Beijing+30: Taking stock of progress on gender equality using the Global State of Democracy Indices

Drawing on International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy Indices, this article explores advances, setbacks, and gaps in gender equality and women's political participation since 1995. As threats to gender equality and democracy grow, the CSW 2025 Political Declaration must reaffirm that women’s equal participation in decision-making is fundamental to democracy—and that both must be protected.

In 2025, the world marks 30 years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a landmark agenda for women's empowerment. Coinciding with International IDEA’s 30th anniversary as the only intergovernmental organization with the mandate to strengthen democracy, this milestone reaffirms the 1995 commitment that women's equal participation in decision-making, alongside equal rights, opportunities, and access to resources, is essential for democracy, peace, and human rights, ensuring a just society that protects the interests of all. The importance of gender equality was also reaffirmed by all UN member states in the 2030 Agenda, with Sustainable Development Goal 5, and targets 5.1. and 5.5 specifically emphasizing an end to all forms of discrimination and women's political participation as a key target for achieving inclusive and sustainable development.

Data¹ from International IDEA shows that since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration in 1995, the world has made some progress in advancing gender equality, though significant challenges remain. The global average for gender equality rose by 19 per cent, with progress in all regions, but at a slower pace than the 33 per cent increase in the previous 20 years (from 1975 to 1995).

Progress on gender equality has been uneven, with stark disparities across regions. Over the past 30 years, only Europe has advanced from mid-range to high levels of gender equality. The Americas lag behind in the mid-range but perform above the global average while Asia-Pacific, and Africa, also in the mid-range, perform below the global average. The Middle East, despite making the largest relative gains, has only moved from very low to low levels, remaining the furthest behind in expanding opportunities for women and protecting their rights. Hence, persistent challenges remain—especially in the Middle East and Africa, where no country has yet reached high levels gender equality. 

Table 1. Average global and regional score for Gender Equality in 1995 and 2023 

While the regional average for the Americas, and Asia-Pacific remains mid-range, some countries stand out as gender equality bright spots. While more than ¾ of countries with high levels of gender equality are in Europe, notable examples can also be found in the Americas (Costa Rica – which ranks among the top 12 in the world, Argentina, Barbados, Canada, Cuba, Jamaica, Uruguay, and the United States) and Asia-Pacific (New Zealand and Taiwan).

Significant disparities also exist within regions, which is concerning as sub-regional gaps can hinder overall progress and create pockets of persistent inequality. The Pacific remains a deep-seated gender inequality pocket within Asia-Pacific, lagging 40 per cent behind the regional average. Significant gender equality gaps  – around 30 per cent - can be found in -are Eastern and North Western Europe, North and Central America, South and East Asia, and North and Southern Africa.

While most countries have progressed in gender equality over the past 30 years, some are now worse off than they were three decades ago, spanning all regions and diverse contexts of economic and democratic development. Hungary, Palestine, South Sudan, Syria, Vanuatu, and Yemen stand out as the most severe cases of decline over the past three decades (although from different starting points with Hungary falling in the mid-range compared to the low performance of the others). Additionally, several countries have experienced recent setbacks of great concern, with all except Algeria and Belarus scoring lower today than 30 years ago: Afghanistan, Algeria, Belarus, Burkina Faso, El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Niger, Russia, Sudan, Venezuela, Zimbabwe. Many of these declines are driven by conflict (Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Sudan), autocratization (Nicaragua, Russia, Venezuela), and democratic backsliding (El Salvador,Hungary), with some countries facing multiple overlapping challenges.

Even in countries that have experienced significant economic growth in recent decades, progress in gender equality has sometimes lagged behind. Azerbaijan, China, India, Israel, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Turkey, have all struggled to translate economic gains into significant advancements in gender equality over the past thirty years. A country like the United States, while having borderline high levels of gender equality, has seen slow advances in the past 30 years and still lags considerably behind (0.7) the average for Western Europe (0.86).  

Several countries have made remarkable progress in gender equality over the past 30 years, spanning Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East. Among the top 10 countries with the most significant gains (with different start and end points) are Bhutan, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Gambia, Guyana, Indonesia, Morocco, Sierra Leone, Taiwan. With few exceptions, these countries have also undergone democratic consolidation following a transition to democracy, highlighting the connection between democratic progress and gender equality advancements. 

Gender equality generally aligns with democratic performance, though exceptions exist. Of the 42 countries with high levels of gender equality, all but Cuba are democracies. Conversely, nearly all countries with low gender equality are autocracies, except for three Pacific Island countries —Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu—where gender equality remains fragile. Democracies typically achieve higher gender equality by upholding rights, representation, and inclusive governance, while autocracies, which restrict political participation and social freedoms, tend to lag behind. However, democratic maturity alone is not enough—sustained progress requires political commitment supported by effective policies.

Women remain significantly underrepresented in political decision-making, despite progress over the past 30 years. A key measure of gender equality is women’s presence in formal political structures, which strengthens democracy by bringing diverse perspectives, elevating new issues, and reshaping citizen-representative relationships. Women’s parliamentary representation has more than doubled, rising from 12 per cent globally in 1995 to 27 per cent in 2025 (IPU 2025). However, this remains below the 30 per cent target set in 1995, with full parity still a distant goal. At the current pace, equal representation in parliaments is projected to take another 40 years. 

Figure 1. How long will it take to reach gender parity in parliaments? 

Source: Calculation made based on data from Inter-Parliamentary Union. (2024). Women in parliament: World classification. Retrieved from https://www.ipu.org/resources/publications, accessed 1 March 2025 

There are stark differences in women’s parliamentary representation by region. Despite overall gender equality levels being higher in Europe, the Americas is the region with the highest percentage of women parliamentarians at 35 per cent, followed by Europe at 32 per cent. The Middle East lags far behind the others at 17 per cent. Of the democratically elected parliaments, only Andorra and Mexico have reached parity and Bolivia, Costa Rica, and Iceland, fall below the 50 per cent mark. In 2025, there are still countries with no women in their parliaments (Oman, Tuvalu, Yemen) and Maldives, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu only have two to three per cent women parliamentarians (IPU 2025).  

The 2024 super cycle of elections fell short of turbocharging women’s political representation, delivering only modest gains. With 74 national elections and 1.6 billion ballots cast worldwide, progress toward gender parity remained sluggish in 2024, with women’s legislative representation rising by less than one percentage point ahead of the Beijing Declaration’s 30th anniversary. The number of women heads of state or government increased from six to nine—an improvement, albeit still insufficient. However, key milestones included Claudia Sheinbaum’s election as Mexico’s first female president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s historic win as Namibia’s first female president (and the first in Southern Africa), and Kamala Harris’s candidacy as only the second woman to reach the final round of a US presidential election as a major party nominee (International IDEA 2025).

Gender quotas have been a key driver of progress in women's parliamentary representation. Their adoption has expanded rapidly, with 71 per cent of countries implementing some form of quota by 2022 (International IDEA 2024). In 2022, countries with legally binding quotas had higher average female representation (31 per cent) compared to those without (26 per cent). In 2024, this gap persisted, with women voted into power holding 30 per cent of seats in lower or single chambers with quotas, versus just 22 per cent in countries without them. Mongolia’s 2024 parliamentary elections saw women’s representation rise from 17 per cent to 25 per cent after 2023 electoral reforms introduced a 30 per cent candidate quota, set to increase to 40 per cent by 2028. However, Finland, South Africa, and the United Kingdom surpassed 40 per cent female representation in 2024 without quotas, highlighting that while gender quotas are a powerful tool, they are not the only path to more inclusive parliaments (International IDEA 2025).

Parity laws are other legislative measures designed to ensure equal representation of women and men in political offices (often mandating that electoral candidate lists alternate between genders). Countries that have adopted such laws include Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Argentina, and France. However, as backlash against gender equality increases, such laws face threats. Argentina, has, for example, expressed intentions to repeal this law, reflecting a broader agenda to roll back certain gender equality measures. This proposal is part of a series of actions, including plans to remove the legal classification of femicide from the penal code.  

Women's participation in civil society and their civil liberties are facing growing threats amid democratic backsliding and shrinking civic space. Women’s participation in civic life is also essential for vibrant democracies. Over the past decade, more countries have moved toward authoritarianism than democracy (International IDEA 2024), restricting civic space and disproportionately impacting women and their organizations, which are often the most vulnerable, least resourced, and least networked. While women’s participation in civil society has risen by 18 per cent since 1995, this is a significantly slower pace than the previous 30 years, which saw a more than tenfold increase, with a recent downward trend threatening advances. At the same time, women’s civil liberties have also suffered, with the global score dropping by 2 per cent since 2018, particularly in the Americas and Asia-Pacific. Women’s freedom of expression has also suffered, falling by 28 per cent since 2012, with troubling declines across the Americas, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Europe. These trends signal a troubling erosion of hard-won gains in women’s political rights and civic engagement (V-Dem 2025).

Rising violence against women in politics is a growing barrier to political participation, threatening both gender equality and democracy. Over the past decade, this trend has surged, fueled by online harassment, political polarization, and weakening democratic norms—an issue largely unforeseen when the Beijing Declaration was adopted 30 years ago. A 2016 IPU global study found that a significant portion of women parliamentarians face harassment and abuse. This violence, including in the worst cases lethal threats, deters women from running for office and participating in civic life, ultimately undermining inclusive democracy. Despite record numbers of women engaging in elections, they face escalating backlash, while efforts to monitor and combat political violence remain inadequate. Many parliaments lack internal mechanisms to address harassment, and election monitoring standards often overlook gendered violence. The lack of comprehensive global data allows this issue to persist unchecked, and as donors scale back gender-focused programs, support for women facing political violence is further at risk. Without urgent action to strengthen data collection, institutional accountability, and international support, the democratic gains of recent decades will continue to erode (EU Parliament 2024, UN 2018).

Conclusion

Despite notable progress, gender equality in politics remains fragile, with persistent disparities across regions and a troubling rise in violence against women in politics. While gender quotas and legal reforms have contributed to increased representation, systemic barriers, including harassment and political violence, continue to deter women’s political participation. The lack of comprehensive global data further hinders efforts to address these challenges, allowing gender-based violence and exclusion to persist unchecked. As donor support for gender-focused programs declines and gender equality measures face backlash, urgent action is needed to safeguard past gains, ensure equal political participation, and uphold democracy’s fundamental promise of inclusive political representation and participation. In this context, the CSW 2025 Political Declaration should honor the Beijing Declaration by reaffirming that women’s equal participation in decision-making is essential to democracy and that both need to be protected against increasing threats.  

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the institutional position of International IDEA, its Board of Advisers or its Council of Member States.

[1] International IDEA’s democracy framework highlights gender equality as a vital pillar of democracy. The GSoD Indices measure democracy across four key dimensions: Representation, Rights, Rule of Law, and Participation, with a total of 29 indicators of democratic quality, aggregated from 165 base indicators with a score from 0 to 1, divided into low, mid-range and high level scales. The measurement spans 174 countries from 1975 until the most recent update in 2023. Each country is given a Gender Equality is assessed as a sub-factor under Political Equality in the Rights dimension. Based on 11 indicators from six sources (V-Dem, IHME, CIRIGHTS, Global Gender Gap Report, ILO, and World Bank), it includes expert-coded measures of power distribution by gender and female participation in civil society, alongside observational indicators such as the female-to-male ratio of mean years of schooling, women's representation in legislatures, labor force participation, and managerial positions, and financial account control. Additional indicators capture gender-based exclusion, women’s empowerment, and political and economic rights.