Did you know that only four parliaments in THE WORLD have an equal number of men and women? (as of 2019) Appalling isn’t it?
Week 30 of the #MakeOverMonday Challenge talks about the proportion of women in parliament. The data collected from 1997, covers the proportion of women in parliaments from almost every country.
The average proportion of women in Parliament was a mere 11.7% in 1997. But it has slowly risen and now stands at 24.6%. Women have to face countless obstacles to participate in a political life. It is shocking to know that there are still many discriminatory laws in countries which limits a woman’s capacity to run for political office. No wonder, women are also likely to be participate in voting processes and participate in politics.
Lack of access to education, inequalities, limited to no options for workforce participate, restricted personal freedoms among various barriers limit women from accessing opportunities to participate in politics.
There are 27 states in which women account for less than ten per cent of parliamentarians in single or lower houses, of which three chambers have no women at all!
As seen from the report below, Rwanda has the most number of women in parliaments across the globe, with 61.3 per cent of seats. There have been women who have beaten the odds and had successful and lengthy political careers. With prominent leaders like Jacinda Ardern, Angela Merkel, Sanna Marin doing an impeccable job, there is hope that we will be seeing more women in Parliaments very soon.
Ensuring that women are full and active participants in leadership and decision-making positions is a
critically important target within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Do you think there will be an equal number of men and women in parliaments across the world in 2030?