महिला नेतृत्व के उदाहरण
संख्या से परे: महिला नेतृत्व की नये सिरे से व्याख्या की ज़रूरत!
इस कमी को दूर करने के लिए लैंगिक समानता की पड़ताल हेतु एक ऐसे व्यापक दृष्टिकोण को अपनाना ज़रूरी है, जो महिला नेतृत्व और महिला सशक्तिकरण के रास्ते में आने वाली हर परेशानी को ध्यान में रखता हो. यानी व्यापक स्तर ...
निर्णयलेनेवालीभूमिकाओंमेंमहिलाओंकाउचितप्रतिनिधित्वनहींहैं
राजनीतिक नेतृत्व : वैश्विकस्तरपरउपलब्धआंकड़ोंपरनज़रडालेंतोपताचलताहैकिदुनियामेंहरस्तरपर <anchor>निर्णयलेनेवालीभूमिकाओंमेंमहिलाओंकाउचितप्रतिनिधित्वनहींहैं</anchor>. इनआंकड़ोंसेसंकेतमिलताहैकिराजनीतिमेंलैंगिकसमानताकीबातअभीदूरकीकौड़ीहै. ज़ाहिरहैकिमहिलाओंसेजुड़ेमुद्दोंकोज़ोरदारतरीक़ेसेउठानेऔरलैंगिकसमानताकोप्रोत्साहितकरनेकेलिएराजनीतिमेंमहिलाओंकीसमुचितभागीदारीबेहदज़रूरीहै. कुलमिलाकर,इसकेलिएसरकारमेंनसिर्फ़निर्वाचितपदोंपरमहिलाओंकीसमुचितभागीदारआवश्यकहै,बल्किराजनीतिकदलोंमेंभीउनकीमहत्वपूर्णभूमिकाहोनाज़रूरीहै. साथहीनीतियांबनानेवालीसंस्थाओंमेंऔरमहिलाअधिकारोंकेलिएआवाज़उठानेवालेसंगठनोंमेंभीमहिलाओंकीप्रभावशालीभूमिकाहोनाज़रूरीहै.
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# Facts and figures: Women’s leadership and political participation

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A village council head from a village in Alwar district of Rajasthan in India attends a meeting organized by UN Women’s partner The Hunger Project, to develop her leadership skills. Women get together to discuss priority issues and find solutions to problems such as alcoholism, lack of roads or drinking water. Photo: UN Women/Ashutosh Negi


[Women’s equal participation and leadership in political and public life](https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation) are essential to achieving the [Sustainable Development Goals](https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-and-the-sdgs) by 2030. However, data show that women are underrepresented at all levels of decision-making worldwide and that achieving gender parity in political life is far off.

- [Women in executive government positions](#83879)
- [Women in national parliaments](#83880)
- [Women in local government](#83882)
- [Expanding participation](#83883)
- [Notes](#83881)

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WOMEN IN EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT POSITIONS

WOMEN IN NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS

WOMEN IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT

EXPANDING PARTICIPATION

NOTES


## Women in executive government positions

- As of 1 June 2024, there are 27 countries where 28 women serve as Heads of State and/or Government [\[1\]](#_edn1). At the current rate, gender equality in the highest positions of power will not be reached for another 130 years [\[2\]](#_edn2).
- Just 18 countries have a woman Head of State, and 15 countries have a woman Head of Government [\[3\]](#_edn3).
- Data compiled data by UN Women show that women represent 23.3 per cent of Cabinet members heading Ministries, leading a policy area as of 1 January 2024 [\[4\]](#_edn4). There are only 15 countries in which women hold 50 per cent or more of the positions of Cabinet Ministers leading policy areas [\[5\]](#_edn5).
- The five most commonly held portfolios by women Cabinet Ministers are Women and gender equality, followed by Family and children affairs, Social inclusion and development, Social protection and social security, and Indigenous and minority affairs [\[6\]](#_edn6).

## Women in national parliaments

- Only 26.9 per cent of parliamentarians in single or lower houses are women, up from 11 per cent in 1995 [\[7\]](#_edn7).
- Only six countries have 50 per cent or more women in parliament in single or lower houses: Rwanda (61 per cent), Cuba (56 per cent), Nicaragua (54 per cent), Andorra (50 per cent), Mexico (50 per cent), New Zealand (50 per cent), and the United Arab Emirates (50 per cent) [\[8\]](#_edn8).
- A further 22 countries have reached or surpassed 40 per cent, including 13 countries in Europe, five in Africa, four in Latin America and the Caribbean, and one in Asia-Pacific [\[9\]](#_edn9).
- Globally, there are 21 States in which women account for less than 10 per cent of parliamentarians in single or lower houses, including two lower chambers with no women at all [\[10\]](#_edn10).
- At the current rate of progress, gender parity in national legislative bodies will not be achieved before 2063 [\[11\]](#_edn11).
- Women hold 36 per cent of parliamentary seats in Latin America and the Caribbean and make up 33 per cent of parliamentarians in Europe and Northern America. In sub-Saharan Africa, there are 27 per cent of women legislators, followed by Eastern and South-Eastern Asia with 23 per cent, Oceania with 20 per cent, Central and Southern Asia and Northern Africa and Western Asia where, in both regions, women make up 18 per cent of women Members of Parliament [\[12\]](#_edn12).

## Women in local government

- Data from 141 countries show that women constitute more than 3 million (35.5 per cent) of elected members in local deliberative bodies. Only three countries have reached 50 per cent, and an additional 22 countries have more than 40 per cent women in local government [\[13\]](#_edn13).
- Regional variations are also noted for women’s representation in local deliberative bodies, as of January 2023: Central and Southern Asia, 41 per cent; Europe and Northern America, 37 per cent; Oceania, 32 per cent; Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, 31 per cent; Latin America and the Caribbean, 27 per cent; sub-Saharan Africa, 25 per cent; Western Asia and Northern Africa, 20 per cent [\[14\]](#_edn14).

## Expanding participation

- Balanced political participation and power-sharing between women and men in decision-making is the internationally agreed target set in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action [\[15\]](#_edn15).
- While most countries in the world have not achieved gender parity, gender quotas have substantially contributed to progress over the years. In countries with legislated candidate quotas, women’s representation is five percentage points and seven percentage points higher in parliaments and local government, respectively, compared to countries without such legislation [\[16\]](#_edn16).
- There is established and growing evidence that women’s leadership in political decision-making processes improves them. For example, research on _panchayats_(local councils) in India discovered that the number of drinking water projects in areas with women-led councils was 62 per cent higher than in those with men-led councils. In Norway, a direct causal relationship between the presence of women in municipal councils and childcare coverage was found [\[17\]](#_edn18).
- Women demonstrate political leadership by working across party lines through parliamentary women’s caucuses—even in the most politically combative environments—and by championing issues of gender equality, such as the elimination of gender-based violence, parental leave and childcare, pensions, gender-equality laws, and electoral reform [\[18\]](#_edn19).

## Notes

[\[1\]](#_ednref1) UN Women calculation based on information provided by Permanent Missions to the United Nations. Countries with monarchy-based systems are excluded from the count of Heads of State.

[\[2\]](#_ednref2) UN Women calculations.

[\[3\]](#_ednref3) UN Women calculation based on information provided by Permanent Missions to the United Nations. Three leaders hold positions of both head of state and head of government. Countries with monarchy-based systems are excluded from the count of Heads of State.

[\[4\]](#_ednref4) UN Women, [Women Political Leaders 2024](https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2024/06/poster-women-political-leaders-2024).

[\[5\]](#_ednref5) Ibid.

[\[6\]](#_ednref6) Ibid.

[\[7\]](#_ednref7) Inter-Parliamentary Union. [Women in national parliaments, as of 1 January 2024](https://data.ipu.org/women-ranking/?date_month=1&date_year=2024).

[\[8\]](#_ednref8) Ibid.

[\[9\]](#_ednref9) Ibid.

[\[10\]](#_ednref10) Ibid.

[\[11\]](#_ednref11) UN Women calculations.

[\[12\]](#_ednref12) Inter-Parliamentary Union. [Women in national parliaments, as of 1 January 2024](https://data.ipu.org/women-ranking/?date_month=1&date_year=2024).

[\[13\]](#_ednref13) UN Women, [Women in Local Government](https://localgov.unwomen.org/). Data as of 1 January 2023, retrieved 14 September 2023.

[\[14\]](#_ednref14) Ibid.

[\[15\]](#_ednref15) United Nations (1995). [Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action](https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2015/01/beijing-declaration), Critical Area G, “Women, power and decision-making”.

[\[16\]](#_ednref16) United Nations, Economic and Social Council (2021). [Women’s full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls: Report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.6/2021/3)](https://undocs.org/E/CN.6/2021/3).

[\[17\]](#_ednref18) R. Chattopadhyay and E. Duflo (2004). “Women as policy makers: Evidence from a randomized policy experiment in India,” Econometrica 72(5), pp. 1409–1443; K. A. Bratton and L. P. Ray. 2002. “Descriptive representation: Policy outcomes and municipal day-care coverage in Norway,” American Journal of Political Science, 46(2), pp. 428–437.

[\[18\]](#_ednref19) Inter-Parliamentary Union (2008). Equality in politics: A survey of men and women in parliaments.

\[Page updated 12 June 2024.\]

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