When Hungary’s Minister of Justice, Judit Varga stepped down from her role earlier this week, her move tipped the country to become the only nation in the European Union without a female minister.
With her replacement being announced as Bence Tuzson, Hungary’s fourteen ministerial positions are now be held by men.
According to analysis conducted by Euronews, just over a third of ministerial positions across the twenty-seven EU governments are now held by women.
The Good
Finland has the highest percentage of women in parliament, making up two-thirds of the new right-wing cabinet. Other EU states that have more than half of ministry positions held by women include Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
In June, the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report for 2023 revealed that 11 out of 146 countries have 50 per cent or more ministerial positions held by women — the top positions led by Albania, Finland and Spain.
A total of five countries stood at full parity in the number of seats held by women in national parliaments — Mexico, Nicaragua, Rwanda, the United Arab Emirates and New Zealand.
The Bad
According to the Global Gender Gap Report, parliaments of Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon are made up of all-male cabinets.
Another analysis by the Council on Foreign Relations showed that Afghanistan and Yemen also have all-male cabinets. The two countries have long remained at the bottom of global gender equality rankings due to their treatment of women. The majority of the population in Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Yemen are Muslim and observe Islamic law to varying degrees – relatively lax in Azerbaijan, to extremely strict in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.
Countries such as The Maldives, Qatar, Nigeria, Oman and Vanuatu have less than five percent of women in parliament while Türkiye, China and India have less than 7 per cent ministers women — despite India having a female president (Droupadi Murmu).
Within the EU, The Czech Republic, Poland and Malta have less than 15 per cent female ministers in parliament.
The Czech Republic ranks low in the Global Gender Gap Index — 101st among 146, while Poland and Malta still have dangerously strict abortion laws.
Currently, 75 countries have 20 per cent or less female ministers, and only six have at least 50 per cent women in the national legislature.