Women's Leadership

The appointment of only four senior female Cabinet Ministers is a “missed opportunity” directly linked to the lack of women candidates put forward in winnable seats across the State, women’s rights groups have said.

Women still face systemic barriers in politics, said Ciairín de Buis, chief executive of Women for Election: “It is disappointing that once again a Government has missed the opportunity to appoint a balanced Cabinet.

Women in Turkey are not adequately represented in the Turkish political system and civil society associations should impose pressure to secure at least a one third quota through an amendment of the Law on the Political Parties, the leader of the main opposition party has said.

Much has already changed for women since the protests: laws restricting freedom of dress, movement and work were repealed, and female genital mutilation was criminalized.

Maasai women have made great progress in fighting oppressive cultural practices, says Lydia Ntimama, a Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM) candidate for Narok County woman representative.

She says she is happy and encouraged by the progress, adding that the cultural practices have been a major drawback on women’s progress in politics and other spheres of leadership.

In December 2017 Bloomberg made headlines when it published a report that suggested inclusive teams made better decisions up to 87 percent of the time. The report also noted that having more inclusive decision-making led to swifter decisions.