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The Graphic Truth: Female governance gap

March 08, 2023
Benjamin Dooley
and
Paige Fusco
and
Ari Winkleman
Ari Winkleman

March is International Women’s History month, but while women account for just over half the world’s population, the overwhelming majority of political leaders and policymakers globally are men. In fact, there are just six countries where women make up more than 50% of the national legislature, and only 31 countries (out of 193 UN member states) in which a woman is either head of state or head of government. Furthermore, only one G7 country - Italy - currently has an elected female leader. While some countries have introduced controversial gender quotas at various stages in the electoral process as a bid to increase female participation, there's lots of progress still to be made. Here's a look at the facts and figures.

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