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.
IPU has welcomed the decision today by Saudi Arabia to put in place a 20 per cent quota for women in the country’s parliament - the Shura Council, and the immediate appointment of 30 women to the 150-member advisory body.
"Since 1936 when the first woman was sworn into the Louisiana Legislature, women have worked diligently to earn every legislative seat held," she said.
The goal of this research was to:
1. To examine attitudes, opinions and perception of public opinion, that is, to study the attitudes, opinions and perception of Montenegrin citizens through field F2F survey and discussion groups which include evaluations by means of response meters.
The goal of this research was to:
1. To examine attitudes, opinions and perception of public opinion, that is, to study the attitudes, opinions and perception of Montenegrin citizens through field F2F survey and discussion groups which include evaluations by means of response meters.
They've taken abuse on the campaign trail, had their children picked on at school and been tagged with unflattering nicknames - but women are slowly climbing to the top in Hong Kong politics.
Our partner, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), has released new updated data on women in national parliaments around the world.
Our partner, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), has released new updated data on women in national parliaments around the world.
In one of the regions with the lowest number of women in politics, both governmental and non-governmental leaders met in Beijing for the first “Asia-Pacific Workshop on Promoting and Monitoring Women’s Political Participation.”
Yet just like the early weeks of a new hockey season, there’s still a long way to go to achieve true gender parity in Canadian politics.
NAIROBI, Jan 25 2013 (IPS) - Few women in Kenya harbour illusions of entering politics.
A good practices guide to promote women's political participation.
A good practices guide to promote women's political participation.