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.
Sandrea Falconer, the minister with responsibility for gender affairs, in a statement in the Senate on Friday, said that women have broken the glass ceiling in politics but there is need for more to be involved in the process.
Even though Balkan countries are shy of the European average when it comes to women in politics, their presence in public life is growing.
Could the next British prime minister be a woman? A surge of rumors in Parliament means it looks marginally more plausible this week than it did last week.
As we join the rest of the world in commemorating today, 8th March, as International Women’s Day, we wish to use this occasion to address the unacceptable issue of very low representation of women in governance and decision-making in Ghana and many other African countries and commend the great st
During the First Ordinary Session of the Council of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), which was held March 1, at the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, DC, around the theme "Women's rights: From Law to Practice" ; Marie Yanick Mézile, Haiti's Mini
Women’s representation in parliaments round the world increased by nearly one percentage point in 2012, an advance that highlights the key rol
Israel is usually described as a Western democracy. But there are many areas where Israel cannot pride itself on having obtained such positives stats.