Partner News

Only 15 women make it into parliament thanks to quota system for minorities.

The results of this week’s Jordanian parliamentary vote announced on Wednesday were disappointing for advocates of gender equality, as only 15 women were elected to the 130-deputy House of Representatives, down from 20 in the outgoing body.

There were 360 women among the 1,674 registered candidates. Around 4.6 million Jordanians were eligible to vote.

The U.N. Security Council defeated a Russian resolution Friday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of a U.N. measure demanding equal participation for women in activities promoting global peace, with opponents objecting to its failure to adequately address human rights and the key role of civil society in pushing for gender equality.

The email vote on the resolution was 5-0, with 10 countries abstaining, far less than the minimum nine “yes” votes required for adoption.

Priyanca Radhakrishnan was appointed as New Zealand’s first-ever Indian-origin minister today, November 2. Radhakrishnan is one of the five new members that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has brought into her executive. She will manage the following portfolios: Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Ethnic Communities, Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, and Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment. Forty-one-year-old Radhakrishnan is all set to be sworn in on Friday, November 6.

Personal Life And Education

Women make up more than half of Africa's population, but their representation in politics in the past decade has been insignificant.

With a numerical significance of 52 percent against their male counterparts, women are least likely to hold political positions and exercise authority across the continent. They are also the majority of voters, but sadly they are not represented in politics and governance despite their calls for inclusion over the years.

What then could be the reason for this mismatch between numbers and political representation?

A few days ago, Chile held a historical plebiscite to decide whether the country should draft a new constitution, and through which mechanism; a fully elected constitutional convention, with gender parity, or a mixed convention integrated by current members of congress and elected citizens. This was the first national referendum since the ones that initiated the transition to democracy in 1988 and 1989.

UNDP and Sweden support awareness-raising among first-time voters.

The upcoming parliamentary elections offer Georgia a chance to vote more women into office, overcoming a long-standing gender disparity in political representation. In support of greater openness to women in politics, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Sweden are assisting civil society activists in Georgia’s regions to educate first-time voters about democratic elections and gender equality.

Women's rights groups, prominent businesswomen and female politicians in Somalia are urging the country's male-dominated parliament to pass a bill reserving 30 per cent of seats for women in next year's general election.

Women hold 24 per cent of the 329 seats in Somalia's lower and upper houses of parliament, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), up from 14 per cent in the previous election.

On 12 August, International Youth Day 2020, the IPU celebrates the 10th anniversary of its resolution, Youth participation in the democratic process.

Identifying obstacles and focusing on long-term solutions to propose strategies for equal representation

Former minister Dasho Dorji Choden, the first female minister, addresses the challenges Bhutanese women politicians face before her fellow participants during the Bhutan Women Parliamentary Caucus orientation workshop held in Paro in November 2019.