Parliaments & Representatives
The clamour for increased representation of women in Nigeria’s political space has once again come to the fore, as stakeholders await the outcome of the Reserved Seats Bill currently before the National Assembly.
The bill, also referred to as “Additional or Reserved Seats Bill’’ seeks to alter the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to provide reservation for women in the National and State Houses of Assembly to address the low number of women in the legislature.
If passed into law, the bill will address the long-standing concerns of women underrepresentation in governance and decision-making by ensuring that these special seats are to be contested and filled by women only as a temporary measure to boost their representation.
The bill proposes the creation of one Special Seat for women per Senatorial District and one per Federal Constituency to be contested by women in general elections of which they will have the same privileges and responsibilities as existing members.
This political solution is expected to exist alongside the current constituency seats and will be in place for a limited number of election cycles, after which they will be reviewed to strengthen women’s political inclusion.
Nigeria ranks among the lowest in Africa for women’s political representation, while countries like Rwanda, Namibia, and South Africa lead with robust gender-inclusive policies and high female participation in governance.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, remains near the bottom of the continental rankings, with only 4.1% of seats in its National Assembly held by women as of 2025. This figure pales in comparison to countries like Rwanda (61.3%), Namibia (44.2%), and South Africa (42.7%), which have institutionalised gender parity through legal reforms and party-level quotas.
Rwanda stands as the global leader in women’s parliamentary representation. Following the 1994 genocide, the country rebuilt its political system with gender equity at its core. The Rwandan constitution mandates a minimum 30 per cent representation for women in decision-making bodies, and political parties actively promote female candidates. As a result, women occupy over 60 per cent of seats in the lower house, and hold key ministerial positions in health, education, and gender affairs.
Full article here.
Global and regional commitments over the last thirty years provide solid support for promoting gender equality in politics. In recent years, the growth of women’s representation has stagnated, and the OSCE region is now witnessing escalating narratives against gender equality, which are having a detrimental effect on women’s political participation. Temporary special measures are being abolished, and no new ones are being introduced. Political polarization is steadily increasing, while sexism and violence against women in politics is pervasive, impacting female politicians’ decisions on whether to run for office, advocate certain policy solutions or leave their elected posts.
In this publication, ODIHR presents a seven-step roadmap for OSCE participating States — their parliaments, governments, political parties and other state agencies — to work towards achieving gender parity. It complements the results of the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s 2025 Global Conference of Women Parliamentarians with its visionary approach to parity as parity in numbers, influence and culture. These steps aim to inspire participating States to draft their own, national roadmaps to gender parity, tailored to their specific circumstances and needs.
Researchers at the King Center on Global Development are addressing challenges such as gender-based violence and low labor participation, with the aim to inform supportive policy interventions.
When it comes to managing the administrative tasks that are required to run a home and raise a family, women bear the brunt of the responsibility. According to one study of women in the United States, mothers take on 7 out of 10 so-called mental load tasks, which range from planning meals to scheduling activities for children.
All that extra work takes a toll, including on society: Women who carry more mental load are less interested in national politics (men who carry more mental load also report less political interest, but fewer men are in that position).
Women in Nigeria have called for more opportunities to encourage their active participation in policymaking and to support female candidates during elections.
In a survey conducted in Oyo, Ogun, and Kwara, the women also unanimously supported the call for a Bill for Special Legislative Seats for Women in Parliament.
Folasade Aladeniyi, a former chairwoman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Ibadan branch, said women’s participation in politics was not only a matter of equality but a necessity for balanced and effective governance.
Dina Boluarte, the president of Peru, was removed from office on Thursday after a late-night congressional vote in which parties across the political spectrum called for her ouster.
Boluarte has been under investigation for months over various allegations including bribery and involvement in a deadly crackdown on protesters in 2022.
She has denied all allegations and refused to attend the vote on Thursday, where Congress approved her removal, citing “permanent moral incapacity” to face the onslaught of organized crime in the country.
The president of Congress, 38-year-old José Jerí Oré, will act as interim president and must now call elections, under the constitution.
Boluarte becomes the latest in a long line of disgraced Peruvian leaders. Since the turn of the millennium, no fewer than seven presidents have been brought to trial or faced legal challenges relating to allegations of corruption or human rights abuses. An eighth shot himself dead when police were closing in.
Recently, the issue of harassment and intimidation of women in politics in long-established democracies has become a source of concern. Current research emphasizes that while women may be more frequently attacked, not all incidents of abuse against women in politics are of a gendered nature. This finding prompts further questions such as are women more frequently targeted because they are women and does such targeting inhibit women from fully participating in political campaigning? Using data from the Representative Audit of Britain’s survey of candidates contesting the 2019 General Election, this study shows that harassment has a negative electoral effect for women, even while controlling for the visibility of the candidate. This article argues that the harassment of women candidates in the UK is gendered, both in its motives and outcomes as it forces women to modify their campaign activities in ways that diminish their chances of gaining office. Our findings contribute to the theoretical and empirical understanding of violence towards women in politics and gendered political violence.
Click here to read the full article published by Taylor and Francis Online on 23 August 2022.
Political decisions get better the more diverse the people are who make them. That is especially true in deeply divided societies, in countries that want to move from war to peace. Yet, women and marginalised groups are often absent from tables where key decisions are made. The same applies to our own EU and national institutions. Foreign and security policy often remains a closed circle of “people with badges talking to people with badges”. And the higher the level, the “harder” the security, the fewer women. This shouldn’t be news, but it is important to have data on the subject matter to push for real change. And that is why I set out, in 2020, to build the #SHEcurity Index; together with a growing team of supporting organisations and individuals.
This is the 2nd edition of the #SHEcurity Index. The index for the first time gave a comprehensive overview of how far we have come with regards to gender equality in Peace & Security and UN resolution 1325.
Click here to read the full report published by SHEcurity.
Women’s political leadership is important for ensuring that women’s perspectives and experiences are included in political decision-making. Over the past 25 years, the overall percentage of women in parliaments has more than doubled. However, the pace of progress has slowed in the past five years and women still make up less than a quarter of representatives in legislatures worldwide. Whilst theories that explore women’s political recruitment are well developed, we need more research on how women get selected. We need to know more about how they win positions as political representatives and how they adapt to the realities of political life.
This report focuses on women’s experience of candidate selection and elections and their experience of political leadership. It asks:
- How can women political leaders build their profile?
- What factors support and hinder women’s candidate selection and election success?
- How do women cope with, and adapt to, the realities of political leadership?
- How can programmes and policies effectively support women in political leadership roles?
Click here to read the report.
Systemic and legal barriers to equal political participation persist at all levels and take different forms, including unfavourable electoral systems, lack of support from political parties, socio-economic, and cultural.
Women, people with disabilities, indigenous people, LGBT+ individuals, and young people face all of these barriers, particularly insufficient access to political finance. Campaigning has become an expensive affair, and political aspirants and candidates from these groups find it challenging to secure the substantial sums of money usually required to run a campaign and win an election. In order to address these barriers and level the playing field, several targeted political finance measures have been designed and adopted by some governments, political parties, and private initiatives, although they vary in their target and effectiveness.
This paper explores the challenges facing different groups in accessing political finance and it provides a set of recommendations to ensure that the quest for more accessible political finance includes consideration of other important aspects that are indispensable to more inclusive and representative politics.
Although significant progress has been made with regard to the participation of women in political and public decision-making in Europe, such progress is too slow and uneven. In addition, there is still a lack of participation and representation in political and public decision-making of women with disabilities, young women, LBTI women, Roma women, women of colour, women with an immigration background, women belonging to minorities and indigenous women, rural women and women with a lower socio-economic background.
Adopting a draft resolution based on the report prepared by Eglantina Gjermeni, (Albania, SOC), the Equality Committee called on member States to promote the participation of women from under-represented groups in political decision-making by acting at several levels, with particular emphasis on combating stereotypes, access to public decision-making and participation in political party structures. According to the committee, “an intersectional approach to decision-making as well as targeted measures can help to leaving no one behind”. Men are also called upon to further promote gender equality and the fight against violence against women, especially in politics.
Click here to read the full article published by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 15 March 2021.
African countries are still far from achieving women’s equal and effective participation in political decision-making.
Women constitute only 24 per cent of the 12,113 parliamentarians in Africa, 25 per cent in the lower houses, and 20 per cent in the upper houses of parliament. While local government is often hailed as a training ground for women in politics, women constitute a mere 21 per cent of councillors in the 19 countries for which complete data could be obtained.
The Barometer is a key resource of the consortium Enhancing the Inclusion of Women in Political Participation in Africa (WPP) which aims to provide legislators and policymakers with data to assess progress in women’s political participation over time.
Source: International IDEA