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.
Mary Wambui, Peris Tobiko and Millicent Mugadi will go down the annals of history as women, who tested the rough Kenyan political waters with both feet and emerged victorious during the March 4 General Election.
In the 90 years since Rebecca Felton of Georgia became the first woman in the United States Senate — sworn in for a mere 24 hours — women remain an anomaly in the upper chamber.
One of the most heartening developments in recent years has been the broad progress in human development of many developing countries and their emergence onto the global stage: the “rise of the South”.
One of the most heartening developments in recent years has been the broad progress in human development of many developing countries and their emergence onto the global stage: the “rise of the South”.
While the number of women parliamentarians is understood to have increased by 75% since 19951, such trends are not as encouraging considering that women continue to be at the ‘bottom of the power pyramid’ and represent only 19.7% of parliamenta
While the number of women parliamentarians is understood to have increased by 75% since 19951, such trends are not as encouraging considering that women continue to be at the ‘bottom of the power pyramid’ and represent only 19.7% of parliamenta
While no women managed to secure a seat in the national election and again in the provincial election, this does not represent a failure on the women part as the high number of women contesting recent elections has set a record for the country.