海角大神

Nine years after taking office, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is still a rarity in Africa 鈥� an elected female head of state.聽But she'd rather have company, and not just in Africa.聽

鈥淚n the next year, if we can get two or three I would be happy,鈥� she said last week in Brussels. 鈥淏ut in 10 years鈥� time we want half of all presidents in the world to be female.鈥�

That's an ambitious goal.聽As the world celebrates International Women鈥檚 Day on Sunday, there is much work still needed to close the global gender gap, particularly in the politics where women are chronically underrepresented, despite years of progress on expanding their access to education and healthcare.

Only 19 women聽currently serve as heads of state or government, according to a recent report by the United Nations, which recognizes 193 member states. And while the percentage of female parliamentarians has nearly doubled over the past two decades, they still average a mere 22 percent of seats in national parliaments.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the executive director of UN Women, estimates that at the current rate of female advancement it would take聽50 years to achieve gender equality in politics.聽鈥淲e are facing a crisis,鈥� she said in a speech on women's empowerment in Chile last month.

Experts say that increasing female enrollment rates in primary and secondary schools are key first steps needed to close the gap in political representation. And with 62 million girls around the world not attending school, the struggle for gender equality in the classroom is far from over.

But parity in education is only part of the problem. Even the most educated women face a glass ceiling when they try to climb the rungs of politics to leadership roles, including discriminatory laws and customs that favor male power seekers.聽

To help women to break through it, Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka called on political leaders to enact meaningful reforms that would allow them more access to the halls of power.

鈥淚n the last 20 years, a disproportionate burden of change has been given to women鈥檚 organizations and civil society, who have the least power to make those changes,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e need more initiatives from those with power and authority, who are voted and appointed into responsible office at all levels.鈥�

Quotas for female politicians

There are signs of progress. As of January, at least 34 countries have introduced a quota system to promote female political participation, according to the UN. That number is likely to grow as more and more political leaders recognize the benefits of greater women鈥檚 representation in government, say advocates.聽

For example, research on local councils in India discovered that the number of drinking water projects in areas with female-led councils was 62 percent higher than in those with male-led councils. In Norway, researchers found a direct causal relationship between the presence of women in municipal councils and childcare coverage.

鈥淲e can do better,鈥� said Sri Mulyani Indrawati, managing director of the World Bank, in an op-ed published on The Huffington Post's website. 鈥淎nd we must. Because when women succeed they bring diversity into policymaking and inclusiveness into policy.鈥� Ms. Indrawati served as Indonesia's finance minister during 2005-2010.聽

鈥淭hey are a force no country, no society, no company, and no family can afford not to unleash fully,鈥� she concluded.