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A woman’s place is in politics - More communication, connection and community needed

Editorial / Opinion Piece / Blog Post

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February 4, 2020

A woman’s place is in politics - More communication, connection and community needed

Source: Friends of Europe

By Silvana Koch-Mehrin and Matilda Flemming,

Fifty-two years ago ‘Mary Poppins’ won five Oscars. Singapore, Maldives and Gambia became independent countries. West Germany and Israel established diplomatic relations. The Vietnam War raged. Malcolm X was assassinated. It’s stuff for history books.

According to the latest World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report, it will take another 52 years for the world to reach gender parity in parliaments and confine inequality in political representation to history – if the past trajectory, measured by the WEF since 2006, remains at its current speed, that is. But the last three years have seen a significant roll-back; the number of years to the time that women and men have the same rights and opportunities is increasing, not decreasing. My daughter’s grandchildren might not live to see the day when it’s as likely for a girl to become President of a country as it is for a boy.

Despite some positive dynamics in the last years, having just one woman for every four men in parliaments is a clear sign of how bad societies are at tapping into the potential talent of more than 50% of the population. There are, of course, important variations: Nordic countries are the most gender equal, and the world champion for female participation in politics is Rwanda. At the other end of the scale are Arab and Gulf countries.

Click here to read the full article published by Friends of Europe on 4 may 2017.

Focus areas

By Silvana Koch-Mehrin and Matilda Flemming,

Fifty-two years ago ‘Mary Poppins’ won five Oscars. Singapore, Maldives and Gambia became independent countries. West Germany and Israel established diplomatic relations. The Vietnam War raged. Malcolm X was assassinated. It’s stuff for history books.

According to the latest World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report, it will take another 52 years for the world to reach gender parity in parliaments and confine inequality in political representation to history – if the past trajectory, measured by the WEF since 2006, remains at its current speed, that is. But the last three years have seen a significant roll-back; the number of years to the time that women and men have the same rights and opportunities is increasing, not decreasing. My daughter’s grandchildren might not live to see the day when it’s as likely for a girl to become President of a country as it is for a boy.

Despite some positive dynamics in the last years, having just one woman for every four men in parliaments is a clear sign of how bad societies are at tapping into the potential talent of more than 50% of the population. There are, of course, important variations: Nordic countries are the most gender equal, and the world champion for female participation in politics is Rwanda. At the other end of the scale are Arab and Gulf countries.

Click here to read the full article published by Friends of Europe on 4 may 2017.

Focus areas