AWD Report 2020
5.2. Trends in Legal, Policy and Institutional Reform 5.2.1. Legal Reforms Other countries, such as Liberia, Nigeria and Senegal, have specific legislation to ensure the equal representation of women in the political sphere. In 2016, Liberia passed the Equal Representation and Participation Act, establishing seven “Special Constituencies,” among which five seats are reserved for women, one for youth and one for the disabled.949 Most notably, Senegal’s Law No. 2010-11 of 28 May 2010 instituted full gender parity in all fully or partially elected bodies. The electoral law mandates parity for all candidate lists for regional, municipal and rural elections with the provisions that these lists must be composed of alternating candidates of both sexes.950 Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea have adopted legislation establishing quotas of women in elections. Regionally, these vary from 20% to 50% and, while some apply only to national parliamentary elections, others also apply to local elections. In Benin, Law No. 2019-43 reserves 24 seats out of 109 at the National Assembly for women – that is, one seat per constituency.951 In Burkina Faso’s 2020 Law on Quotas in Legislative and Municipal Elections compels political parties to ensure at least 30% of candidates on their lists are women. The law also specifies that lists of candidates must be alternately composed of both sexes (the list of titular members and the list of substitutes).952 Côte d’Ivoire’s Law on Promoting Women in Elected Assemblies also compels political parties to ensure at least 30% of candidates on their lists are women. The law also incentivises complete parity by granting an additional allowance to every party that attains at least 50% of women candidates (Articles 3 and 4).953 These provisions apply to the elections of deputies, senators and regional, district and municipal advisers. In Cabo Verde, the 2019 Parity Law imposes the representation of at least 40% of each of the sexes on the lists of candidates for the collegial bodies of the political power – namely, the National Assembly, the Municipal Council, the Municipal Assembly and other supra- or infra-municipal bodies. According to the Constitution, the government leadership
Figure 14 West Africa: Percentage of Women MPs (% of members of parliament, 2020)
must endeavour to apply the principle of parity. Furthermore, boards of directors and other appointed positions at the level of the public administration and in public companies, state-owned companies and public institutes must have equal representation of men and women. The law also contains a provision on awareness-raising, training and
Senegal 43.03%
Mali 27.89%
Cabo Verde 25.00%
education of activists, supporters, members and society in general by political parties and in women’s associations of political parties (Articles 4, 7 and 8).954 In Guinea, the 2019 Law on Parity stipulates the need for parity in any list of candidates for national and local elections, as
Togo 18.68%
Niger 16.96%
Guinea 16.60%
well as for the holding of elective offices in public institutions. The law specifies that lists of candidates must be alternately composed of both sexes. Previously, Guinea had a 30% quota reserved for women at the national level.955
Guinea-Bissau 13.70%
Burkina Faso 13.39%
Ghana 13.09%
5.2.2. Policy and Institutional Reforms Mali, Niger and Senegal ensure the equal representation of women and men in decision-making positions through the existence of quotas.
Liberia 12.33%
Sierra Leone 12.33%
Côte d'Ivoire 11.37%
Since 2015, Law No. 2015-052 has instituted compulsory quotas of at least 30% for party election lists, and 30% of high-level government appointees must be women.956 Moreover, in 2014, the 2000 Nigerian Quota Act was amended to raise the quota to 15%.957 These laws have
Gambia 8.62%
Benin 7.25%
Nigeria 7.22%
had positive effects on female representation and women’s access to decision-making positions. For example, following the promulgation of Mali’s Law on Quotas in 2015, the number of female parliamentary representatives went up, from 9% in 2009 to 25% in 2016.958 Some
Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union.
countries have launched initiatives to increase the representation of
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