FACTS & FIGURES FOR WOMEN IN GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA

• Currently, there are 37 women in Ghana’s Parliament and this represents 13 percent from the majority and minority sides, a clear short of the 30 percent representation set by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

• The figure is an increase of 8, as against the election 2012 figure of 29, where 133 women contested 102 parliamentary seats.

• Though the figure represents a slight increase from 29, which is was woefully low, as it still fell short of the minimum UN recommended threshold of 30 per cent requirement that was deemed satisfactory by activists at the Beijing Conference of 1995.

• As of February 2019, only 3 countries have 50 per cent or more women in parliament in single or lower houses:

• Rwanda so far is the only African country that has been impressive with its parliamentary representation of its women. It is by far the best performer with 64 women (to 36 men) in parliament, helped by a law stipulating that 30% of all parliamentary seats be held by women.
• The next African state to figure is South Africa, where the African National Congress upped its quota of women in government from 30% to 50% in 2009.

• Rwanda with 61.3 per cent, the Cuba with 53.2 percent

• Bolivia with 53.1 per cent; but a greater number of countries has reached 30 percent or more. As of February 2019, 50 single or lower houses were composed of 30 per cent or more women, 12 in Sub-Saharan Africa

• Rwanda has the highest number of women parliamentarians worldwide, where, women have won 61.3 per cent of seats in the lower house .

• Indeed, women’s representation in Parliament has not been impressive since Ghana returned to constitutional rule in 1993.

• The First Parliament of the Fourth Republic had 16 women out of the 200 MPs, and the Second, Third and Fourth parliaments, saw a slight increase in the number of female parliamentarians.

• The level of female representation in parliament in Ghana, 13%, is far below the average both in the world (23%) and in Africa (24%). The percentage calculation is based on women representation in unicameral parliaments or the lower house of parliament.

Source: UN Women, 2017.

GHANA’S REPRESENTATION IN PARLIAMENT