There was a time when women even did not have the right to vote and now they are ruling many countries in the world. Park Geun-Hye of South Korea’s ruling Saenuri Party was the last on the list of women leaders who has been elected President. Daughter of former president Park Chung-Hee, Park has become the first female President of South Korea in the elections held on December 19, 2012.
Of the 193 countries recognised by the United Nations, 12 have female heads of government (Prime Minister, Chancellor, or some Presidents), a percentage of 6.2%. Thirty countries have female heads of state (Queen or President), a percentage of 15.6%.
An unprecedented total of 20 female leaders served simultaneously either as presidents or prime ministers during much of late 2010 to mid-2012. The number of female leaders serving simultaneously has declined a bit now.
The following female leaders are now in power:
Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel (Nov. 22, 2005), Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (Jan 16, 2006 -) , Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (Dec. 10, 2007-), Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (Jan. 6, 2009 -), Iceland Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir (Feb. 1, 2009 -), Lithuania President Dalia Grybauskaite (Jul. 12, 2009 -), Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla (May 8, 2010 -), Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar (May 26, 2010), Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (Jun. 24, 2010 -), Slovakia Prime Minister Iveta Radicová (Jul. 8, 2010), Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (Jan. 1, 2011 -), Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga (Apr. 7, 2011), Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (Aug. 8, 2011 -), Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Oct. 3, 2011), Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller (Jan. 5, 2012 -), Malawi President Joyce Banda (Apr. 7, 2012 -) and South Korea President Park Geun-hye (Feb. 25, 2013-).
Actually, women account for less than 10 percent of world leaders. Globally, less than one in five members of parliament is a woman. The 30 percent critical mass mark for women’s representation in parliament has reached or exceeded in only 28 countries. At a high-level event on September 19, 2011, during the 66th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, women political leaders made a strong call for increasing women’s political participation and decision-making across the world. Stressing that women’s participation is fundamental to democracy and essential to the achievement of sustainable development and peace in all contexts — during peace, through conflict and post-conflict, and during political transitions — the leaders signed a joint statement with concrete recommendations on ways to advance women’s political participation.
“It is a solidarity that we see represented here today among this important group of women around me,” said Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, at the event. “We are bound by a common goal — to open the way for women to participate in all decisions affecting not only their own lives, but the development of our world, at the global, regional, national and local levels. By making full use of half the world’s intelligence — the intelligence of women — we improve our chances of finding real and lasting solutions to the challenges that confront us.”
Despite various challenges, the world has got many famous female leaders. There are even some countries where the overall condition of women is not favorable, but they have got female leaders at the helm. Things are changing fast and many Muslim countries, including Bangladesh and Pakistan women leaders are becoming more common.
Women have been at the forefront of politics for quite a while now. They have ruled since the dawn of time. Egyptian queens governed the Mesopotamian area as early as 3000 BC. Women became members of parliament in East European countries after the Great War. They held and they are holding offices in many governments. In 1974, in Argentina, Isabel Peron became the first woman ever to become the democratically elected President of the country. Sweden was the first country to have a majority of women ministers. There are queens who are reigning monarchs in three countries: the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Denmark.
Among the past female leaders five — Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Angela, Benazir Bhutto and Rosa Parks — were famous for various reasons.
A great orator, Margaret Thatcher became one of the most notable, historical figures, as the first woman to lead a political party in any European country. Thatcher was the prime minister of United Kingdom for over 11 years (three terms). She was a conservative whose diplomacy facilitated the breakup of Soviet Union. She gained popularity in her country when she had waged a war against Argentina over the Falkland Islands. She had also strongly opposed the European Community because she felt it interfered with the UK’s sovereignty and would cause problems that came with a big government.
Daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, Indira Gandhi was the prime minister of India for three terms (14 years). Her policy of Garibi Hatao (Abolish Poverty) was instrumental in her victory in the 1971 elections. She enforced a state of emergency in 1974 and lost the following elections. After returning to power, Gandhi somehow earned the hatred of Sikhs and was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984.
Angela Merkel is the current head of the government in Germany. In 2008, she was number 1 in Forbes magazine’s list of 100 most powerful women in the world. She was awarded the Charlemagne Prize in 2008, for her contribution towards betterment of the European Union.
Benazir Bhutto was the first female head of a Muslim country. She served as prime minister of Pakistan for two terms. Both her terms ended when she was abruptly removed from power for corruption. She received a pardon from President Musharraf for her corruption wrongdoings. She was assassinated at a gathering organised by her party during the 2008 election.
Rosa Parks was a civil rights leader, who fought for the freedom of the black citizens of United States. In 1955, Parks disobeyed a busman’s command to vacate her bus seat to create space for a white passenger. This triggered the ‘Montgomery Bus Boycott’, a movement against the racial discrimination in buses. The movement led to a decrease in income for the public transport and this caused the law to be changed, making racial segregation illegal. Rosa Parks became an important icon of civil rights protests. She joined hands with Martin Luther King. Rosa Parks got awards from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the United States Congress. She died in 2005 at the age of 92.
While women worldwide are making gains at all levels of government, a Pew Global Attitudes survey of 46 countries and the Palestinian territories finds that publics around the world express mixed opinions about women and political leadership.
The countries of Western Europe, North America and Latin America generally include the highest proportions of respondents who rate men and women as equally good political leaders. Roughly two-thirds in Kirchner’s country (68%) express that view, while 17% say men are better leaders and 9% prefer women. In the United States, fully three-quarters say men and women make equally good political leaders, and that opinion is even more widespread in Western Europe.
By contrast, majorities in Mali (65%), the Palestinian territories (64%), Kuwait (62%), Pakistan (54%), Bangladesh (52%) and Ethiopia (51%) say men make better political leaders than women, as do nearly half of Jordanians (49%) and Nigerians (48%). Russians are also divided: 44% say men and women make equally good leaders while 40% say men are better. Only in Brazil do more people say women make better political leaders than say men do: 15% of Brazilians say women make better political leaders and 10% say men are better leaders.
Opinions about women in political leadership positions are somewhat correlated with the extent to which women play leadership roles, as measured by the World Economic Forum’s political empowerment index. The index is derived from three sets of data: the ratio of women to men currently in cabinet-level positions in the country; the ratio of women to men in parliamentary positions, and the ratio of the number of years out of the last 50 in which the head of state was a woman to the number of years in which it was a man.
People in countries that receive the highest scores on the political empowerment scale are generally more likely to say that men and women make equally good political leaders.
Views of political leadership often split along gender lines as well, with men more likely than women to say men make better political leaders and women more likely than men to say either that women make better leaders or that both are equally good. This is especially the case in Africa as well as in several Asian, Middle Eastern, and Eastern European countries.
developed by cannyLab
Of the 193 countries recognised by the United Nations, 12 have female heads of government (Prime Minister, Chancellor, or some Presidents), a percentage of 6.2%. Thirty countries have female heads of state (Queen or President), a percentage of 15.6%.
An unprecedented total of 20 female leaders served simultaneously either as presidents or prime ministers during much of late 2010 to mid-2012. The number of female leaders serving simultaneously has declined a bit now.
The following female leaders are now in power:
Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel (Nov. 22, 2005), Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (Jan 16, 2006 -) , Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (Dec. 10, 2007-), Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (Jan. 6, 2009 -), Iceland Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir (Feb. 1, 2009 -), Lithuania President Dalia Grybauskaite (Jul. 12, 2009 -), Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla (May 8, 2010 -), Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar (May 26, 2010), Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (Jun. 24, 2010 -), Slovakia Prime Minister Iveta Radicová (Jul. 8, 2010), Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (Jan. 1, 2011 -), Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga (Apr. 7, 2011), Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (Aug. 8, 2011 -), Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Oct. 3, 2011), Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller (Jan. 5, 2012 -), Malawi President Joyce Banda (Apr. 7, 2012 -) and South Korea President Park Geun-hye (Feb. 25, 2013-).
Actually, women account for less than 10 percent of world leaders. Globally, less than one in five members of parliament is a woman. The 30 percent critical mass mark for women’s representation in parliament has reached or exceeded in only 28 countries. At a high-level event on September 19, 2011, during the 66th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, women political leaders made a strong call for increasing women’s political participation and decision-making across the world. Stressing that women’s participation is fundamental to democracy and essential to the achievement of sustainable development and peace in all contexts — during peace, through conflict and post-conflict, and during political transitions — the leaders signed a joint statement with concrete recommendations on ways to advance women’s political participation.
“It is a solidarity that we see represented here today among this important group of women around me,” said Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, at the event. “We are bound by a common goal — to open the way for women to participate in all decisions affecting not only their own lives, but the development of our world, at the global, regional, national and local levels. By making full use of half the world’s intelligence — the intelligence of women — we improve our chances of finding real and lasting solutions to the challenges that confront us.”
Despite various challenges, the world has got many famous female leaders. There are even some countries where the overall condition of women is not favorable, but they have got female leaders at the helm. Things are changing fast and many Muslim countries, including Bangladesh and Pakistan women leaders are becoming more common.
Women have been at the forefront of politics for quite a while now. They have ruled since the dawn of time. Egyptian queens governed the Mesopotamian area as early as 3000 BC. Women became members of parliament in East European countries after the Great War. They held and they are holding offices in many governments. In 1974, in Argentina, Isabel Peron became the first woman ever to become the democratically elected President of the country. Sweden was the first country to have a majority of women ministers. There are queens who are reigning monarchs in three countries: the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Denmark.
Among the past female leaders five — Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Angela, Benazir Bhutto and Rosa Parks — were famous for various reasons.
A great orator, Margaret Thatcher became one of the most notable, historical figures, as the first woman to lead a political party in any European country. Thatcher was the prime minister of United Kingdom for over 11 years (three terms). She was a conservative whose diplomacy facilitated the breakup of Soviet Union. She gained popularity in her country when she had waged a war against Argentina over the Falkland Islands. She had also strongly opposed the European Community because she felt it interfered with the UK’s sovereignty and would cause problems that came with a big government.
Daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, Indira Gandhi was the prime minister of India for three terms (14 years). Her policy of Garibi Hatao (Abolish Poverty) was instrumental in her victory in the 1971 elections. She enforced a state of emergency in 1974 and lost the following elections. After returning to power, Gandhi somehow earned the hatred of Sikhs and was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984.
Angela Merkel is the current head of the government in Germany. In 2008, she was number 1 in Forbes magazine’s list of 100 most powerful women in the world. She was awarded the Charlemagne Prize in 2008, for her contribution towards betterment of the European Union.
Benazir Bhutto was the first female head of a Muslim country. She served as prime minister of Pakistan for two terms. Both her terms ended when she was abruptly removed from power for corruption. She received a pardon from President Musharraf for her corruption wrongdoings. She was assassinated at a gathering organised by her party during the 2008 election.
Rosa Parks was a civil rights leader, who fought for the freedom of the black citizens of United States. In 1955, Parks disobeyed a busman’s command to vacate her bus seat to create space for a white passenger. This triggered the ‘Montgomery Bus Boycott’, a movement against the racial discrimination in buses. The movement led to a decrease in income for the public transport and this caused the law to be changed, making racial segregation illegal. Rosa Parks became an important icon of civil rights protests. She joined hands with Martin Luther King. Rosa Parks got awards from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the United States Congress. She died in 2005 at the age of 92.
While women worldwide are making gains at all levels of government, a Pew Global Attitudes survey of 46 countries and the Palestinian territories finds that publics around the world express mixed opinions about women and political leadership.
The countries of Western Europe, North America and Latin America generally include the highest proportions of respondents who rate men and women as equally good political leaders. Roughly two-thirds in Kirchner’s country (68%) express that view, while 17% say men are better leaders and 9% prefer women. In the United States, fully three-quarters say men and women make equally good political leaders, and that opinion is even more widespread in Western Europe.
By contrast, majorities in Mali (65%), the Palestinian territories (64%), Kuwait (62%), Pakistan (54%), Bangladesh (52%) and Ethiopia (51%) say men make better political leaders than women, as do nearly half of Jordanians (49%) and Nigerians (48%). Russians are also divided: 44% say men and women make equally good leaders while 40% say men are better. Only in Brazil do more people say women make better political leaders than say men do: 15% of Brazilians say women make better political leaders and 10% say men are better leaders.
Opinions about women in political leadership positions are somewhat correlated with the extent to which women play leadership roles, as measured by the World Economic Forum’s political empowerment index. The index is derived from three sets of data: the ratio of women to men currently in cabinet-level positions in the country; the ratio of women to men in parliamentary positions, and the ratio of the number of years out of the last 50 in which the head of state was a woman to the number of years in which it was a man.
People in countries that receive the highest scores on the political empowerment scale are generally more likely to say that men and women make equally good political leaders.
Views of political leadership often split along gender lines as well, with men more likely than women to say men make better political leaders and women more likely than men to say either that women make better leaders or that both are equally good. This is especially the case in Africa as well as in several Asian, Middle Eastern, and Eastern European countries.
developed by cannyLab
