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.
Women make up just 9 per cent of Hungarian members of parliament. In this regard Hungary ranks 122nd out of 140 countries. Upcoming parliamentary elections have sparked public discussion of the role of women in politics, family life, and in the country as a whole.
Alison Redford’s unexpected resignation has reignited the debate on gender in politics. Some declare that gender had everything to do with it, while others argue as strongly that nothing could be further from the truth.
The meaningful role women should play in parliament is to have an impact in changing the nature of politics and to create more honest government.
A year ago, Egyptian politician and women's rights activist Mervat Tallawy defied the Muslim Brotherhood to spearhead the adoption of a U.N. blueprint to combat violence against women.
Women's participation in the upcoming elections in Afghanistan is essential to ensure that the process is inclusive and credible.
The passage of a draft law seeking to provide 30 percent women participation in all political parties was stalled recently by a motion for reconsideration made by Nimba County Senator Thomas Grupee.
As many as 556 women contested from various national and regional parties during the 2009 general elections for the 15th Lok Sabha. Out of them 134 contested from the national parties, 27 state parties, 188 from registered parties (unrecognized) and 207 independents.