World Savvy Monitor

Because of the barriers discussed above, most experts agree that efforts to improve gender parity in politics require affirmative action of some kind.

• The single greatest factor influencing the number of female officeholders is the existence of quota systems where a certain number of seats are set aside for women.  This is how post-genocide Rwanda has achieved its leading percentage.

• Another factor correlated with gender equality in politics is election law.  Countries that have a “winner take-all” or “first past the post” system whereby offices are rewarded to the party that takes the majority of the vote tend to put fewer women in office.  Systems where offices are awarded proportionally according to the percentage of votes gained tend to have more women.

• There is the realization that female candidates require extra support – with raising money, training and capacity-building, community organizing, and campaign management.  Many NGOs and advocacy organizations now exist to provide this.  EMILY’s List in the United States is an example.  EMILY stands for Early Money is Like Yeast.

The UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) do include a goal specific to gender equality (#3 – Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women).  Unlike the Beijing Declaration, however, the MDGs do not include formal targets for female representation in politics, an omission that many believe hamstrings progress toward closing what Social Watch has called the “empowerment gap.”

Next: Women in Power and Decision-Making:  Gender Empowerment Measure