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.
Even at 92, Vigdis Finnbogadottir, who became the first elected female president of a country in 1980, is still a consummate politician and continues to speak out for women’s rights.
WASHINGTON (AP) — There are two searing scenes of Nancy Pelosi confronting the violent extremism that spilled into the open late in her storied political career.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that she will not seek a leadership position in the new Congress, ending a historic run
Sierra Leonean lawmakers on Tuesday voted unanimously to pass the Gender Empowerment Act, ensuring that one in three members of parliament, as well as local councillors, is a woman.
The 2022 Fiji general election, for 55 seats in the Parliament, will take place on 14 December 2022. So far 316 provisional candidates have been named from 8 of the 9 political parties of which 55 are women—17 per cent of the total number.
The Democrat takes over as the second Black mayor in LA’s history, beating a rival who spent over $80m of his own money on the race
The first round of polls held to elect the new Parliament and Municipal Councils on Saturday created many milestones in Bahrain in terms of participation.
With few women FPTP candidates, more of them may need to be elected to the upper house to meet the requirement.