Women in executive government positions
- As
of 19 September 2022, there are 28 countries where 30 women serve as Heads
of State and/or Government . At the current rate, gender equality in
the highest positions of power will not be reached for another 130
years .
- Just
13 countries have a woman Head of State, and 15 countries have a woman
Head of Government .
- Only
21 per cent of government ministers were women, with only 14 countries
having achieved 50 per cent or more women in cabinets . With an
annual increase of just 0.52 percentage points, gender parity in
ministerial positions will not be achieved before 2077 .
- The
five most commonly held portfolios by women ministers are:
Family/children/youth/elderly/disabled; followed by Social affairs;
Environment/natural resources/energy; Employment/labour/vocational
training, and Women affairs/gender equality .
Women in national parliaments
- Only
26 per cent of all national parliamentarians are women, up from 11 per
cent in 1995 .
- Only
five countries have 50 per cent or more women in parliament in single or
lower houses: Rwanda (61 per cent), Cuba (53 per cent), Nicaragua (51
per cent), Mexico (50 per cent) and the United Arab Emirates (50 per
cent) .
- A
further 27 countries have reached or surpassed 40 per cent, including 15
countries in Europe, five in Latin America and the Caribbean, five in
Africa, one in Asia and one in the Pacific
- More
than two-thirds of these countries have applied gender quotas—either
legislated candidate quotas or reserved seats—opening space for women’s
political participation in national parliaments .
- Globally,
there are 24 States in which women account for less than 10 per cent of
parliamentarians in single or lower houses, including three single/lower
chambers with no women at all .
- At
the current rate of progress, gender parity in national legislative bodies
will not be achieved before 2063 .
- In
Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Northern America, women
hold more than 30 per cent of parliamentary seats. Women make up 26 per
cent of parliamentarians in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Eastern Asia and
South-eastern Asia, there are 22 per cent of women legislators followed by
Northern Africa and Western Asia with 21 per cent of women in national
parliaments. There is less than 20 per cent of women Members of Parliament
in Central Asia and Southern Asia and Oceania .
Women in local government
- Data
from 136 countries shows that women constitute nearly 3 million (34 per
cent) of elected members in local deliberative bodies. Only two countries have
reached 50 per cent, and an additional 20 countries have more than 40 per
cent women in local government .
- Regional
variations are also noted for women’s representation in local deliberative
bodies, as of January 2022: Central and Southern Asia, 41 per cent; Europe
and Northern America, 36 per cent; Oceania, 32 per cent; Eastern and
South-Eastern Asia, 28 per cent; Latin America and the Caribbean, 25 per
cent; Sub-Saharan Africa, 25 per cent; Western Asia and Northern Africa,
18 per cent .
Expanding participation
- Balanced
political participation and power-sharing between women and men in
decision-making is the internationally agreed target set in the Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action . Most countries in the world
have not achieved gender balance, and few have set or met ambitious
targets for gender parity (50–50).
- There
is established and growing evidence that women’s leadership in political
decision-making processes improves them . For example, research
on panchayats (local councils) in India discovered that
the number of drinking water projects in areas with women-led councils was
62 per cent higher than in those with men-led councils. In Norway, a
direct causal relationship between the presence of women in municipal
councils and childcare coverage was found .
- Women
demonstrate political leadership by working across party lines through
parliamentary women’s caucuses—even in the most politically combative
environments—and by championing issues of gender equality, such as the
elimination of gender-based violence, parental leave and childcare,
pensions, gender-equality laws, and electoral reform .
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