Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

As Finnish women land in positions of power, what are other countries doing?

Minister of Education Li Andersson, Minister of Interior Maria Ohisalo, Prime Minister Sanna Marin and Minister of Finance Katri Kulmuni attend a news conference of the new Finnish government in Helsinki, Finland December 10, 2019. Lehtikuva/Vesa Moilanen via REUTERS      ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS. FINLAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN FINLAND. - RC2GSD9FVL5N

The leaders of the four coalitions heading up Finland's government Image: REUTERS/Lehtikuva Lehtikuva

Giulia Basana

Sanna Marin, 34, started her first day on Wednesday as the world's youngest prime minister after being sworn in as Finland's third female government leader.

Marin, who comes from a modest background and was raised by a single mother, will head a coalition with four other parties that are all led by women, three of whom are in their early 30s.

As the Nordic nation blazes a trail putting women in positions of power what are other countries doing?

Have you read?

1. The world's first non-hereditary female head of government in modern history was Sri Lanka's Sirimavo Bandaranaike who took over her party's leadership in 1960. Her daughter, Chandrika, won the presidential election in 1994.

2. Rwanda's government has the highest level of female representation with nearly two thirds of its parliamentary seats occupied by women. This figure is well above the global average of 24 percent.

3. Cuba and Bolivia are the only other two countries that count more women than men in their parliaments.

4. More than 80 countries have never been ruled by a woman including the United States, Russia, Japan, Spain, Italy and Saudi Arabia.

5. The European country with the highest number of women in parliament is Sweden, the fifth globally. The United Kingdom is thirty-ninth, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

6. Women make a difference in politics. A report by United Nations Women conducted in India showed there were 62% more drinking water projects in regions of the country governed by women than in those led by men.

7. Women in power "can be counted on to raise issues that others overlook, to support ideas that others oppose and to seek an end to abuses that others accept," said Madeline Albright, chairwoman of The National Democratic Institute, in 2018.

8. Women's representation in national parliaments globally has increased from 17.8% in 2008 to 24.1% in 2018, according to the Democratic Institute.

9. The Middle East witnessed the most dramatic change: women made up only 3.1 percent of governments in 1998 compared to 17.5 percent today.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

SDG 05: Gender Equality

Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how SDG 05: Gender Equality is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

What is menopause – and how does it impact women’s health and work life?

Charlotte Edmond

October 23, 2024

From herding to coding: the Mongolian NGO bridging the digital divide

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum