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.
The general political context in 2022 is definitely different from that of 2018. But will the new Lebanese Parliament consist of more than six women following the May 15 elections?
At a special event hosted by Mr.
The lawmakers’ decision on International Women’s Day came hours after simultaneous protests by women in four states.
Top UN officials on Tuesday gathered with government and civil society representatives to draw attention to the scourge of violence against women worldwide who are involved in politics, which is increasingly seeing women parliamentarians, human ri
Constituting one-fifth of parliament, women parliamentarians accounted for nearly 35 per cent of parliamentary agenda during 2021-22 – 38 per cent in the National Assembly and 25 per cent in the Senate.
As the world commemorates the 2022 International Women's Day, the plummeting of women's representation in elective office in Africa is alarming.
Quotas are critical in ensuring greater representation of women, according to the latest IPU Women in Parliament report.
Virtual Report Launch Event: Gender-Sensitive Scrutiny: A Guide to More Effective Law-Making and Oversight
Virtual Report Launch Event: Gender-Sensitive Scrutiny: A Guide to More Effective Law-Making and Oversight
While women have made significant inroads into politics in recent years, their involvement as candidates, voters, supporters, and activists has spurre
