The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | UNOG , UNITED NATIONS
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: Women In Parliament 2020 - IPU
More than one quarter of members of parliament in the world are now women - Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)
New data showing that an unprecedented 25,5 per cent of parliamentarians in the world are women was announced today by the Geneva-based interparliamentary Union (IPU),ahead of the 8th March commemoration of International Women’s Day.
The figures refer to the year 2020, and are still far from representing “gender parity”.
“It gives me a great pleasure to announce that for the first-time women now account for more than a quarter of parliamentarians worldwide”, said IPU’s Secretary-General Martin Chungong today at the launch of the “Women in Parliament” report at the United Nations in Geneva. “The global average of women in parliament has now reached 25,5 per cent.”
The IPU, the global organization of national parliaments, has tracked women’s participation in parliament for decades, allowing it to measure progress and setbacks.
“While we celebrate and welcome this all-time high, we feel that progress is painstakingly, or even excruciatingly, slow”, Mr. Chungong said. “At the current rate, it will take another 50 years before we can achieve gender parity in parliament. And of course, we all agree that this is not tenable, it’s not acceptable”.
Following elections in 2020, the global proportion of women in parliament represents an increase of 0.6 points compared with 2019.
The ITU chief singled out three countries for having achieved gender parity in the parliamentary representation. “In only three parliaments do women account for 50 percent or more parliamentary seats. That is: Rwanda, Cuba and the United Arab Emirates”, said Mr. Chungong.
Referring to Rwanda as a role model for women’s participation in the government, ITU’s chief said that “we have seen evidence that where countries have come out of conflict and have had the opportunity to re-found the foundations of society, the legal framework of society, there is a greater chance of promoting gender equality, because this is something that has been articulated at the international level and it’s an opportunity for the society as a whole to sit down and say ‘this is what we want in the constitution’ ”.
ITU advocates for well-designed quotas as the key to progress as elections have shown in 2020. Electoral gender quotas were applied in 25 of the 57 countries that had parliamentary renewals in 2020. On average, parliaments with quotas elected 11,8 per cent more women to single and lower chambers and 7,4 per cent more women to upper chambers.
“Where women are involved in lawmaking on specific issues, the outcomes are better in terms of health care, in terms of the way even parliaments are functioning, making parliaments more gender sensitive”, said the ITU Secretary-General.
Though progress has been made in all regions of the world in 2020, once again the Americas were the top performers and outpaced their regions with women making up 32,4 per cent of Members of Parliament. In Chile, Colombia and Ecuador, the percentage is higher than average.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, Mali and Niger made significant gains in women’s representation, despite security challenges. They are testament to the fact that women’s role in transition processes is key to their political empowerment, according to the ITU.
The proportion of women in parliament is lowest in the Middle East and North Africa regions, with 17,8 per cent on average.
With the exception of New Zealand, the number of women MPs in the Pacific remained consistently low or entirely absent in 2020.
The IPU “Women in Parliament” report shows that the COVID-19 pandemic also influenced elections and campaigning in 2020.
“The COVID pandemic has had a negative impact on elections, in some countries those elections were postponed”, Mr. Chungong said. “In others, in some 50 countries where elections took place, we saw that women faced all manners of impediments as a result of the pandemic that exacerbated existing gender imbalances in politics”.
According to IPU, online violence against women has become even more widespread, and has posed a threat to women’s participation in public life.
However, the shift to remote, technology-driven parliamentary practices may have a potentially positive long-term impact for women in parliament, he said.
- Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag flying.
- Wide shot, press briefing room, UN Palais
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Martin Chungong, Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): “It gives me a great pleasure to announce that for the first-time women now account for more than a quarter of parliamentarians worldwide. The global average of women in parliament has now reached 25,5 %”.
- Medium shot, spokesperson and journalist in press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Martin Chungong, Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): “While we celebrate and welcome this all-time high, we feel that progress is painstakingly, or even excruciatingly, slow. At the current rate, it will take another 50 years before we can achieve gender parity in parliament. And of course, we all agree that this is not tenable, it’s not acceptable”.
- Medium shot, journalist in press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Martin Chungong, Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): “In only three parliaments do women account for 50% or more parliamentary seats. That’s Rwanda, Cuba and the United Arab Emirates”.
- Medium shot, journalist in press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Martin Chungong, Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): “Where women are involved in lawmaking on specific issues, the outcomes are better in terms of health care, in terms of the way even parliaments are functioning, making parliaments more gender sensitive”.
- Medium shot, journalist in press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Martin Chungong, Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): “We have seen evidence that where countries have come out of conflict and have had the opportunity to re-found the foundations of society, the legal framework of society, there is a greater chance of promoting gender equality, because this is something that has been articulated at the international level and it’s an opportunity for the society as a whole to sit down and say ‘this is what we want in the constitution’ ”.
- Medium shot, spokesperson in press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Martin Chungong, Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): “The Covid pandemic has had a negative impact on elections, in some countries those elections were postponed. In others, in some 50 countries where elections took place, we saw that women faced all manners of impediments as a result of the pandemic that exacerbated existing gender imbalances in politics”.
- Medium shot, journalist in press briefing room with monitor of spokesperson and IPU’s SG
- Wide shot, spokesperson in press briefing room
- Wide shot, spokespeople at podium with journalists
Similar Stories
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC , OHCHR
Human Rights Council (HRC) - Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran launches its latest report.
2
1
1
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
Senior human rights investigators reporting to the Human Rights Council alleged on Thursday that sexual and gender-based violence by Israeli security forces against Palestinian men, women and children have been increasingly used “as a method of war” following the 7 October 2023 attacks that sparked the Gaza war.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Bangladesh: Humanitarians describe ‘extreme desperation’ as aid cuts deepen Rohingya children’s suffering
In Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar refugee settlements, child malnutrition has surged and cuts in aid funding risk creating a humanitarian “catastrophe”, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday gave an update on the situation in Syria’s coastal region as reports continue to emerge of the distressing scale of violence there since 6 March.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
The aid response in Burundi to the crisis in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) “is literally buckling”, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, warned on Friday, as it relayed dramatic testimonies from people forced to flee the unchecked advance of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Close to 80,000 have fled DR Congo amid fighting, sexual violence: UNHCR
In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), insecurity and horrific sexual violence have pushed tens of thousands to flee across borders with no sign of the exodus stopping, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the Human Rights Council, highlighting key issues and trends, and the human rights situation in more than 30 countries.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that the human rights situation in Myanmar was among the worst in the world.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Haiti: Massive surge in child armed group recruitment – UNICEF
The ongoing emergency in Haiti is crushing children’s chances of an education and a better future as scores of youngsters are recruited by heavily armed and violent gangs, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk today called on UN member states to act with urgency towards a ceasefire and to ease the suffering of the Sudanese people.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“We are at an inflection point in the crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
Investigators tasked by the UN Human Rights Council to track alleged grave abuses of power by top Nicaraguan officials on Wednesday insisted that the International Court of Justice should prosecute what they called the systematic and systemic repression of the country’s people.