Cote d'Ivoire takes steps for more representation of women in assemblies
Abidjan, Cote d 'Ivoire (PANA) - The Ivorian government on Wednesday passed a bill to promote women’s representation in elected assemblies, official sources said.
This bill will introduce moves for a better representation of women in the National Assembly and the Senate, as well as in the Regional, District and Municipal Councils.
It imposes a minimum quota of 30 per cent of women on the total number of nominees for the election of members of parliaments, senators, regional councilors, district and municipal councilors.
In addition, it stipulates that additional public funding will be granted to any party or political group whose list includes at least 50 per cent of women candidates in the polls.
The bill says that all lists of candidates need to respect the alternation of the sexes so that if two candidacies of the same sex are entered, the third one is of the other sex, in order to allow a larger number of women to participate actively in the political life of the nation.
According to a study by UN-Women and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), published in 2017, the number of women in the executive branches of governments and parliaments is stagnating globally.
From 2015, Africa has seen a steady decline in the number of women ministers.
Women held 19.7 per cent of ministerial positions in Africa in 2017, after having exceeded this percentage for the first time in 2012 following seven years of rapid growth.
-0- PANA BAL/JSG/AKA/MA 7March2019
