Rwanda's parliament has the highest percentage of female members in the world, according to the most recent monthly ranking by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). The Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the East African country's parliament has more women than men (49 against 31 or 61.25 percent).
In the rating, Rwanda is followed by Cuba, Nicaragua and Mexico. South Africa is the second African state in the top 10, sharing 10th place with Bolivia.
According to Martin Chungong, secretary-general of the IPU, the global average of women in parliamentary positions has reached 25.5 percent for the first time in history.
“Although we celebrate and welcome this all-time high, we feel that progress is painstakingly, or even excruciatingly, slow. At the current rate, it will take another 50 years before we can achieve gender parity in parliament. And, of course, we all agree that this is not tenable; it’s not acceptable,” the official said earlier.
Rwanda has occupied top spot in the IPU's 'Women in National Parliaments' table since September 2003. Its position was maintained after the 2018 parliamentary election.
Referring to African countries in the list of nations that have had the highest number of female politicians over the past few years, Chungong noted that "the fact that you’ll have fewer African countries in the in the top 10 does not mean that they are not doing well", adding that "it’s simply because other countries have moved up the rankings".
Recently, Sierra Leone's parliament passed an act establishing a 30 percent minimum quota for female MPs.