8 | Pulsepoint
Vital signs of women’s rising global leadership
State of the World’s Mothers Report Here’s what countries are doing the best—and the worst—when it comes to providing children and their mothers basic health care. 2008 Mothers’ Index Rankings TOP 10: Best
places to be a mother
Worst places to be a mother
BOTTOM 10:
Rwanda: First in world with female majority in parliament Women now hold 44 of 80 seats of the parliament in Rwanda, making it the first country in the world where men are outnumbered, at 56%. Sweden comes next with 47% of parliamentary seats occupied by women. As one of its first acts, the Rwandan parliament voted in the first-ever woman speaker, Ms. Mukantabana Rose. Rose, who is from a small opposition party, won against a male candidate 70 to 10. Women cheered and chanted after the vote.
RANK
COUNTRY
RANK
COUNTRY
1
Sweden
137
Ethiopia
2
Norway
138
Mali
3
Iceland
139
Djibouti
US: Women Set to Advance
4
New Zealand
140
Eritrea
5
Denmark
141
Guinea-Bissau
6
Australia
142
Angola
7
Finland
143
Sierra Leone
8
Ireland
144
Yemen
9
Germany
145
Chad
10
France
146
Niger
With the Obama-Biden presidential victory, US women anticipate a brighter future. Both Obama and Biden are advocates for women’s rights and have pledged to end wage discrimination, protect reproductive rights, and support measures ending violence against women. While 2008 has been an historic year for women candidates at the highest levels, the number of women running for Congress and state legislature was below past averages. Many of those who did run, however, succeeded, achieving a record number of women in the 111th Congress—17 in the Senate and 74 in the House. Still, with 17% of seats filled by women, the US remains 71st in the world in women’s leadership.
(Save the Children, 2008)
The US ranks 27th primarily due to extremely high maternal mortality rates among women of color.
Did you know? Women are outnumbered 2 to 1 in political parties worldwide, and less than 1 in 5 parliamentarians is a woman. But…
Half of the 22 countries that have reached 30% of women in parliament come from developing regions.
Gender-focused aid has nearly tripled (in absolute terms) from $2.5 billion in 2002 to $7.2 billion in 2006.
In Costa Rica, women hold 43.9% of leadership positions in political parties.
New Zealand and Canada have the highest proportion of aid that is earmarked for gender equality as a principle objective: 11%.
Honduras and Croatia have more than 40% female judges on the Supreme Courts.
Source: UNIFEM Progress of the World’s Women Report