Women in Public

Office Across the

World, 2016

Heads of State
15 women are currently the Head of State in
their countries. This is only 8.4% of Heads of
State in the world.
Central African Republic Catherine SambaPanza
Mauritius Ameenah Gurib
Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari
South Korea Park Geun-hye
Marshall Islands Hilda Heine
Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovi
Denmark Queen Margrethe II
Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga
Lithuania Dalia Grybauskait
Malta Marie Louise Coleiro Preca
San Marino Lorella Stefanelli
United Kingdom Queen Elizabeth II
Brazil Dilma Rousseff
Chile Michelle Bachelet
Heads of Government
Only 6 women hold the office of Head of
Government. This leaves women representing only 4.3% of the Heads of Government in
the world.
Namibia Saara Kuugongelwa
Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina
Germany Angela Merkel
Norway Erna Solberg
Poland Beata Szydo
Jamaica Portia Simpson-Miller

Sources
Women in International Politics.
firstladies.international
UN Women. www.unwomen.org/en/
what-we-do/leadership-and-politicalparticipation/facts-and-figures#notes
Women in Charge: A New Record?
Politico. www.politico.com/magazine/
story/2016/07/hillary-clinton-2016theresa-may-angela-merkel-womenleaders-214100
Encyclopedia. www.encyclopedia.com/
people/history/south-asian-historybiographies/sirimavo-bandaranaike
Money. time.com/money/4362191/
female-heads-of-state/

A woman at the helm of a government is not one without historical precedent or modern examples.
While America has had 43 men serve as their elected leader and not a single woman, other countries across the world have elected female leaders.
In 2016, 22 women lead their countries. This is still a very small minority, 6.9%, of the 315 heads
of state and governments in the world.

In the past two decades women in parliaments across the world has doubled, however, that still only
puts women representing around 22% in parliaments across the world.
In the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, having equality in gender representation was
identified as an objective to stride towards. Only 2 countries, Rwanda and Bolivia, have over 50%
of their parliament represented by women. Though 46 single or lower houses had 30% or more
women in their parliamentary houses.
Having gender equality is of the upmost importance, as representation of women tends to lead to an
increase in focus on human rights, specifically womens rights. Studies also indicate that women
tend to work across party lines and are more willing to compromise for a collaboration. This is
especially true for peacebuilding policies and conflict resolutions. One study also showed that
highly diverse countries who had a female at the head of their government had a 6.6% higher
GDP growth rate to those with a male leader. A womans ability to work in divisive issues and face
societal fractions lead to more economic success for their countries.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike
She became the worlds first female prime minister in 1960. She led the Sri Lankan Freedom Party
government and worked to implement democratic socialism policy. She sought to keep her county
from aligning with either the East or the West.
Corazon C. Aquino
President Aquino was the first woman to hold the office of the president in the Philippines and of
any Asian country. Elected in 1986, she helped lead the People Power Revolution, to restore her
country from the authoritarian leadership. He ran against the dictator to carry on her husbands,
Beningo Aquino, desire for democracy in her country.
Angela Merkel
Chancellor Merkel has been the Chancellor of Germany since 2005. Time magazine named her
2016s Person of the Year. She leads Germany and is a powerful leading figure of the European
Union. She is considered to be the most powerful woman currently in the world and has led her
country to be the most prosperous in the EU.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
She became the first elected female head of state in Africa when she was elected president of
Liberia in 2006 and holds the post still today. She has implemented change in her country and
helped to build the countrys infrastructure and been an ardent supporter of womens rights. She
firmly believes women are great leaders and has proven it.
Special thanks to the Editing Intern Jordan Bolan for her assistance in creating this factsheet