What if...we had quotas for women in politics?
Source: Newint
They smile for the camera – the eager new cohort of female parliamentarians. It’s a standard photo, after a general election. A sign, hopefully, of progress.
Over 100 countries in the world have signed up to the goal of gender parity in parliament, an initiative launched at the 1995 World Conference on Women’s Rights in Beijing.
Some countries have made great strides, but generally the pace has been slow and uneven. Today, the global average of seats held by women in national parliaments is just 23 per cent, according to the international Gender Quotas Database.
In 2019 only three countries had 50 per cent or more women in parliament: Rwanda with 61 per cent, and Cuba and (pre-coup) Bolivia with 53 per cent. They beat Nordic goody-goodies like Sweden (47 per cent) and are way ahead of the UK (currently at 33 per cent), Australia (30 per cent) and Canada (29 per cent). The US lumbers just behind China (23 and 24 per cent respectively), but ahead of Brazil (15 per cent), India (14 per cent) and Iran (under 6 per cent). Papua New Guinea boasts a stunning zero per cent women in both houses, according to UN figures.
Click here to read the full article published by New International on 2 June 2020.
They smile for the camera – the eager new cohort of female parliamentarians. It’s a standard photo, after a general election. A sign, hopefully, of progress.
Over 100 countries in the world have signed up to the goal of gender parity in parliament, an initiative launched at the 1995 World Conference on Women’s Rights in Beijing.
Some countries have made great strides, but generally the pace has been slow and uneven. Today, the global average of seats held by women in national parliaments is just 23 per cent, according to the international Gender Quotas Database.
In 2019 only three countries had 50 per cent or more women in parliament: Rwanda with 61 per cent, and Cuba and (pre-coup) Bolivia with 53 per cent. They beat Nordic goody-goodies like Sweden (47 per cent) and are way ahead of the UK (currently at 33 per cent), Australia (30 per cent) and Canada (29 per cent). The US lumbers just behind China (23 and 24 per cent respectively), but ahead of Brazil (15 per cent), India (14 per cent) and Iran (under 6 per cent). Papua New Guinea boasts a stunning zero per cent women in both houses, according to UN figures.
Click here to read the full article published by New International on 2 June 2020.