There is at least one woman in parliament in every country in the world. Switzerland eases sanctions against Syria after earthquakes

At least one woman sits in parliament in every country in the world – a first. The diversity and representativeness of women has never been greater than it is today. Yet equality is still a long way off, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) said in Geneva on Friday.

“This is historic,” IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong told media. The figures are based on the 47 countries that held elections in 2022. In these elections, women took an average of 25.8 percent of the seats. This corresponds to an increase of 2.3 percentage points.

The global share of women in parliaments stood at 26.5 percent on January 1, 2023, representing an increase of just 0.4 percentage points from the previous year. The slowest growth in six years. “There are still too many obstacles preventing women from entering parliament,” said the secretary-general, urging authorities to create a safe legal environment for women.

parity for decades

Only six countries have at least as many women as men in parliament. New on this list last year was New Zealand. It is estimated that it will take decades to reach parity on a global level. “This is unacceptable,” added Chungong.

By region, female participation growth was highest in the Pacific, at nearly 1.8 percent. In the 15 rooms that were newly occupied in Europe last year, the proportion of women hardly changed and stagnated at 31 percent.

With its women’s quota, Switzerland ranks 23rd in the world. In general, the proportion of women elected to parliaments with statutory women’s quotas is much higher than in countries without such quotas. (sda)