Democracy and the equal participation of men and women in the political arena are closely intertwined. No parliament or any decision-making body can claim to be representative without the participation of both men and women. As stated in the Universal Declaration on Democracy adopted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s Member Parliaments in 1997, "The achievement of democracy presupposes a genuine partnership between men and women in the conduct of the affairs of society in which they work in equality and complementarity, drawing mutual enrichment from their differences."
Recent years have seen a steady increase in the number of women in parliament, though the world average of less than 22 percent remains far from the goal of parity between women and men. The election of women to the highest positions of state and government in several countries has also contributed to the changing face of politics.
While the road to election is a difficult one, the challenges for women do not stop there. Once women enter parliament or other bodies, they are faced with many new challenges. Parliament is traditionally a male-oriented domain where the rules and practices have been written by men. It is, therefore, an ongoing challenge to transform parliament into a gender-sensitive environment, to ensure that actions are gender-sensitive and to guarantee that gender is mainstreamed throughout the legislature.
More women parliamentarians can play a major role in addressing global security conflicts, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) president, Duarte Pacheco, has said.
UN Women’s East and Southern Africa programming on Governance, Leadership and Political Participation is focused on providing technical support and capacity building to Member States, civil society and regional organizations, to enable women to fully a
In 2008, the Rwanda Chamber of Deputies was the first elected national parliament where women were the majority. The proportion of MPs who are women is at 61.25% today, way above the current global average of 26.4%.
Italy recently joined Great Britain, Finland and New Zealand after the country elected its first woman prime minister.
Ensuring GSP principles are embedded in political institutions is vital for a healthy democracy. It highlights that women’s inclusion and equality does not just stop at the ballot box.
Pourquoi privilégier l’étude des médias quand on travaille sur les questions de genre ?
What are the criteria that make a parliament gender-sensitive? Which parliaments are more gender-sensitive than others? How can your parliament become more gender-sensitive? Answers in this short video.
First-time candidates vie with incumbents for 52 seats after government dissolved ‘Red Roof’ parliament to ward off no-confidence vote.