The number of seats held by women in the European Parliament increased from 31% to 35% this year. The world-wide average of women’s representation in parliamentary seats is, however, only 18%, a number far from the United Nations target of 30%.
According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, women’s access is affected by different factors. The attitudes about the role of women in society and bias among the voters are two reasons; but, electorate arrangements (such as the party systems) together with political will are the most important factors. It has been proven that women are elected in greater numbers in systems of proportional representation than they are in majority electoral systems.
Electoral law with quotas can direct political parties to ensure that a certain proportion of their candidates are women. Some states have achieved positive results through a combination of strategies, such as providing skills-training for women or assistance in running electoral campaigns.
What is the situation in your country? What are the most important factors? What strategies are being used? What else could be done to increase women’s participation?
am from pakistan.In my country there is proportioanl representation of women in the parliament.Women parliamentarians lack basic training of politics and skills need to perform their duties.secondly, this representation is generally given to those women who either belong to political families or they are well connected.In my opinion, women having talent should be given chance to come forward and let them do something for their country.
Beside the longest history of Ethiopia parliament which was put in effect in 1931 for the first time, the involvement of women was almost unrecognizable.
Women participation in the Federal Parliament of Ethiopia specifically House of People Representative (HPR) which is the highest authority of the Federal Government (FG) reaches to 32.5 %. Among them 22 % of women representatives are from Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE).
Though the women contribution has shown great difference from last term of election (7.7%), the basic factors stated on the blog has not changed yet. Rather the federal government used electoral quota as other approach for the problem.
In my opinion there is still a lot to do in the area more than trying to feet their numbers in the parliament. We need to remove the Political Taboo off the people and women too by educating them different political ideas to contribute their best for their own country.
In the US there are far more appointed positions to policy-making bodies at the local, state and national levels than elective positions. Many of us realized that these roles are important positions not only because of the particular tasks undertaken, but as a means of training and encouraging people to move into electoral politics. So, state by state, many women began to advocate for official rules/laws that require appointments to such bodies be equal gender appointments. This movement has been going on “under the radar” during the last twenty years and now a majority of the states have such practices. This has led to more women entering into electoral politics, locally and nationally.
Rwanda has succeeded in being the first country in the world to have a majority of women in Parliament. This is partly because of the 30 percent representation law in the constitution but also because of the political will that requires men and women to be alternatively listed on the electoral candidates. In Australia, the Labor party’s work with Emily’s list has ensured that the target of 40 percent of winnable seats going to women has resulted in more than 40 percent of women in parliament. The Liberal party’s choice to train women in politics and with skills has not been effective. The Pacific still has an appallingly low representation of women in Parliament. In my view, special measures will be necessary to change this situation
It seems a lot need to be done in Mongolia regarding women’s representation in parliament. Even though Mongolia has been transitioning from socialist-communist system to democratic system for almost 20 years, men’s dominance at decision-making level prevails in all sector. The latest 2008 Parliament election has given Mongolia’s women leaders only 3.95% (only 3 women out of 76 MPs) of representation. This is much lower than the world-wide average of 18%. We need to change the current majority electoral system in Mongolia.