GENDER BALANCE IN 2021-2022
The sections below review the trends in the gender composition of the Assembly membership and leadership, as well as in the International Secretariat. Data indicate a mixed picture. The share of women in national delegations may now have reached a plateau, with three quarters of NATO PA delegations including a lower share of women than the overall share in their respective parliaments. A greater share of women actually participate in NATO PA meetings, but this might also have plateaued. The representation of women in NATO PA leadership positions has reached several significant milestones in recent years and remains at high levels. Women are very well represented in the NATO PA staff.
REPRESENTATION OF MEN AND WOMEN IN NATIONAL DELEGATIONS & AMONG ELECTED OFFICERS OF THE ASSEMBLY
Since May 2017, “delegations are strongly encouraged to seek gender diversity” (Rules of Procedure, Article 1). Through this revision of the Rules of Procedure, the Assembly signalled its commitment to aiming towards a more representative gender balance, without imposing rigid rules as certain delegations face objective obstacles. The Assembly’s approach is therefore mostly based on raising awareness and encouraging incremental change.
The constitution of delegations after parliamentary elections presents a key moment when change can take place. Nine parliaments have had elections since the previous review. Of the six delegations for which the data is relevant, only one includes more women than the previous delegation. One has retained the same share of women. Two include fewer women and two others have remained all-male delegations.
Graph 1 shows the share of women in national delegations to the NATO PA in 2022. Graph 2 shows how the share of women in NATO PA delegations compares with the share of women in national parliaments. Graph 3 compares the evolution in the share of women in NATO PA delegations and in the share of women among participants in NATO PA annual sessions between 2016 and 2021. Detailed data regarding actual participation in NATO PA Annual Sessions from 2016 to 2021 features in Appendix 2.
Note: no data is shown for those delegations undergoing changes in composition following a recent election or for the delegations of Canada and the United States whose membership rules are specific. The new delegations of Germany and Portugal had not been appointed at the time of writing and the data for Canada is not taken into account due to specific rules regarding the composition of that delegation.
Graph 4 illustrates the representation of women among elected officers of the Assembly has significantly increased between 2016 and 2022.
Note: no data was compiled for the year 2018.
GRAPH 1: SHARE (%) OF WOMEN IN NATO PA DELEGATIONS (MARCH 2022)
GRAPH 2: SHARE (%) OF WOMEN IN NATO PA DELEGATIONS VS IN NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS (2022)
GRAPH 3: EVOLUTION IN THE SHARE OF WOMEN IN NATO PA MEMBERSHIP & AMONG NATO PA PARTICIPANTS AT ANNUAL SESSIONS (2016-2022)
GRAPH 4: SHARE OF WOMEN AMONG THE ELECTED LEADERSHIP (2016-2022)
The figures presented above seem to indicate that, after a generally upwards trend, the representation of women in the Assembly may now have plateaued:
- The overall share of women in national delegations currently stands at 18%, slightly down from last year’s peak at 18.8% but significantly higher than the average in previous years at 14-15%.
- As in 2021, seven delegations are led by a woman – compared to just two in 2016. (See table 1 below)
- At the Annual Session in October 2021 – held in a hybrid format, with both in-person and online participation, 23% of participants, i.e. members and alternates, were women. This is below the 2020 peak at 26%, but again significantly higher than in previous years when participation hovered between 17 and 20%. (See table 2 below)
- As mentioned above, of the delegations which have held elections since the last report, only one has a larger number of women than prior to elections.
- The number of all-male delegations has hovered over the past four years at 8-9. It currently stands at 9.
- As graph 2 shows, the proportion of women in 21 national delegations to the NATO PA remains lower than the representation of women in their respective parliaments. In six countries, the share of women is higher in their NATO PA delegations than in their respective parliaments.
The evolution in future years will help confirm whether the representation of women in the NATO PA has indeed reached a plateau.
After two female Presidents took the helm of the Assembly for the first time between September 2018 and October 2019, the NATO PA reached another milestone in November 2020. Following that election, the Assembly’s Bureau – its top leadership – was composed of a majority of women. Current representation of women on the Bureau remains at a remarkable level, at 50%. The fall in the share of elected positions held by women in the Assembly’s five Committees, eight Sub-Committees and the Mediterranean and Middle East Special Group in 2020 was reversed in 2021. As of March 2022, women represented close to 27% of Committee and Sub-Committee officers, compared to 19% in February 2020 and 25% in March 2021. Notably, seven of the sixteen Rapporteurs are women (43.75%). The Chairperson of the Mediterranean and Middle East Special Group is also a woman. However, of the thirteen other Chairpersons of Committees and Sub-Committees, only one is a woman.
DELEGATIONS WHICH HAVE A WOMAN AS THEIR LEADER
GENDER BALANCE AMONG PARTICIPANTS IN ANNUAL SESSIONS
