HBKU webinar discusses impact of gender quotas on women’s political participation

Doha: The fourth in a series of webinars tackling contemporary women’s issues, organised by Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU)’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), gathered parliamentarians, civil rights activists, and advocates to discuss the adoption of gender quota systems in the Arab region. 

Although the introduction of electoral quotas for public elections - requiring a percentage of female representation - has been controversial in some countries, research has shown these to be effective in ‘fast-tracking women’s political representation to produce equality of results, not only equality of opportunity. Panelists from Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, and Bahrain shared experiences of different types of quotas and how successful they have been in mobilising women into political life and the labour market in their countries and globally.