For the 50th episode of the IGC podcast, we are joined by Martin Chungong, Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Chair of the IGC Global Board. Drawing from his experience in both roles, he discusses how the international community can hold the line in a time when gender equality is under attack, emphasizing the importance of women's political participation and the need for coordinated action. This episode is a powerful call to action for leaders to uphold their commitments to gender parity—stressing that inclusive governance isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.
TRANSCRIPT
Hannah Reinl
Hello and welcome to a new episode of the IGC podcast. My name is Hannah Reinl, and I’m with the International Gender Champions Secretariat in Geneva.
Today, we will be discussing what’s at stake for global efforts towards gender equality and how we can protect hard-won progress.
And I’m delighted that joining us for this critical conversation is someone who has been at the forefront of advocating for gender equality on the global stage: Martin Chungong, Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and Chair of the IGC Global Board.
Martin Chungong made double history in 2014 by becoming the first African and first non-European to be elected as Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the world organisation of national parliaments. He has been instrumental in strengthening the gender equality agenda within the IPU, and championing the role of parliaments in advancing maternal, newborn and child health. In 2020, he was elected Chair of the Global Board of the International Gender Champions. In this capacity, he mobilises global efforts across international organisations, diplomatic missions and civil society towards gender equality.
Mr Chungong, welcome to the IGC podcast!
Martin Chungong
Thank you very much, Hannah. I'm very grateful to be invited to participate in this podcast today. Thank you.
Hannah Reinl
So let’s jump right in. The IPU actually just released a new report, called “Women in parliament 1995-2025”. As the title already gives away, it analyses three decades of women’s participation in national parliaments and provides key insights into gender equality progress and challenges within parliaments worldwide. What are the most significant takeaways from the report, and how should they inform future action?
Martin Chungong
I must say that we have been monitoring women's political participation, especially representation in parliament, across the globe, for several decades now. But this year, 2025, is a very important year—30 years since Beijing. We thought it would be important for us to do a 30-year assessment of where women have come from and where they are going in terms of political participation and empowerment in general.
We had the pleasure of issuing this 30-year report earlier this year, and the key findings are quite interesting. We have noted that there has been considerable progress in women's political participation. If we look at the data that we have been able to collect, we saw that back in 1995, women accounted for just 11.3% of seats in parliaments worldwide. Today, women account for 27.2%. So, women's parliamentary representation has more than doubled, which is something we need to be very proud of.
If we go even further, in 1995, we did not have any parliament that had achieved parity in political representation in parliament. But today, we have six countries that have achieved parity, where women account for 50% or more of parliamentary seats. These are Rwanda, Cuba, Nicaragua, Mexico, Andorra and the United Arab Emirates. You will see from this sample of countries that Scandinavia, which has been very progressive and liberal when it comes to the women's political representation have been surpassed by others.So there is no longer what we call cultural exception.
Instead, whereas in 1995, Scandinavian and European countries were at the top of the rankings, today, they have been surpassed by other parts of the world, including Latin America, and the Americas in general, which is the region which has made the greatest progress when it comes to women's political representation. On the other hand, Asia is not performing that well when it comes to gender equality. So, while there has been progress, it has been uneven. But one key lesson is that parity is possible. Parity is possible and we have to build on that and make sure we continue making progress
Let me also sound a word of caution: we have seen progress in women’s political representation, but we have also seen that this progress is slowing down, is plateauing. That is a cause for concern. During this podcast, we could discuss the reasons for this, but I also want to give you some statistics. In 2023, the proportion of women in parliament grew by 0.6%. But in 2024, it was only 0.3%, and yet, 2024 was what we termed a "super election year" with 74 elections taking place across the globe. So this is something we need to be very careful with.
And the second thing is also, what are the drivers of women’s participation. We at the IPU have identified quotas, well legislated quotas, as a key driver of women's parliamentary representation. And there are statistics to prove the point. You will see that last year, where you had quota systems, women accounted for some 31 % of elections to parliament, whereas for those countries that don't have quotas, women only accounted for 17%. So it is something that we need to take into consideration. We think that looking at the landscape today, we should need to avoid what we call being overconfident. We need to be very careful and vigilant because this progress is not something that is solid, it is fragile. We have to nurture it and we need to be looking at the political environment, how we can improve upon the political environment, but also the legal frameworks that are required to drive women's parliamentary representation up.
I also want to point out that a key drawback has been toxic masculinity. It is something that we need to address because it is discouraging a lot of women from getting involved in politics and we see this in the media. There is open sexism. We see this in the social media and also in the political institutions. And so we need to be looking at those social norms that project men as the ideal leaders to the detriment of women.
Hannah Reinl
Some really important statistics you put together at the IPU, and we will make sure to link to the report so that listeners can find it. You just mentioned it- 2025 is a year of milestones marking international commitments for gender equality: we’ve got the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security and 10 years of Sustainable Development Goal 5. It is also the year of the IGC’s own 10-year anniversary. Reflecting on these milestones and looking ahead, what gives you reason for concern and what gives you reason for hope?
Martin Chungong
Well, first of all, you just mentioned that IGC is turning 10 this year, 2025. And as Chair of the Global Board I want to pat ourselves on the back and say happy birthday to all my colleagues out there who will certainly be joining us in celebrating this milestone.
And coming back to 2025, as in general, we are witnessing a phenomenon that is disquieting. There is a strong push back. There's a backlash against women's political emancipation. And this is not something that has been done behind closed doors. It's open. We see it in political cycles, within the media as I just mentioned earlier. And in general, we think that this is a threat, this is a challenge to human rights and democracy in general.
he anti-gender discourse is gaining ground, which means that we need to take advantage of this year, this landmark year 2025, to rededicate ourselves to robust action, to push back on this push back that we have witnessed. I believe that there are signs that there are strong champions out there that are doing this push back against pushback. And we look at what is happening in some countries, where for instance, in India and the Republic of Korea, in spite of this pushback, there are increasing numbers of women, and especially young people going out to vote. Because they have realised that it is the political future of women that is at stake. And when we look at also the issues that are being articulated during election processes, abortion rights and all of that, tt makes the case for women to come out in greater numbers to vote in order to protect their rights.
So I think that it is something that is very critical, more political participation is the antidote to this anti-democratic movement that we are seeing around the world today and we need to support women, we need to support women's movements, those who work to defend women's rights, men and women. And so I think it is something that we need to be very vigilant over. And I think that this is an opportunity for me to tell everybody out there that this is a collective endeavor. We have to work together to fight the phenomenon of pushback and make sure that women occupy their rightful place in the political spectrum.
Hannah Reinl
Yeah, I'd like to double click on that. What are the main arguments or strategies used to undermine gender equality today, and how do we respond to them?
Martin Chungong
I think generally people tend to put forward culture. They tend to put forward religion as an excuse for undermining gender equality, and I don't agree. I totally disagree. Several years ago, I was travelling in the Middle East and top-level leaders were telling me that their culture, religion, in this area did not allow them to robustly promote women's rights, and I openly disagreed with that. I can pride myself on having read a lot of what is going on around the world to say that I don't see where in any culture or religion, there is a call to undermine, to subvert the human rights of 50% of the population. Women account for at least 50% of the population worldwide. So this is a flawed argument, and we have to fight.
How do we do this? We have to show the statistics. There is data out there, first of all showing countries, as I mentioned earlier, where there has been parity, to show that it is possible against all odds to achieve parity or at least make sure that women are represented to the tune of at least 40% in Parliament and this is happening not only in a specific part of the world but across the globe. So it's not something that you would say is endemic to a particular region in the world. And we look at the every manner of legal or political system and we see that things are looking up and so that argument for me has no basis. And we have seen examples where women, when they put themselves forward for elections, receiving support across the spectrum from men and women alike. And so I don't think that we should be cautioning this type of endeavour. And we also have, although I hesitate to put forward this argument, we do know that the women's political participation brings something to the table. But as I say, I hesitate to bring this because we don't ask men what they bring to the table when they're putting themselves up for election. So I don't expect us to require this of women as a criterion for their political participation.
However, there's ample evidence that the outcomes are better, the benefits to society better, the more substantial women tend to improve upon processes, especially in the peace area. Talking about climate change, action in this area is more effective when you have both men and women working together and the economy is improved considerably because women tend to be the, I would say, the economic housekeepers, and they make sure that family revenues are better managed. And generally I think it's important for them to continue to be part of the political landscape.
Well, we can say that it's the right thing to do, but most importantly, it's the smart thing to do because we derive greater benefits and we enjoy the advantages of collective management of society involving men and women.
Hannah Reinl
And so certainly leaders play an important role as well in role modelling what's the right thing to do? So in light of the recent backtracking that we've observed, how can we ensure, in your opinion, that leaders stay accountable to the commitments that they've made for gender equality? And would you also like to share a few examples from how you have personally used your leadership role to advocate for the changes that you want to see.
Martin Chungong
Again, I go to International Gender Champions: I think this is an example of what collective standards can do. We have evolved standards that we hold ourselves up to. The Gender parity Pledge that we have evolved. The one on fighting gender-based violence. These are things that we should be campaigning for, we should be championing. And I'm glad that my colleagues, our leaders represented in the IGC are forthcoming on this. I personally enjoy implementing the gender parity pledge, which means that I'm very keen, as many other colleagues on the IGC, we're very keen to make sure that women are represented in equal numbers with men in decision making wherever you have meetings or platforms or a discussion of issues pertaining to global governance and even national governance, men and women, are at the table. Otherwise those decisions are not legitimate, and I believe that our rules, as the models, also help. When people see that the top leadership of institutions, of agencies, the top leadership are promoting gender equality, of course, this trickles down to the grassroots, which is something for us that is important.
Coming to the IPU that I have the privilege of leading, I think that we have been at the forefront of efforts to make sure that change is actually happening when it comes to gender equality and we have put in place mechanisms that allow us to hold ourselves accountable for this. We have, for instance, at the IPU, what we call the Gender Partnership Group, which is a small group of the Executive Committee, our governing body, that is made-up of men and women, that monitor participation of men and women in IPU processes. And we have held very constructive dialogues with those countries that tend to be dragging their feet when it comes to gender equality that grew. It proposes, monitors and advocates for measures to enhance women's political participation, and I think that the opportunity for healthy dialogue with the “Renegades” is one that is appreciated by many people.
And we have also instituted quotas within our institutions and other structures. For instance, currently, our Executive Committee is gender-balanced with 50% men, 50% women. And when we look at our assemblies, we are moving towards 50% for men and women. We are currently at 40% and I have committed to, in the short term, ensuring that this organisation can be, our meetings can be attended by men and women in equal numbers.
So these are some of the things that we do, but we have put in place a system of sanctions and incentives. For instance, if you come with a single sex delegation to the IPU, you forfeit a number of slots that you are entitled to when you register to attend the assembly. But you also lose voting rights, which is something that we have found to be very effective in promoting gender equality. And we see also that there is increasing appetite on the part of our member parliaments to come to the IPU and ask for our support in improving upon their gender equality credentials. So the peer pressure is working in the in the IPU and we have seen that women who have come to the IPU have gone on to hold very important roles in society.
Another mechanism that we have introduced recently is our anti-harassment policy. We want to project the IPU increasingly as a safe environment for both men and women to operate. And so women don't need to fear for their integrity, both physical and mental. So it is something that we are pushing for. And when we look at our interaction with countries, our member parliaments, especially those undergoing transition currently in West Africa, for instance, we are always pushing for them to set in place new legislative frameworks that are egalitarian, which cater to the rights and responsibilities of both men and women in the governance of their countries. And today, people don't know it very well, nut the IPO was at the forefront of processes in Rwanda to put in place a new constitution that was gender-sensitive and today we can see the benefits of that. Rwanda is at the top on the list of countries that are promoting gender equality. So generally we need to look at this.
And then we look at some of those attempts to subvert women's and girls rights. Recently we saw what was happening in The Gambia, where there were some stakeholders who were trying to unravel the progress that had been made when it came to female genital mutilation. They wanted to unban this traditionally harmful practice, and we had to create awareness among the political class, among the religious class, to let them know that there was nowhere in religion or culture that we require that girls be subjected to such cruel and inhumane practice as the FGM. And luckily we prevailed and those attempts were abandoned on Parliament, maintaining the ban on FGM. So those are things that we need to be looking at. We need to protect women's political rights, but also their cultural and human rights in general like in this case of the Gambia.
Hannah Reinl
Wonderful. Thank you for sharing these hands-on examples that can certainly be reproduced at a larger scale as well across our network. So unfortunately we do have to wrap up this episode, but I'd like to end on a forward-looking note and ask you if you have a call to action that you would like to share with your fellow leaders.
Martin Chungong
You will have guessed from my answers to your previous questions, Hannah, that for me, gender parity is a priority. And so, I want to use this opportunity to reiterate the pledge, the gender parity pledge articulated by International Gender Champions. I think it’s the sensible thing to do, to make sure that women and men are represented in equal numbers in fora where decisions are being taken on issues of governance, of society. So my first call for action is to rededicate to gender parity and make sure that we are working towards this, especially in the multilateral system that we know today.
I think it's important that the multilateral system be seen to be relevant, be seen to be legitimate, and this can be achieved if there is a greater degree of inclusivity when it comes to decision making. And we can also push this to making the point that it is important that the agendas of multilateral institutions, of the fora of decision making, that these agendas systematically include gender equality as something that we need to strive for. I think it's important, we cannot afford to pay token or lip service to gender equality if we're not seen to be practicing it in our processes and our legal framework. So my call to action is that we need to be more committed and more devoted to gender equality not only in terms of what we say but in terms of what we do. We need to do what we preach. And we, as leaders, need to be paving the path, we need to be trailblazers of society as a whole. Otherwise we would be failing in our role as leaders.
Hannah Reinl
Let our actions speak. Mr. Chungong, thank you so much for joining us today and for sharing your inspiring commitment to gender equality with us.