Today, Liberal International (LI) launches the second annual Gender Equality Report. With the support of D66, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation – European Dialogue and the LI Human Rights Committee, the report presents the findings from the 2021 Women In Political Parties Index Survey, which LI member parties were encouraged to complete in the spring of 2021.
The WIPP Index is a tool developed by LI to help members identify where and how they can improve diversity and inclusion within their party structures. The questions in the survey deal with themes such as parties’ female representation in parliament and their intra-party mechanisms to support gender equality.
Compared to the inaugural WIPP Index Survey launch in 2020, participation in 2021 increased by 80 per cent, with political parties from four different continents participating. Highlighting liberals worldwide are committed to advancing gender equality.
As the participation grew significantly, it is difficult to directly compare the results with those presented in LI’s first Gender Equality Report. Nonetheless, the new report presents some encouraging developments. For instance, one-third of the participating parties reported having a female leader, which is significantly higher than in 2020. The report also shows that the participating parties’ female representation in parliament is slightly higher than the global average.
While many of the findings are encouraging, the results of the WIPP Index also show where there are shortcomings, and where more work needs to be done to improve inclusivity. One example highlighted in the report is that while many parties have codes of conduct in place, many still lack an efficient mechanism for dealing with cases of gender-based harassment and discrimination.
Advancing gender equality and empowering women in politics is one of the LI Human Rights Committee’s long-standing priorities. The findings presented in the newly launched report provide an excellent basis for planning future work within this field. LI will continue working on the WIPP Index and publishing the results annually, to be able to better identify trends and challenges regarding gender equality in politics. In providing these results, LI’s objective is to assist our member parties in promoting greater participation of women in politics, which research consistently shows benefits political parties, countries, and governments.
