Less than a third of all parliamentarians in the EU are women. With the current speed, it will take almost twenty years to achieve gender-balanced national parliaments. EIGE’s new online tool gives ideas on needed changes. It helps to identify where parliaments stand on their way to gender equality and proposes steps for every parliament to improve. We call it the gender-sensitive parliaments tool.

“Democracy works best when decision-making power is equally shared by women and men. An active inclusion of women has many positive effects on society contributing this way to the improvement of citizens’ lives. As symbols of democracy, parliaments must set an example and our tool can help them in doing that,” says Virginija Langbakk, Director of EIGE.

What makes a parliament gender-sensitive? Having a higher share of women is not the only touchstone. EIGE’s tool helps to see beyond bare numbers.

A truly gender-sensitive parliament is committed to equality from its core. It encourages women to choose a career in politics and welcomes their rise to the top levels of decision-making. It fosters a culture of respect for women and their right to have an equal influence.

Parliamentary decisions are an equally important element. An exemplary parliament adjusts measures to reflect the needs of both women and men when passing a law.

Are you now wondering how gender-sensitive your parliament is? You can test it yourself with the ‘general’ version of EIGE’s tool. You do not need to register, just collect and fill in the facts and you will get an assessment. The results give a good basis for advocating for gender equality in parliaments and within political parties.

Representatives of the parliaments have access to a more extensive analysis. They can sign-up to the tool and carry out a self-assessment. This way they can see where their parliament is doing well and what needs improvement. The assessment can be repeated later to monitor changes and see what works best.

To make your work easier the tool already presents initial data from your parliament. It is synchronised with our gender statistics database, which has statistics on women in parliamentary bureaus and committees in the national parliaments of all the Member States.

This tool is also relevant for the upcoming elections to the European Parliament. With women currently accounting for 36.8% of the members, there is clearly room for improvement.

Start an evaluation of your parliament

For more information, please contact Donata Matuleviciene, phone +370 5 2157 449, donata.matuleviciene@eige.europa.eu

Learn more

Read more in our leaflet ‘How gender equal is your parliament? Find out with our gender-sensitive parliaments tool’

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