Closing the Gender Gap in Politics

Background

More than 40 years after the entry into force of CEDAW and 26 years after the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, progress around women’s full and equal political participation has stalled and gender balance remains a long way off. Women only make up 25% of all national parliamentarians, 36% of local government members, and 21% of ministers.[1] Only 23 countries are headed by a woman Head of State or Government, and States have yet to have a woman leader.[2]

While some countries have made progress towards gender balance in politics, the vast majority are lagging behind. In 114 countries, between 10% and 29.9% of parliamentarians are women, and in 25 countries, women make up less than 10% of parliamentarians. Women account for less than 30% of ministers in 130 countries, 12 of which have no women's representation at all.[3] Gaps in politics persist because of structural barriers and challenges that reinforce discriminatory beliefs, norms, practices, and policies.

In this year’s Agreed Conclusions of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 65), States agreed to a raise the bar to 50/50 gender balance in all elected positions by taking all necessary measures to break barriers and accelerate progress, including: set specific targets and timelines to achieve gender balance in all branches of government and at all levels through temporary special measures such as quotas and appointments; encourage political parties to nominate equal numbers of women and men as candidates; eliminate, prevent and respond to all forms of violence against women and girls; and develop, fund and implement policies and programmes promoting women’s leadership.

At the current rate of progress, gender parity will not be reached in national legislatures before 2063, and among Heads of Government before 2150.[4] The world cannot afford to wait any longer to achieve equal representation for women. With 50/50 gender balance in politics as a global goal, fast tracked actions are needed to close the gender gap in politics once and for all. 

Objective

Following the CSW 65’s outcome, this e-Discussion seeks to raise awareness about the slow progress towards achieving full and equal participation of women in politics and to gather experiences and recommendations on how to best accelerate progress and close the gender gap in politics. Women and men in politics, civil society activists, practitioners and researchers are invited to join this e-Discussion from 11 May to 1 June 2021 by answering the below questions. The submissions will contribute to the elaboration of a report that will augment the knowledge base available on the topic.     

Questions

1. What are the levers of success in countries with high representation of women in politics?
2. More than half of countries have no temporary special measures, several of which have less than 10% of women in parliament. What can be done to ensure gender balance in politics is achieved in such countries? What role can political parties play?
3. Women are under-represented in all spheres of public life, including in public administration and the judiciary. What measures do you propose to ensure women have equal representation in all public life sectors?

To contribute

1. Use the below comment section below.
2. Send your contribution to connect@iknowpolitics.org so that we can post it on your behalf. 

___________________________

_{[1] Women’s full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls: report of the Secretary-General: https://undocs.org/E/CN.6/2021/3}

_{[2] Based on calculations by UN Women, as of 1 April 2021.}

_{[3] Ibid.}

_{[4] Women’s full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls: report of the Secretary-General: https://undocs.org/E/CN.6/2021/3}