Feature on EMEA women in Politics

Although women may have difficulties breaking through the glass ceilings of big business, they are beginning to take charge in the Public Sector. Within the recent months alone, the first female Minister of Saudi Arabia and the first female and openly lesbian Prime Minister of Iceland were appointed. In the case of Saudi Arabia, appointing a female Minister is groundbreaking in a country where women are not yet allowed to drive. For Iceland, one of the worst-hit countries of today’s economic crisis, Ms. Sigurdardottir was given the immense responsibility of stabilising the collapsing economy.
In Iraq, 4000 female candidates entered in the election for roughly 440 seats on the provincial councils. Nibras al-Mamuri, a secular candidate the Baghdad provincial council commented, “Although a woman’s role in the Arab world is mainly that of a mother and child bearer, I want to prove that women are just as capable as men when it comes to challenging arenas… An Iraqi woman can be an equal. She can participate in change.”
These new female leaders join the current ranks of powerful political women including Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, Prime Minister of the Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko, and Minster of Finance in France, Christine Lagarde.

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