Costa Rica

Video created by Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF) and the IPU for Geneva Peace Week on 2 November 2020. This video will take you on a journey to discover how parliaments contribute to the governance of the security

The IPU has held its first regional information seminar in Latin America on the functioning of the organization. The seminar was held in San José, Costa Rica, on 27 and 28 November 2019 in partnership with Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly

Women’s representation in political decision-making continues to rise slowly, with slight improvements since 2017, according to the data presented in the 2019 edition of the biennial IPU-UN Women map of Women in Politics. The map, which presents global rankings for women in the executive and parliamentary government branches as of 1 January 2019, shows the proportion of women ministers is at an all-time high at 20.7 per cent (812 out of 3922), 2.4 percentage points higher compared to 2017. It also shows that the types of portfolios women ministers hold are diversifying.

According to the IPU’s yearly analysis, the share of women in national parliaments increased by nearly one percentage point last year, from 23.4 per cent in 2017 to 24.3 per cent in 2018. This 0.9 percentage point increase confirms the continuing rise of women in parliament, at a slightly faster rate of change compared to previous years. Countries with well-designed gender quotas elected significantly more women to parliament than those without, respectively, 7 points more in single or lower chambers, and 17 points more in upper chambers.