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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt">ONE IN FIVE GOVERNMENT MINISTERS IS A WOMAN – NEW HIGH - INTERPARLIAMENTARY UNION
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#C00000">Women in Politics 2019 Map Is Attached. Computer can increase size for easier reading.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D"><img width="850" height="557" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image001.png@01D4E103.45D97E20" alt="https://www.ipu.org/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/womens_map_2018-en-850.png?itok=9RZ0TzS6"></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">March 12, 2019 - Women’s representation in political decision-making continues to rise slowly, with slight
improvements since 2017, according to the data presented in the 2019 edition of the biennial
</span><a href="https://www.ipu.org/resources/publications/infographics/2019-03/women-in-politics-2019" target="_blank"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#00A8B4;text-decoration:none">IPU-UN Women map of Women in Politics</span></a><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">.
The map was launched at a press conference during the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63) at the UN in New York.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">The map, which presents global rankings for women in the executive and parliamentary government branches
as of 1 January 2019, shows the proportion of women ministers is at an all-time high at 20.7 per cent (812 out of 3922), 2.4 percentage points higher compared to 2017. It also shows that the types of portfolios women ministers hold are diversifying.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">The map follows the publication of the
</span><a href="https://www.ipu.org/resources/publications/reports/2019-03/women-in-parliament-in-2018-year-in-review" target="_blank"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#00A8B4;text-decoration:none">IPU analysis of
women in parliament</span></a><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D"> last week which showed that the global share of women MPs (24.3 per cent) has increased by nearly one point compared with 2017. The share of
women parliamentary speakers also increased by 0.6 percentage points to 19.7 per cent, and the share of women deputy speakers increased by 1.6 percentage points to 28.2 per cent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">However, women’s representation in top-level leadership has decreased from 7.2 per cent of elected heads
of state to 6.6 per cent (10 out of 153), and from 5.7 per cent of heads of government to 5.2 per cent (10 out of 193).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">IPU President and Mexican MP, Gabriela Cuevas Barron, said “Equal representation in government positions
is fundamental for a democracy to be truly representative and effective. Despite some positive movement, the overwhelming majority of government leaders remain male. It is a shared responsibility between men and women to change this and ensure gender equality
at all political levels. It is important to identify the main barriers that are stopping women from accessing decision-making positions.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">“More women in politics leads to more inclusive decisions and can change people’s image of what a leader
looks like,” said UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. “We still have a steep road ahead, but the growing proportion of women ministers is encouraging, especially where we see a rise in the number of countries with gender-balanced ministerial
cabinets. These are the types of bold moves that we need if we are to dramatically increase women’s representation in decision-making.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">More gender-balanced governments</span></i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">Nine countries, up from 6 in 2017, have 50 per cent or more women in ministerial positions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">64.7%: Spain<br>
55.6%: Nicaragua<br>
54.4%: Sweden<br>
53.3%: Albania<br>
52.9%: Colombia<br>
51.9%: Costa Rica<br>
51.9%: Rwanda<br>
50%: Canada<br>
50%: France<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">Strongest gains in the share of women cabinet ministers</span></i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">Ethiopia saw the largest increase in women's political representation in the executive, comparatively,
from 10 per cent women ministers in 2017 to 47.6 per cent in 2019.<a name="page2"></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">Mexico made the biggest strides in the Americas, with the addition of 5 women ministers, increasing the
overall share of women ministers by 26.3 percentage points to 42.1 per cent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">Among countries in Asia, Pakistan progressed from having no women ministers since 2012 to reaching its
highest-ever share of women ministers at 12 per cent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">In the Middle East and North Africa, Mauritania maintains the largest share of women ministers in the region
at 31.8 per cent, with the UAE following closely at 29 per cent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">In the Pacific region, Palau gains two female ministers, and Tonga one.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">Biggest decreases for women ministers</span></i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">In Europe, Slovenia dropped the most percentage points since 2017 from 50 per cent to 25 per cent women
ministers. Lithuania no longer has women in ministerial positions, compared to 2017 when there were three out of 14, or 21.4 per cent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">In Asia, the share of women ministers in the Philippines decreased by 14.7 points to 10.3 per cent. Japan
lost two female ministers, leaving one woman out of 19 cabinet ministers, or 5.3 per cent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">Countries with no women ministers</span></i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">The number of countries with no women ministers decreased from 13 in 2017 to 11: Azerbaijan, Belize, Brunei
Darussalam, Iraq, Kiribati, Lithuania, Papua New Guinea, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Vanuatu.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">Shifts in women-held ministerial portfolios
</span></i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in;line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">The types of portfolios held by women ministers are shifting. Although women continue to mainly hold portfolios
on Social Affairs (109 out of 1412 portfolios) or Family/Children/Youth/Elderly/Disabled (107 out of 1412 portfolios), the Trade/ Industry portfolio is among the top 5 ministries held by women for the first time, while the Women’s Affairs portfolio drops out.
Also, for the first time since 2012, portfolios held by women ministers covering Employment/ Labour/ Vocational Training return to the top 5.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D4D4D">Strikingly, more women are in charge of portfolios traditionally occupied by men compared to 2017: 30 per cent more women ministers
cover Defence, 52.9 per cent more women Finance, and 13.6 per cent more women cover Foreign Affairs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:22.5pt"><span lang="EN" style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Inter-Parliamentary Union -
<a href="https://www.ipu.org/news/press-releases/2019-03/one-in-five-ministers-woman-according-new-ipuun-women-">
https://www.ipu.org/news/press-releases/2019-03/one-in-five-ministers-woman-according-new-ipuun-women-</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:22.5pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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