INTRODUCTION
Since 2017, as mandated by the Standing Committee, the Secretary General presents annual, public updates on gender mainstreaming within the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s policies and activities and on the gender balance within the organisation. This report therefore reviews how the Assembly has mainstreamed gender into its work in 2021 and the progress achieved towards a fairer gender balance within the Assembly.
NATO PA reports, resolutions and activities have continued to incorporate a gender perspective and highlight the importance of mainstreaming gender into NATO policies, from resilience to partnerships, from scientific innovation to crisis management. The Assembly also supported the advancement of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda through new initiatives. Importantly, the NATO PA created a “Women for Peace and Security Award” to honour a remarkable woman engaged in support of peace and security. For this first edition, the prize was awarded to the Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
Fairly steady progress towards a more gender-balanced Assembly membership has been made over the past six years, but data for 2021-2022 indicates this might now have reached a plateau. The overall share of women in national delegations in March 2022 stands at 18% – compared to 18.8% in March 2021, with seven of the 30 NATO PA delegations led by a woman – the same number as in 2021. Nine delegations are all-male – a number which has also remained fairly stable in recent years. When looking at actual attendance, a larger share of women tend to participate in NATO PA sessions than the composition of delegations could suggest. Thus, the share of women who participated in the 2021 annual session stood at 23%, somewhat below that of 2020 (26%).
ANNUAL SESSION PARTICIPATION
While the share of women in the membership and among participants in NATO PA sessions may have plateaued at around 18% and 25% respectively, the representation of women among the NATO PA leadership stands at high levels, with several milestones reached in the past two years. The Bureau – comprising the President, Vice-Presidents and Treasurer – currently includes an equal share of men and women. Assembly Committees and Sub-Committees have elected close to 27% of female officers (Chairpersons, Vice-Chairpersons and Rapporteurs) – a share which has increased for the second year in a row. Representation of women among the NATO PA staff remains consistently high.
NATO PA LEADERSHIP
NATO PA FEMALE OFFICERS
