With more people set to vote in elections than at any time in history, 2024 is being touted as a test of democracies’ strength around the world, but one thing remains in noticeably short supply – female leadership candidates.

On International Women’s Day on March 8, North Korea held various events to celebrate the country’s women, repeating what has become more or less a national slogan, “Women Are Flowers,” and hailing the country as a “paradise” for women. State media even compared North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to a “mother” who cares deeply for her children. 

Less than 7 per cent of Pacific politicians are women, compared with 27 per cent globally.

This means the Pacific’s representation of women in politics is among the worst in any region in the world, says an Op-Ed penned last month by former New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark, and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Pacific Office resident representative Munkhtuya Altangerel.

Iceland has an excellent record on gender equality, topping the World Economic Forum’s ranking of most gender equal country for 14 consecutive years. It was also the first country to elect a female president, Vigdis Finnbogadóttir, who won the 1980 presidential election as well as the next three. The Parliament, the Althingi, almost became the first European country to elect a female-majority parliament in 2021, but after a recount narrowly missed the target, with women winning 30 out of 63 seats.

SEOUL, South Korea – When South Koreans elect a new parliament this week, the outcome will shape the next four years of the country's politics. But some watchers will be looking to verify a trend that can influence it for decades to come – the political divide between young men and women.

In the 2022 presidential election, 59% of male voters between ages 18 and 29 voted for the conservative candidate Yoon Suk Yeol, who eventually won. Their support for Yoon was second only to that of voters aged 60 and older.