Women hold just 13% of seats in Ivory Coast parliament
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Aip
Ivorian minister Nassénéba Touré called for greater access for women to political responsibility, as they hold 34 of the National Assembly’s 253 seats, or about 13%. She also recalled the legal 30% quota for electoral lists at a forum in Abidjan, AIP reports.
Women hold 34 of the 253 seats in Ivory Coast’s National Assembly, representing about 13% of elected members, the country’s minister for women, family and children, Nassénéba Touré, noted in Abidjan on Friday 23 October, according to the Ivorian Press Agency (AIP). She was speaking at the opening of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom’s political forum for women.
Ivory Coast adopted a law in 2019 requiring women to make up at least 30% of candidate lists for legislative, regional and municipal elections. Nassénéba Touré called for these legal advances to be translated into effective participation in decision-making bodies. She cited violence and harassment, campaign financing, the influence of male networks, family responsibilities and a lack of knowledge about avenues for redress among the obstacles.
The minister urged women to learn more about legal provisions and use digital tools to make their voices heard, while warning them about online violence. She also called for the ratification of the African Union Convention on the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls, and urged participants from Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali and Guinea to support the initiative.
Alexandra Heldt, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom’s regional director for West Africa, stressed the role of networks of trust and solidarity in women’s access to positions of responsibility. Nassénéba Touré said her ministry would examine the proposals made during the forum.
