Decline in women’s political power seen worldwide

MANILA, Philippines — There has been a “serious regression” in the political power of women around the world in recent years, according to a United Nations agency dedicated to gender equality and empowerment of women.

Citing UN General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa’s remarks to delegates at the annual summit of women activists at the UN headquarters recently, UN Women said political power of women is suffering a decline in terms of development.

The former Ecuadorian minister of foreign affairs, who leads the 193-member world body, pointed out that in 2105 it would have taken 30 years to close the gender gap.

But now, if current trends continue, gender parity will not be reached for “107 years,” she told the Commission on the Status of Women.

She commended the under-appreciated women of the past who “were made invisible, erased from history,” saying they “have been protagonists in the destinies of entire nations, of culture and political thinking, science and innovation and social changes.”  

UN Women said women and girls represent half of the global population, yet they continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions in every region of the world.