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Division for the Advancement of Women
Fact Sheet on
WOMEN IN GOVERNMENT
as at January 1996*
As part of its regular programme of work in support of the advancement of
women, the Economic and Social Council, under resolution 1990/4, requested
the Secretary-General to disseminate sex-disaggregated information on the
composition of national decision-making institutions at the highest levels,
on a regular basis. The United Nations Division for the Advancement of
Women has conducted research and created a statistical database on women in
government.
Data on women in government were derived from information published in a
commercially available directory of high-level government officials, the
1996 edition of the Worldwide Government Directory published by Worldwide
Government Directories, Inc. of Bethesda, Maryland. The directory contains
information on all United Nations Member States and other Observer States,
with information provided for a total of 187 countries.
Cabinet level
- The number of female ministers worldwide doubled in the last decade
from 3.4 per cent in 1987 to 6.8 per cent in 1996.
- In 48 countries, there were no women ministers at all.
- Women ministers remain concentrated in social areas (14%) compared
to legal (9.4%), economic (4.1%), political affairs (3.4%) and the
executive (3.9%).
- A "critical mass" of 30 per cent women at the ministerial level has
been achieved in five countries - Barbados, Finland, Liechtenstein,
Seychelles and Sweden.
- Ten additional countries have 20-29 per cent women at the ministerial
level,including seven from the Europe/Others region - Andorra,
Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Norway - and
three from the Caribbean (Grenada, Haiti and St. Vincent and the
Grenadines).
- All other states had less than 20 per cent women at the ministerial
level.
- In the Asia and Pacific region and Eastern Europe, very little
progress has been achieved, with the proportion of women ministers
being less than 5 per cent.
Sub-ministerial level
- In 136 countries, women held no ministerial positions concerned with
the economy.
- In the Asia and Pacific region, women ministers held positions in
only 2% of all economic ministries.
- Globally, only 9.9 per cent of all sub-ministerial positions (Deputy
Minister, Permanent Secretary and Deputy Permanent Secretary) were
held by women.
- In sectoral terms, women were slightly better represented in social
ministries in the Europe/Others and the Asia and Pacific regions,
while they were better represented in legal ministries in Africa and
Latin America and the Caribbean.
- A "critical mass" of 30 per cent women at the sub-ministerial level
has been achieved in six countries - Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda,
Bahamas, Costa Rica, San Marino and the United States.
- In eight countries, the proportion of women at the subministerial has
reached 25 per cent or more - Australia, Dominica, El Salvador,
Macedonia, New Zealand, Philippines, Sweden, and St. Kitts and Nevis.
- In seven additional states, the proportion of women at the
subministerial level has reached 20 per cent or more - Barbados,
Colombia, Croatia, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana and Norway, .
* Data compiled by the Division for the Advancement of Women, United
Nations, based on January 1996 information from the Worldwide Government
Directory 1996, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.