Friday, September 30, 2022
The IPU has made bold commitments and taken steps towards ensuring women and girls’ voices are heard in decision-making, and that young women are politically empowered. The IPU collaborates with strong partners such as the Generation Equality Forum (GEF), a civil society-centered global coalition for gender equality launched in 2021.As a co-leader of GEF’s Action Coalition 6 on Feminist Movements and Leadership, the IPU has committed to the following:Empower women leaders, especially young women, and promote synergies with women and girls from civil societySupport and strengthen measures to... Read more
The IPU has made bold commitments and taken steps towards ensuring women and girls’ voices are heard in decision-making, and that young women are politically empowered. The IPU collaborates with strong partners such as the Generation Equality Forum...
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Research shows that female political leadership directs countries to adopt more robust climate change policies. Even though women globally are just 26.3 per cent of all parliamentarians, they are able to make a disproportionate impact.The IPU is committed to increasing the ranks of women MPs from the current 11,653 and is happy to showcase these representative seven, who are already having a profound influence on national and global efforts to mitigate climate change: 1. Mia MottleyPrime Minister of Barbados since 2018 and leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP)... Read more
Research shows that female political leadership directs countries to adopt more robust climate change policies. Even though women globally are just 26.3 per cent of all parliamentarians, they are able to make a disproportionate impact.
The IPU is...
Tuesday, February 02, 2021
By Emma BathaLONDON, Feb 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Boosting the number of female leaders and government ministers will help build a stronger post-pandemic world, the head of U.N. Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said on Monday as data showed women may wait 130 years to see equality at the top.Here are some key facts about women in leadership positions:- There are 22 countries with elected female heads of state or government. Recent additions to the list include Peru, Lithuania and Moldova.*- On Jan. 25, Estonia became the only country with a female president and female prime minister.- A... Read more
By Emma Batha
LONDON, Feb 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Boosting the number of female leaders and government ministers will help build a stronger post-pandemic world, the head of U.N. Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said on Monday as data showed...
Wednesday, October 28, 2020
Women's rights groups, prominent businesswomen and female politicians in Somalia are urging the country's male-dominated parliament to pass a bill reserving 30 per cent of seats for women in next year's general election.Women hold 24 per cent of the 329 seats in Somalia's lower and upper houses of parliament, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), up from 14 per cent in the previous election.In June, Somalia's lower house approved a bill allowing for 30 per cent of parliamentary seats to be reserved for women, but the bill has not been tabled before the upper house for approval.... Read more
Women's rights groups, prominent businesswomen and female politicians in Somalia are urging the country's male-dominated parliament to pass a bill reserving 30 per cent of seats for women in next year's general election.
Women hold 24 per cent of...
Friday, October 16, 2020
As part of their research to produce a handbook to address the issue of legislation that discriminates against women, the IPU and UN Women recently held virtual consultations with parliamentarians from around the world.Laws that discriminate against women affect 2.5 billion women and girls. The figures speak for themselves. Women have around 75 per cent of the legal rights of men, sometimes even less. Almost 40 countries do not have legal protections against domestic violence and over 100 countries do not have laws that criminalize marital rape. Child marriage is another issue... Read more
As part of their research to produce a handbook to address the issue of legislation that discriminates against women, the IPU and UN Women recently held virtual consultations with parliamentarians from around the world.
Laws that discriminate...
Monday, June 08, 2020
The Inter-Parliamentary Union condemns the imprisonment of 43 Members of Parliament around the world, saying they lack legal recourse to attain justice. The IPU is focusing especially on MPs detained in overcrowded, cramped cells in Venezuela, Ivory Coast and Turkey. The IPU says they are at particular risk of infection from COVID-19 and should be released immediately.An IPU human rights committee is monitoring the cases of 139 Members of Parliament in Venezuela. It says they have been subjected to intimidation, harassment, detention and attacks by government security forces because of their... Read more
The Inter-Parliamentary Union condemns the imprisonment of 43 Members of Parliament around the world, saying they lack legal recourse to attain justice. The IPU is focusing especially on MPs detained in overcrowded, cramped cells in Venezuela, Ivory...
Monday, February 24, 2020
The Serbian Parliament has announced an amendment to its electoral laws with a new minimum quota of 40 per cent of candidates on electoral lists for parliamentary and local elections from the less-represented gender.The Parliament adopted amendments to two laws—the Law on the election of Members of Parliament and the Law on local elections—that aim to increase the representation of women in politics. This step followed a self-assessment on gender equality carried out by the Parliament, organized by the IPU and UNDP, in which the Serbian caucus of women parliamentarians and the... Read more
The Serbian Parliament has announced an amendment to its electoral laws with a new minimum quota of 40 per cent of candidates on electoral lists for parliamentary and local elections from the less-represented gender.
The Parliament adopted...
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
In many African countries, it is time for elections this year. Sadly, many of the continent’s social “social structures, such as those in politics, religion and culture, sometimes constitute real obstacles in the promotion of female leadership,” says Cote d’Ivoire SMA theologian. (…)The UN says there is some improvement, but progress is slow. Very slow.According to the 2019 United Nations’ Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Map of Women in Politics, Ethiopia saw the largest increase in women’s political representation in the executive branch, from 10% women ministers in 2017 to 47.6% in 2019.The... Read more
In many African countries, it is time for elections this year. Sadly, many of the continent’s social “social structures, such as those in politics, religion and culture, sometimes constitute real obstacles in the promotion of female leadership,”...
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the IPU has published a comprehensive set of guidelines to combat sexual harassment and violence against women in parliament. The guidelines offer advice and practical information for parliamentarians and parliamentary staff on how to transform parliaments into gender-sensitive environments free from sexism and abuse. They also contain numerous examples of good practice from parliaments around the world.The Guidelines for the Elimination of Sexism, Harassment and Violence against Women in Parliament... Read more
On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the IPU has published a comprehensive set of guidelines to combat sexual harassment and violence against women in parliament. The guidelines offer advice and...
Friday, November 01, 2019
This coming week, members of the New Zealand Parliament will be involved in two events aimed at strengthening women’s political participation and recognising the importance of diversity in democratic institutions.In Turkey, Deputy Speaker Hon Anne Tolley MP is leading sessions in the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) workshop on Women in Politics. Ms Tolley is vice-president of the IPU’s Bureau of Women’s Parliamentarians, which is tasked with promoting increased numbers of women in parliaments and effective decision-making for women and girls. She will share lessons on measures to combat... Read more
This coming week, members of the New Zealand Parliament will be involved in two events aimed at strengthening women’s political participation and recognising the importance of diversity in democratic institutions.
In Turkey, Deputy Speaker Hon Anne...
Friday, October 18, 2019
At the 141st IPU Assembly in Belgrade, Serbia, IPU Member Parliaments condemned human rights violations against a record number of new cases of abused MPs. The IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, the only international body with an exclusive remit to support MPs in danger, examined the cases of 305 parliamentarians in 10 countries whose human rights had been allegedly violated.Full details of all the decisions are available here.Over half the cases are new complaints – mainly from Venezuela, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone and Libya... Read more
At the 141st IPU Assembly in Belgrade, Serbia, IPU Member Parliaments condemned human rights violations against a record number of new cases of abused MPs. The IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, the only international body with...
Friday, October 11, 2019
Policies from Rwanda, Estonia, Scotland, Nepal, South Africa, Europe, Los Angeles and Senegal are this year’s winners of the ‘Oscar for best policies’Eight inspiring and impactful laws and policies aimed at empowering young people to build a fair and sustainable future are being awarded the Future Policy Award 2019. Selected from among 67 nominated policies from 36 countries, this year’s winners of the 'Oscar for best policies' come from Rwanda, Estonia, Scotland (United Kingdom), Nepal, South Africa, Europe, Los Angeles (USA) and Senegal. They are being awarded on 16th October during... Read more
Policies from Rwanda, Estonia, Scotland, Nepal, South Africa, Europe, Los Angeles and Senegal are this year’s winners of the ‘Oscar for best policies’
Eight inspiring and impactful laws and policies aimed at empowering young people to build a fair...
Friday, August 16, 2019
Voices is part of a new IPU web series in which we interview parliamentarians from around the world. The views and opinions they express are their own and do not necessarily reflect the IPU’s position.Marta Grande, young MP from Italy, is a member of the IPU Forum of Young Parliamentarians. We interviewed her on the occasion of International Youth Day on 12 August.What are the barriers preventing youth from running for parliament in your country?I think that detachment from politics is the main reason behind the lack of participation in politics, not just in my country but in many others... Read more
Voices is part of a new IPU web series in which we interview parliamentarians from around the world. The views and opinions they express are their own and do not necessarily reflect the IPU’s position.
Marta Grande, young MP from Italy, is a member...
Friday, August 16, 2019
Voices is part of a new IPU web series in which we interview parliamentarians from around the world. The views and opinions they express are their own and do not necessarily reflect the IPU’s position.Rayya al-Manthari, young MP from Oman, is a member of the IPU Forum of Young Parliamentarians. We interviewed her on the occasion of International Youth Day on 12 August.What are the barriers preventing youth from running for parliament in your country?There are no specific barriers to Omani youth running for the Consultative Council. The government encourages young people to join the... Read more
Voices is part of a new IPU web series in which we interview parliamentarians from around the world. The views and opinions they express are their own and do not necessarily reflect the IPU’s position.
Rayya al-Manthari, young MP from Oman, is a...
Thursday, July 25, 2019
How do women in elections stand to gain in terms of power sharing? What are the takeaways for them?The long election season in India is finally over. No, not India alone, but a few more countries in the Asian neighbourhood had also undergone a similar exercise.Now, how do women in this political changeover stand to gain in terms of power sharing? What are the takeaways for them?Thailand is one such country in Asia which had its first general elections in 2019 after the military coup in 2014. It saw the re-entry of the junta chief Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha as the country’s new Prime Minister.In... Read more
How do women in elections stand to gain in terms of power sharing? What are the takeaways for them?
The long election season in India is finally over. No, not India alone, but a few more countries in the Asian neighbourhood had also undergone a...
Friday, July 12, 2019
Why hasn’t Japan been able to eliminate the perception that politics is a man’s world? Gender equality, women’s active participation in the workplace and female empowerment have taken root in society, but women’s participation in the all-important realm of politics remains sluggish. Is the problem structural or related to how society thinks? The election campaign for the House of Councillors that began on Thursday offers a good opportunity to explore issues related to women and politics.On June 26, Iceland’s former interior minister Hanna Birna Kristjansdottir stood before a large group of... Read more
Why hasn’t Japan been able to eliminate the perception that politics is a man’s world? Gender equality, women’s active participation in the workplace and female empowerment have taken root in society, but women’s participation in the all-important...
Monday, April 22, 2019
Women won just 10.4 percent of the seats up for grabs in Japan’s regional assembly races yet still recorded a record high, Kyodo News said, highlighting the slow pace of improvement for gender equality in the country’s government.Results from the Sunday’s nationwide elections show that politics remains one of the most male-dominated fields in Japan -- which ranks 165 of 193 countries in terms of political representation for women, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union.Candidates supported by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party performed strongly in the... Read more
Women won just 10.4 percent of the seats up for grabs in Japan’s regional assembly races yet still recorded a record high, Kyodo News said, highlighting the slow pace of improvement for gender equality in the country’s government.
Results from the...
Thursday, April 18, 2019
In the fight for gender equality, women around the world have advanced in small and large ways. Yet for women in Africa, progress is measured in micro steps, and the struggle has a long way to go.The good news is that women’s representation in political decision making has been on the rise globally. The not-so-good news is that the increase has been stubbornly slow, barely 1% in 2018 compared with the previous year. In 2018 the number of women ministers worldwide reached an all-time high at 20.7% (812 out of 3922).In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of women seated in parliament grew in 2018,... Read more
In the fight for gender equality, women around the world have advanced in small and large ways. Yet for women in Africa, progress is measured in micro steps, and the struggle has a long way to go.
The good news is that women’s representation in...
Friday, March 22, 2019
The former Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Affairs who leads the 193-member world body, pointed out that in 2105 it would have taken 30 years to close the gender gap, but now, she told the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), if current trends continue, gender parity will not be reached for “107 years”.She commended the under-appreciated women of past who “were made invisible, erased from history”, saying they “have been protagonists in the destinies of entire nations; of culture and political thinking; science and innovation; and the most significant social changes”.“We don’t... Read more
The former Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Affairs who leads the 193-member world body, pointed out that in 2105 it would have taken 30 years to close the gender gap, but now, she told the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), if current trends...
Friday, March 15, 2019
UNITED NATIONS, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The proportion of women ministers is at an all-time high at 20.7 percent, 2.4 percentage points higher than that in 2017, according to data in the 2019 edition of the biennial IPU (Inter-Parliamentary Union)-UN Women map released Tuesday."Women's representation in political decision-making continues to rise slowly, with slight improvements since 2017," according to the map of Women in Politics launched during the 63rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63) at the UN headquarters in New York.The map, however, finds that women's... Read more
UNITED NATIONS, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The proportion of women ministers is at an all-time high at 20.7 percent, 2.4 percentage points higher than that in 2017, according to data in the 2019 edition of the biennial IPU (Inter-Parliamentary Union)-UN...
Friday, March 15, 2019
By Ellen Wulfhorst,UNITED NATIONS (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The number of women in the top echelons of world politics has crawled to an all-time high, but progress is so slow that more quotas and incentives are called for, female leaders said at the United Nations on Tuesday.Countries with legal targets and sanctions are making the biggest strides toward gender equality in politics, said the heads of U.N. Women and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), which released a yearly map charting women in global politics.At the start of this year, one in five ministers around the world was a... Read more
By Ellen Wulfhorst,
UNITED NATIONS (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The number of women in the top echelons of world politics has crawled to an all-time high, but progress is so slow that more quotas and incentives are called for, female leaders said...
Friday, March 08, 2019
International Women’s Day 40th Anniversary of CEDAWWomen’s leadership and the equal participation of women and men in public affairs and decision-making are matters of human rights which are key elements of democracy and lasting peace, and prerequisites for achieving sustainable development.Our societies will not enjoy human rights, peace, sustainable and inclusive development, if they are not grounded in effective gender parity, if they do not benefit from women’s leadership and the empowerment of women and girls as expressly recommended by the Committee on the Elimination of... Read more
International Women’s Day 40th Anniversary of CEDAW
Women’s leadership and the equal participation of women and men in public affairs and decision-making are matters of human rights which are key elements of democracy and lasting peace, and...
Thursday, January 17, 2019
As many political analysts see democracy weakened by introverted, xenophobic parties and autocratic leaders, a glimmer of hope is offered by a new generation of candidates and voters. This year will test that optimism in a series of important elections around the world.Changes in the composition of national legislatures were already being recorded before 2018 ended. In November, a record number of women were elected or re-elected to the United States Congress, raising the percentage of women to nearly a quarter of the 435 members of the House of Representatives and 25 percent of the 100-seat... Read more
As many political analysts see democracy weakened by introverted, xenophobic parties and autocratic leaders, a glimmer of hope is offered by a new generation of candidates and voters. This year will test that optimism in a series of important...
Thursday, December 20, 2018
The President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Gabriela Cuevas Barron praised Qatari legislation that ensures the rights of Qatari women and enables them to reach leading posts in all fields.This came during a meeting hosted by Qatar Chamber, in the presence of a number of leading Qatari women working in public and private sectors.The meeting reviewed the role of Qatari women in the society and ways of helping them to reach leading positions in all fields - politics, economy, science and development.Gabriela Cuevas Barron said that she managed to obtain the position that she is in thanks to... Read more
The President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Gabriela Cuevas Barron praised Qatari legislation that ensures the rights of Qatari women and enables them to reach leading posts in all fields.
This came during a meeting hosted by Qatar Chamber, in...
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Women representation in Indian politics has always been a cause of concern. Despite being accountable for 49% of the country’s population, their representation in political participation is extremely poor. The representation of women in Parliament and in decision making roles in public sphere is one of the key indicators of empowerment.As per the report Women in Politics 2017 (IPU and UN), Lok Sabha had 64 women MPs (11.8 percent of 542 MPs) and Rajya Sabha had 27 (11 percent of 245 MPs). According to Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, as on October 2016, out of the total... Read more
Women representation in Indian politics has always been a cause of concern. Despite being accountable for 49% of the country’s population, their representation in political participation is extremely poor. The representation of women in Parliament...
