Women continue to gain ground in politics, but the momentum is slow. Of all the legislators in parliament around the world, 17.7 per cent are women, and at the executive level, 16.1 per cent of all ministerial portfolios are held by women, an overall increase of two percentage points on the proportion for 2005 for both sectors. For women Speakers of Parliament, the totals are lower, at roughly 10 per cent. Among elected Heads of State, women account for almost 5 per cent.
These are the findings of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the United Nations Division for the Advancement of the Women Map of Women in Politics 2008, giving data as of 1 January 2008. Commenting on the findings, IPU Secretary General Anders B. Johnsson said that they gave reason for cautious optimism “but at this rate, we will not achieve parity in Parliament before 2050”. Carolyn Hannan, Director of the Division for the Advancement of Women, said that "the improved availability of comparative data on women in parliament and government is critical for advocating an increased role and greater visibility for women in all areas of political and socio-economic development".
Parliaments
The global figures conceal some interesting national and regional nuances. Improving on the level of three years ago, there are now 20 countries (up from 18) where women hold over 30 per cent of the seats in lower or single chambers. Importantly, there are now more countries surpassing the 40 per cent mark. Rwanda continues to top the list at 48.8 per cent women members, followed closely by Sweden with a high of 47 per cent and Finland at 41.5 per cent. The traditional stronghold of Nordic countries is now being challenged by Argentina and Costa Rica, with 40 and 37 per cent women members respectively.
Of those countries above the 30 per cent mark, half are from the developing world, and more than three-quarters of them have an electoral quota for women in place. At the other end of the scale, there are seven parliaments with less than three per cent women members, and eight with no women at all in the legislature.
At the regional level, the Nordic countries maintain their overall dominance with an average of 41.4 per cent women members. Significant strides have been made in the Americas, where the average is now above 20 per cent. Apart from Argentina's 40 per cent, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Grenada, Guyana, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago all exceed 25 per cent representation of women. There are also many women Speakers of Parliament in the region, including in Antigua y Barbuda, Belize, Bahamas, Colombia, Dominica, Mexico and Venezuela. Eleven of the world's 28 women Speakers of Parliament are from Latin America and the Caribbean.
The lowest regional average is for the Arab States, with 9 per cent. The United Arab Emirates made a leap from having no women in parliament to a total of 22.5 per cent. A gloomy picture emerges from the Pacific Island States, where, the average is below three per cent women members.
Ministerial positions
The general picture is one of slow progress. The number of countries with no women ministers has declined from 19 to 13. The under-representation of women in positions of government is featuring more frequently as a key political issue. Unlike in some parliaments, where different measures exist to secure seats for women legislators, in the executive branch of government it is often sheer political will that matters.
There are important achievements in the upper end of the tally. Two countries have surpassed the 50 per cent mark for women in ministerial positions: Finland with 58 per cent and Norway with 55.6 women ministers. Grenada comes in third with 50 per cent. The three front runners are closely tailed by Sweden, France, South Africa, and Spain; countries in which the leadership has voiced a strong political commitment to gender equality.
Twenty-two counties have over 30 per cent of women in cabinet posts: 12 of these countries are in Europe and six in the Latin America and Caribbean region. In 2005, only 17 countries - mostly in Europe - topped the 30 per cent mark. At the bottom end of the scale, 13 countries have no women at all heading ministries, and eight have a proportion of less than 5 per cent.
The regional picture for women ministers shows progress for the Americas and the Nordic States since 2005. The Americas have pushed their average up from 17 to 23 per cent, and the Nordics also boast a five percentage point increase, from 42.5 to 47.5 per cent. This trend, with the Nordic States and the Americas in the lead, mirrors the pattern in parliaments. Meanwhile, the Arab States have seen a one percentage point increase to 8 per cent, and Asia remains stagnant, also around the 8 per cent mark.
As in 2005, the pattern is still for women to be awarded the so-called “soft” portfolios. Some would dispute the term, after all, education and social affairs often carry the biggest budgets. Most ministerial portfolios held by women are related to social affairs, family, children, youth and women's affairs. Next on the list come education and the environment. On the positive note, this year there are more women heading ministries for trade, employment, foreign affairs, and justice. Defence remains securely at the bottom, with only six defence portfolios out of the 1,022 portfolios held by women worldwide.
Women Heads of State
Women remain a minority in the highest positions of the State. Of the 150 Heads of State at the start of 2008, only seven or 4.7 per cent were women. For heads of government, the proportion is still lower, at 4.2 per cent, accounting for eight women among the world's 192 heads of government.
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