Colombia must do more to increase the number of woman in Congress, which continues to be dominated by men, according to the United Nations.
Since 2011, at least 30% of the country’s political candidates in legislative elections must be female, which increased women’s representation to 23% in the Senate and 18% in the House, according to research by the Gender Bureau of International Cooperation, UN Women and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
UNDP coordinator Blanca Cardona
UNDP coordinator Blanca Cardona acknowledged that the 30% quota had given its “maximum possible positive impact” and called for further adjustments to ahead of the elections in 2022.
Cardona proposed “a change in the legislation that modifies the Quota Law from 30% to 40% and in the following elections to 50%, as we have seen in other countries of the region” in an interview with El Espectador newspaper.
International perspective
The results of Colombia’s elections placed the Andean country in 104th of 193 places worldwide for the participation of women in parliament and in 22nd position out of 35 countries in the Americas.
The UNDP official believes that Colombia must follow the example of its Latin American counterparts with concrete actions to bridge the gap between male and female participation in politics.
UNDP coordinator Blanca Cardona
In nine of the 32 provinces no woman was elected in the elections held earlier this month.