Gender Quotas Database

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Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Western Africa

Sierra Leone has a Unicameral parliament with legislated quotas for the single/lower house and at the sub-national level. 44 of 149 (30%) seats in the Parliament are held by women.

At a glance

Structure of parliament Unicameral

Are there legislated quotas

For the Single / Lower house? Yes
For the Upper house? No
For the Sub-national level? Yes

Are there voluntary quotas?

Adopted by political parties? No
Is there additional information? Yes

Single / Lower House

Parliament

Quota at the Sub-National Level

Voluntary Political Party Quotas*

* Only political parties represented in parliament are included. When a country has legislated quotas in place, only political parties that have voluntary quotas that exceed the percentage/number of the national quota legislation are presented in this table.

Additional information

The Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act (GEWE) of 2021 was passed by Parliament on November 15, 2022. On January 19, 2023, President Julius Maada Bio signed the act of parliament into law. The act establishes a legal requirement for all designated private and public bodies in Sierra Leone to ensure at least 30% female representation of their workforce. The act also specifies a 30% minimum quota for women’s participation and representation in government, for both appointed positions, including cabinet, ministry, ambassadorship roles and elected positions, such as parliamentary.

Following recent elections in 2023, women lawmakers now account for 28% of the elected seats in the Sierra Leone Parliament, up from 14.5% in the previous election. The surge in women MPs is largely thanks to the Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Act (IPU). 

Sources

Legal Sources:

  • Constitution of Sierra Leone (amended through 2016, 2022 a,b) - Link
  • The Public Election Act (2022) - Link
  • Political Parties Act 2022 - Link
  • The Gender's Equality and Women's Empowerment Act (2022) - Link

Other Sources:

 

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