A new law in Sierra Leone will ensure that at least 30% of parliamentarians are women and impose similar quotas in other institutions, including government, local councils, the diplomatic corps and the civil service. The Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Act was signed into law by President Julius Maada Bio on 19 January, a few months before the country's next general election scheduled for July 2023.

Last Thursday, President Julius Maada Bio signed a new Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Bill 2022, known also as the GEWE Act 2022, that is seeking to open up the country’s political space and establish a level playing field for women in politics.

Political parties are now required to ensure that 30% of their candidates for parliamentary and local council elections are women.

Of the 146 MPs in the country’s parliament, only 12.3% are currently women, and advocates of women’s rights are hoping that this new law will encourage more women to enter politics.

Sierra Leonean lawmakers on Tuesday voted unanimously to pass the Gender Empowerment Act, ensuring that one in three members of parliament, as well as local councillors, is a woman.

Currently only 19 of Sierra Leone’s 146 members of parliament are women.

An earlier draft stipulated a slightly lower 30-percent quota but was amended.