UN asked to increase Women in Parliment

United's Nations has asked governments across the globe to promote more women and to try to increase the number of female parliamentarians.

Following its own directive, the UN is now almost up to a 50/50 ratio of men and women in senior management positions.

In the Caribbean, the number of women in most parliaments does not exceed 20% and the region’s political leaders have been trying to attract more women as candidates.

In a bold move last Sunday evening, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt announced a slate of candidates for the next general election in Dominica that is 50% female. This comes at a time when one of the themes this year at the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is on women in political leadership.

Coming after  the Prime Minister’s leading statement on climate change at the United Nations two years ago, following Hurricane Maria, this is being seen as groundbreaking for a small island developing  state and a policy that many larger countries are still working on implementing.

It is left to be seen how well all these female candidates will do, but the word in political circles around Dominica is that the Labour Party’s ladies have been very well received as they are viewed as strong candidates with excellent chances of winning their seats. If they do, they will make history in Dominica and across the Caribbean.