Arab women hold less than 4 percent of parliaments seats

A report by the IPU about the status of women in parliaments in world countries says that women represent about 4 % of available seats in Arab states' parliaments.

The report says that at the beginning of the third millennium, women are asserting themselves as key players on the political scene. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) says that the results of the forty or so elections held in the year 2000 show that the number of women winning seats in parliament is steadily rising throughout the world. However, despite this encouraging trend, women have not passed the 15% mark overall.

As of 1 January 2001, 25 chambers of national parliaments in 20 countries out of a total of 243 chambers in 179 States (64 States have a bicameral parliament) were headed by a woman. In addition to Spain, four developing countries - Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Jamaica and South Africa - have women at the helm in both houses of parliament. Moreover, women preside over two regional parliamentary assemblies, the European Parliament and Parlatino.

However, women lost ground in El Salvador, Zimbabwe and other countries where previously they were in a relatively strong position.

With an average of 38.8% women MPs, the Nordic countries are moving steadily towards parity in parliament. By way of contrast, legislative assemblies in the Arab states are still firmly controlled by men (barely 3.9% women on average). In other regions, women account for between 12.1% (sub-Saharan Africa) and 15.3% (the Americas) and - with a 3% gain over five years - have definitely improved their showing.

Though laudable enough, the trend falls far short of the criteria for democracy as understood by the IPU. In its 1977 Declaration on Democracy, the IPU - the Council of which is chaired by a woman, Dr. Najma A. Heptulla, Deputy Chairperson of the Council of States of India - states that "The achievement of democracy presupposes a genuine partnership between men and women in the conduct of the affairs of society in which they work in equality and complementarity, drawing mutual enrichment from their differences".

Established in 1889 and based in Geneva, the IPU, the world organisation of parliaments, has 140 member parliaments and five associated regional parliamentary assemblies. It has a liaison office with the UN in New York.