- Business Insider Africa presents the top 10 countries with the highest number of female representatives in government.
- This list is based on the data in the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s database, which shows that Rwanda is the most politically progressive country in the world.
- The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is a data platform for authoritative data on the world’s parliaments; each month, they publish rankings of the percentage of women in national parliaments.
The importance of having women in government cannot be overstated as it directly relates to building a more equitable society with diverse interests and issues being lodged on a state level.
Women bring a unique perspective and experience to governance that can lead to more comprehensive policies that better represent and serve all members of society. For much of humanity’s history, political leadership has been relegated to men, resulting in policies and laws that often overlook or marginalize the needs of women and other marginalized groups.
Having women in parliament is essential to achieving gender equality and creating a more just and inclusive society. Studies have shown that having more women in parliament leads to more policies that address issues affecting everyone, such as childcare, maternal health, and equal pay.
Additionally, women in parliament often focus on social issues such as education, healthcare, and poverty reduction, which can improve the lives of all citizens. In retrospect, women balance socio-economic topics that ultimately impact every member of society.
Based on this fact, more and more countries are becoming more politically inclusive, nominating and electing women into seats of power. But, it still begs the question of which countries in the world have made the most progress as it relates to female political inclusion.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), a data platform for authoritative data on the world’s parliaments, publishes rankings of the percentage of women in national parliaments each month.
In commemoration of International Women’s Month, here are 10 African countries with the most female political representation, based on the IPU’s database. The database includes a total of 186 countries.
