Global Women in Leadership and Political Participation

Only 22 per cent of all national parliamentarians were female as of January 2015, a slow increase from 11.3 per cent in 1995 [1].
As of January 2015, 10 women served as Head of State and 14 served as Head of Government [2].
Rwanda had the highest number of women parliamentarians worldwide. Women there have won 63.8 per cent of seats in the lower house [3].
Globally, there are 38 States in which women account for less than 10 per cent of parliamentarians in single or lower houses, as of January 2015, including 5 chambers with no women at all [4].

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Across regions

Wide variations remain in the average percentages of women parliamentarians in each region, across all chambers (single, lower and upper houses). As of January 2015, these were: Nordic countries, 41.5 per cent; Americas, 26.3 per cent; Europe excluding Nordic countries, 23.8 per cent; sub-Saharan Africa, 22.2 per cent; Asia, 18.5 per cent; the Middle East and North Africa, 16.1 per cent; and the Pacific, 15.7 per cent. [5].

As of January 2014, only 17 per cent of government ministers were women, with the majority overseeing social sectors, such as education and the family [6].
Women’s representation in local governments has made a difference. Research on panchayats (local councils) in India discovered that the number of drinking water projects in areas with female-led councils was 62 per cent higher than in those with male-led councils. In Norway, a direct causal relationship between the presence of women in municipal councils and childcare coverage was found [7].

30 per cent is widely considered an important benchmark for women’s representation. As of January 2015, 41 single or lower houses were composed of more than 30 per cent women, including 11 in Africa and 9 in Latin America [8]. Out of the 41 countries, 34 had applied some form of quotas opening space for women’s political participation. Specifically, 17 use legislative candidate quotas; 6 use reserve seats; and in a further 11, parties have adopted voluntary quotas [9]. Read more