Women's Leadership

While there have been important advances in women’s leadership in politics, as of November 1 2017, women make up only 7.2% of Heads of State and 6.2% Heads of Government. Data on women representatives in local government, including as mayors, heads of villages and towns, is not well collected and analyzed. The adoption of an SDG indicator on women’s representation in local government is a great step forward in tracking progress on gender balance, allowing for the systematic collection and analysis of data on women in local government. Women’s access to and continued role in leadership positions is challenged by a range of barriers, including discriminatory laws and practices, as well as social norms that prescribe traditional roles and attitudes towards women’s participation in leadership and decision-making roles. Proactive gender-equality policies within political parties and local government structures, including quotas and special temporary measures, gender-sensitive approaches to electoral processes, support networks, mentoring, training, and engagement of male champions, can all help promote women’s role in political leadership.

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'Politics should be the lifestyle of every single person': Hajer Sharief

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March 16, 2020

'Politics should be the lifestyle of every single person': Hajer Sharief

From wanting to become a surgeon, like the protagonists of her favourite TV series Grey’s Anatomy, to combating violent extremism by improving political participation of women and the youth, Hajer Sharief has come a long way.

March 16, 2020

Women are refusing to take the backseat in politics, especially Latinas

In 1913, the day before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration, the Suffragette Parade organized between 5,000 and 10,000 women and allies,

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March 16, 2020

Taiwan blasts Tsai's exclusion from U.N.'s Woman in Politics map

The Presidential Office on Friday tweeted a blistering criticism of a United Nations entity that produced a map, in collaboration with another organization, showing the global rankings of women in government, executive and parliamentary positions but excluded

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March 16, 2020

Liberia: Women need financial backing to stay in politics, Says VP Taylor

At a seminar on the way forward for an enforceable gender quota and strategies for implementing Elections Law 4.5 b and c, Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor stressed that without a good financial backing, women will find it difficult to remain in po

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March 16, 2020

'2020 will be my year': the push to elect women in Vanuatu, a nation with no female MPs

Motoralivoa Hilda Lini stands at the front door of Vanuatu’s parliament, wearing an elegant pink dress and customary pig tusks on her wrists, signifying her chiefly status.

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March 11, 2020

Liberia: Women’s Rights Groups demand electoral reform

To mark this year’s International Women’s Day celebration, a group of civil society organizations, led by women’s rights groups and networks assembled outside the National Elections Commission (NEC’s) headquarters in Sinkor and released a communique

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