GENDER BALANCE IN 2022-2023
The sections below review the trends in the gender composition of the Assembly membership and leadership as well as in the International Secretariat.
The share of women in national delegations has reached the highest level on record in 2023. The representation of women in the NATO PA’s top leadership has also reached several significant milestones in recent years and remains at remarkably high levels. Women remain very well represented in the NATO PA staff.
At the same time, as the section below illustrates, other indicators have remained stable or even decreased: the share of women in delegations versus in national parliaments; the share of women leaders of delegation; and the share of women participants in the NATO PA annual sessions. Conversely, the share of delegations composed only of men has also remained fairly stable, and the share of women elected to positions on the Assembly’s Committees and Sub-Committees has decreased compared to 2021.
These figures indicate that the participation of women in the NATO PA might have reached a plateau, even though individual indicators continue to evolve up or down depending on national and NATO PA elections.
Since May 2017, “[d]elegations 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. Ten parliaments have had elections since the previous review. Of the eight delegations for which the data is relevant[1], two include more women than previous delegations. Three have retained the same share of women. One includes less women, and two others have remained comprised solely of men.
Graph 1 shows the share of women in national delegations to the NATO PA in 2023. Appendix 1 provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution in the number and proportion of men and women in each of the 30 member delegations from 2016 to 2023.
Graph 2 shows how the share of women in NATO PA delegations compares with the share of women in national parliaments[2].
Table 1 indicates which delegations are led by a woman.
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 2023. Detailed data regarding actual participation in NATO PA annual sessions from 2016 to 2022 features in Appendix 2.
[1] The new delegation of Italy has not been appointed at the time of writing and the data for the United States is not taken into account due to specific rules regarding the composition of that delegation.
[2] Source: https://data.ipu.org/women-ranking?month=2&year=2023
MEMBER COUNTRIES
PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN IN DELEGATIONS
Luxembourg
67%
Portugal
43%
France
39%
United Kingdom
33%
North Macedonia
33%
Germany
33%
Belgium
29%
Latvia
25%
Spain
25%
Albania
25%
Romania
20%
Norway
20%
Croatia
20%
Denmark
20%
Netherlands
14%
Hungary
14%
Greece
14%
Italy
11%
Poland
8%
Türkiye
6%
Note: no data is shown for the delegations undergoing changes in composition following a recent election or for the delegations of Canada and the United States whose membership rules are specific. Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Iceland, Lithuania, Montenegro, Slovenia, Slovakia are not represented by women within their NATO PA delegations.
Note: no data is shown for the delegations undergoing changes in composition following a recent election or for the delegations of Canada and the United States whose membership rules are specific.
Table 1: Delegations with a woman as Head
Women in NATO PA membership
Women participants in NATO PA sessions
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
The figures presented above indicate that, while some important indicators of women’s participation have continued to increase or remained high, others have plateaued or even decreased:
- The overall share of women in national delegations currently stands at 19.9%, the highest level on record since reporting began.
- Six delegations are led by a woman, one less than in 2021 and 2022. In comparison, just two delegations were led by a woman in 2016.
- At the annual session in November 2022, 23% of participants, i.e. members and alternates, were women. This is below the 2020 peak at 26%, but the same level as in 2021 and significantly higher than in previous years when participation hovered between 17 and 20%.
- As mentioned above, of the delegations which have held elections since the last report, two have a larger number of women than prior to elections and one has less. Five others have maintained a similar share of women, but two of these have remained exclusively comprised of men.
- The number of delegations composed only of men has remained steady over the past four years at 8 to 9. It currently stands at 8.
- 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.
As graph 4 illustrates, the representation of women among elected officers of the Assembly – particularly among Bureau members – has significantly increased between 2016 and 2023. Appendix 3 provides a detailed overview of the evolution in the number of women in the Assembly’s Bureau – President, Vice‑Presidents and Treasurer; enlarged Bureau – which, in addition to the Bureau, includes other NATO PA leaders; and Committee and Sub-Committee officers – Chairpersons, Vice‑Chairpersons and Rapporteurs.
Bureau
Enlarged Bureau
Committee officers
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2017
2016
Note: no data was compiled for the year 2018
After two woman Presidents took the helm of the Assembly for the first time between September 2018 and October 2019, the NATO PA reached another milestone at the November 2020 annual session. Following elections during this session, the Assembly’s Bureau – its top leadership – was composed of a majority of women. Current representation of women on the Bureau remains at a remarkably high level – close to 43%. The Assembly elected another woman President in November 2022.
As of March 2023, women represented 23.6% of Committee and Sub-Committee officers, slightly below the 2021 and 2022 figures. The year 2022 was remarkable in the high share of women serving as Rapporteur (43.75%). In 2023, four out of seventeen Rapporteurs are women (23.5%), as are two of the five Committee Chairpersons.
In the International Secretariat, the contingent of women continues to outweigh that of men by a wide margin, with 17 women (63%) and 10 men (37%) currently permanently employed. The first woman Secretary General took up her duties in January 2020.
Women in the International secretariat
Women are also well represented in the Research programme. Over the past 16 years (2006-2022), 138 young graduates have been selected to take part in the programme, 78 of them women (56.5%). As many of these Researchers launch distinguished careers after their time in the Assembly, this serves also as a contribution to the representation of women in defence, security and international relations in general. The NATO PA reformed and upgraded the programme in 2022. Of the five Researchers recruited under this new formula, three are women.
Women in the Research programme
This document is the sixth annual review of progress towards gender mainstreaming and towards a more representative gender balance in the NATO PA. As mandated by the Standing Committee, it will be made public on the NATO PA’s website. Beginning in 2021, these reports have also been launched in the form of digital publications to appeal to a broader public, which is reflected in the viewership numbers. While the 2020 PDF version only reached 63 unique views, the first two digital versions had 752 and 1,651 unique views.
The report shows that, over the past seven years, the Assembly has made significant progress on the twin goals of enhanced gender mainstreaming and improved gender balance, progress which is gradually translated into lasting practices within the Assembly.
SHARE THIS PAGE