office management, administrative, and financial tasks. Decisionmaking power often lies with departments that control arms and finances, yet women face significant hurdles in stepping into these spaces, which are traditionally male-dominated. Women leaders in governance bodies report a lack of resources directed to women-led initiatives. 215. One Karenni female political leader said that even though the Karenni Interim Executive Council has a policy requiring 30 percent female representation, women’s participation was marginal at the top levels of decision-making in practice. She recounted what happened when she raised the relegation of women to lesser roles: We had arguments about this problem and some men got really angry with that. They feel that in this revolutionary period, we need to be ‘clever’ and women can’t be in every place. 216. Both men and women who are familiar with the NUCC have spoken of discrimination against women who participate in the body, including through the de-prioritization of gender issues that are often considered by some to be less important to the revolution. In particular, Council members have reported that issues related to gender-based violence have been neglected. 217. Representatives in the Ta’ang Political Consultative Council expressed similar concerns about the lack of political will to implement new and promising policies, such as the agreed quota system and the establishment of a ministry dedicated to women’s issues. One representative said: Every member has the right to say and express their opinion. But sometimes we have difficulties. For women issues, they don’t listen to us and say this is not the time right now, this time is for revolution… we have important things to do so let us do later. 218. In Chin State, women involved in the Interim Chin National Consultative Council have reported that though there is positive discussion about the importance of women’s 46