5 0
TO WA R D G E N D E R E Q UA L I T Y I N E A S T A S I A A N D T H E PAC I F I C
FIGURE 1.24 Women’s representation in parliament is low, especially in the Pacific
percentage of seats held by women in the lower or single house, 2011
45 40 35
percent
30 25 20 15 10 5
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Fe
d. S N a ts. So u l o P a mo P r u pu n ala a N Isla u e w nd G s Ma V uin rsh an ea all uat Is u M y l and an s m T ar Mo ong ng a Sa olia mo Tu a v Kir alu Ko Ma ibat rea lay i ,D em Ko Japsia . P rea an eo , R ple ep ’s . Th Rep. a Ind ilan on d Ca es m b ia od i Sin Chi a ga n a P h po ilip re p Vie ines t La nam No Timo o PD rd r-L R ic co este un tri wo es rld
0
Source: PARLINE database, 2011 data.
FIGURE 1.25 Men, and in some cases women, believe that men make better political leaders than women percentage of men and women aged over 30 who think men make better political leaders
80 70
percent
60 50 40 30 20 10
Source: World Values Survey, 2006 and 2007 data.
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m na female
Un St ite at d es
male
Vi et
an d Th ail
ala ys ia M
ne sia do In
Ch
in a
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growth and development; the overall share of female parliamentarians in East Asian and Pacific countries has barely changed since the late 1990s. This trend stands in contrast to other developing regions, where levels of female political representation have tended to increase, at least since 2000.11 The share of women in national parliaments varies tremendously across the region. In December 2011, the highest levels of female representation were found in TimorLeste (32.3 percent), Lao PDR (25.2 percent), Vietnam (24.4 percent), the Philippines (22.9 percent), and China (21.3 percent) (figure 1.24). Female parliamentary representation in the Pacific is systematically lower. Four countries in the Pacific—the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, and the Solomon Islands—do not have female representation in parliament (PARLINE database, 2011 data). Countries that have enacted temporary special measures to