Taking action: achieving gender equality and empowering women

Chapter 8
Increase women’s representation
in political bodies
Ensuring that women can participate in decisionmaking in all political arenas
on equal footing with men is crucial for meeting Goal 3. Some countries have
made noticeable progress on women’s representation in political bodies since
1991. Their experience suggests that gender quotas and reservations are effective
for increasing women’s representation in national and local legislatures.
Strong women’s movements and government policies that reduce women’s
multiple burdens can also facilitate women’s political participation.
Why women’s increased political representation is a priority
Increasing women’s representation in political office is now a widely held development
goal and one of the four indicators for tracking progress toward Goal
3. 1 The Beijing Platform for Action recommended that governments set a target
reserving 30 percent of seats in national parliaments for women. A target of
30 percent is only a first step toward gender equality in political participation,
because true gender equality and empowerment requires 50 percent representation
by women and the agency to shape decisions and outcomes.
There are three reasons why the task force selected political participation as
a strategic priority. First, equality of opportunity in politics is a human right.
Moreover, countries where women’s share of seats in political bodies is less than
30 percent are less inclusive, less egalitarian, and less democratic.
Second, equality of political participation is important to ensure that
women’s interests are fairly represented in decisionmaking. Evidence suggests
that women who participate directly in decisionmaking bodies press for different
priorities than those emphasized by men. Women are often more active
in supporting laws benefiting women, children, and families. The likelihood
that women will promote such laws rises when there is a critical mass of women
leaders and when there are mechanisms to institutionalize collective action