Quotas For Women Research Articles

Unlocking capacity for non-traditional skills training

Technical training quotas for women need to be supported by other interventions which accomodate women's particular needs write TRACY DAVEY and GUY WINSHIP. They outline strategies developed in Khuphuka to help women access employment opportunities in the construction sector

Increasing Women's Representation Via Gender Quotas:

The Argentine Ley de Cupos (Law of Quotas) is the singular example of a national law requiring all political parties to place a minimum quota of women in electable positions on their party lists for the election of national deputies. The law represents an important and previously untried interim method in the worldwide struggle to achieve gender parity in legislative bodies. This article examines the electoral impact of Ley de Cupos, discussing both its success in increasing the number of women elected as well as some areas of concern. It concludes by assessing the practical implications of the Argentine model for other nations considering a gender quota law.

Quotas for Women: Fair Representation?

Quotas for Women: Fair Representation?

Labour party quotas for women

Labour party quotas for women

Women Quota in Lebanon: A False Promise?

Demands for the adoption of women quota in public office, whether these positions are by election or appointment, were late in materializing and reaching the agenda of policy-makers in Lebanon. Persistent efforts by some civil society organizations since the 1990s and the appointment of a human rights activist as a Minister of Interior in 2008 led to the submission of two official proposals to this end as part of a general electoral reform. Nothing has materialized so far. The first proposal, calling for a women quota on parliamentary electoral lists, was aborted by Parliament in 2008. The second, calling for the allocation of seats for women on the municipal councils was approved by the Council of Ministers on January 29, 2010 but still awaits adoption by Parliament.1 In light of the prevalent frustration with the decision-makers’ failure to seriously act on this issue, the following sections of this paper aim at providing an assessment of the contributions that the two suggested quota proposals may have made to the enhancement of women representation in public office at the national and local levels respectively, as well as highlighting the factors influencing the decision-making process on this issue.

Electoral Law Proposal for a Women’s Quota in the Lebanese Parliament

This article is an abridged version of the two electoral law proposals “Women Quota in the Lebanese Parliament” prepared by Kamal Feghali (pollster, election specialist, and head of The Bureau for Statistics and Documentation) in July 2008 upon the request of the Woman and Child Parliamentary Committee with the participation of several women’s organizations and associations. The editorial team of Al-Raida, and for the purpose of this issue, decided to translate and summarize the two draft laws to make them accessible to our readers.

Lebanese Women Demand Parliamentary Quota - September 23, 2008

As a gender expert/consultant, Dr. Dabbous-Sensenig was invited by MP Gilberte Zouein, chair of the parliamentary subcommittee for the Woman and Child, along with other experts, to discuss the issue of parliamentary quota for women, and to draft a proposal to introduce the women quota in the Lebanese election law.

Gender Quotas in Clientelist Systems: The Case of Morocco’s National List

The use of parliamentary quotas to increase women’s political participation has gained a lot of traction in women’s empowerment discourse. Women’s movements worldwide have been working hard to make progress in ensuring a more equal representation of women in parties and parliament alike. So far during this decade, Morocco has emerged as one of the leading models for increasing women’s rights in the Arab world. In 2002, an informal agreement among political parties to establish a gender quota for women in parliament quickly gave Morocco one of the highest levels of women’s representation in the Arab region. Just two years later, women’s groups celebrated one of their greatest victories with the reform of the family code, moudawana, in 2004. Both of these events coincided with an increase in the number of women in positions of power.