Gender Quotas Database
Burkina Faso
Western Africa
Single / Lower House
Assemblée nationale / National Assembly
| Total seats | 71 |
| Total women | 12 |
| Percentage of women | 17% |
| Election year | 2020 |
| Electoral system | List PR |
| Quota type | Legislated Candidate Quotas |
| Election details | IDEA Voter Turnout - IPU Parline |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Legislated Candidate Quotas | Electoral law |
This law sets a quota for the benefit of either sex and modalities of positioning female and male candidates in the legislative and municipal elections in Burkina Faso. It also sets sanctions. (Article 1 - Gender Quota Law) The lists of candidates submitted by each political party, group of political parties or coalition of independents in all the electoral constituencies where it is competing, have at least 30% of either sex, at the top of the incumbent list. (Article 3 - Gender Quota Law) |
| Political funding legislation |
Any political party, coalition of political parties or coalition of independent candidates that complies with the provisions of this law shall receive additional public funding for the electoral campaign. The additional public funding represents 20% of the total amount allocated by the State for the financing of the electoral campaign. (Gender Quota Law - 2020) |
|
| Rank order/placement rules | Gender Quota Law |
The lists of candidates submitted by each political party, group of political parties or coalition of independents in all the electoral constituencies where it is competing, have at least 30% of either sex, at the top of the incumbent list. (Article 3) Each list of candidates submitted for the legislative or municipal elections must alternate between woman and man or between man and woman. An alternated list is a list on which the positioning of a candidate of a given sex is immediately followed by the positioning of a candidate of the other sex. (Article 4) The alternate positioning applies to both the list of incumbents and that of substitutes. In no case may the head of the list of incumbents and that of substitutes be of the same sex. (Article 5) In all the electoral constituencies, the lists of candidates are alternated at the top 2/3. A list that is alternated at the upper 2/3 is a list on which the positioning of the first 2/3 of the candidates is alternated. (Article 6) The alternate positioning at the top 2/3 applies both to the list of incumbents and to that of substitutes. (Article 7) |
| Is the provision of direct public funding to political parties related to gender equality among candidates? | Yes | See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
| Are there provisions for other financial advantages to encourage gender equality in political parties? | Other |
Any political party, coalition of political parties or coalition of independent candidates that complies with the provisions of this law shall receive additional public funding for the electoral campaign. The additional public funding represents 20% of the total amount allocated by the State for the financing of the electoral campaign. (Gender Quota Law - 2020) See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
Quota at the Sub-National Level
| Quota type | Legislated Candidate Quotas |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Legislated Candidate Quotas | Electoral law |
This law sets a quota for the benefit of either sex and modalities of positioning female and male candidates in the legislative and municipal elections in Burkina Faso. It also sets sanctions. (Article 1 - Gender Quota Law) The lists of candidates submitted by each political party, group of political parties or coalition of independents in all the electoral constituencies where it is competing, have at least 30% of either sex, at the top of the incumbent list. (Article 3 - Gender Quota Law) |
| Political funding legislation |
Any political party, coalition of political parties or coalition of independent candidates that complies with the provisions of this law shall receive additional public funding for the electoral campaign. The additional public funding represents 20% of the total amount allocated by the State for the financing of the electoral campaign. (Gender Quota Law - 2020) |
|
| Rank order/placement rules | Gender Quota Law |
The lists of candidates submitted by each political party, group of political parties or coalition of independents in all the electoral constituencies where it is competing, have at least 30% of either sex, at the top of the incumbent list. (Article 3) Each list of candidates submitted for the legislative or municipal elections must alternate between woman and man or between man and woman. An alternated list is a list on which the positioning of a candidate of a given sex is immediately followed by the positioning of a candidate of the other sex. (Article 4) The alternate positioning applies to both the list of incumbents and that of substitutes. In no case may the head of the list of incumbents and that of substitutes be of the same sex. (Article 5) In all the electoral constituencies, the lists of candidates are alternated at the top 2/3. A list that is alternated at the upper 2/3 is a list on which the positioning of the first 2/3 of the candidates is alternated. (Article 6) The alternate positioning at the top 2/3 applies both to the list of incumbents and to that of substitutes. (Article 7) |
Voluntary Political Party Quotas*
| Party | Official Name | Details, Quota provisions |
|---|---|---|
| Alliance for Democracy and Federation | Alliance pour la d?mocratie et la f?deration (ADF) |
In 2002 the Alliance for Democracy and Federation introduced a 25 percent quota for women on electoral lists. The quota will be implemented in the next election. |
| Congress for Democracy and Progress | Congr?s pour la D?mocratie et le Progr?s (CDP) |
In 2002 the Congress for Democracy and Progress introduced a 25 percent quota for women on electoral lists. The quota will be implemented in the next election. |
* 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
According to the Law on Quotas adopted in 2009, parties are required to include at least 30% women on their lists of candidates for the National Assembly and municipal elections. This law was implemented for the first time in the 2012 legislative and municipal elections, when the interpretation of the Law on Quotas by many political parties was that at least 30% of all candidates nominated by each political party must have been women, instead of 30% women candidates per party list in each electoral constituency (Inter-Parliamentary Union 2013).
As non-compliance with the quota requirements does not entail the annulment of the list but rather financial sanctions, and as the law does not provide for a ranking order requirement, only 16% of the elected members of the National Assembly in the 2012 elections were women.
“Burkina Faso’s 2009 legislated candidate quota law was revised in January ahead of the 2020 elections. The revision included a legislated 30 per cent candidate quota for party lists of both primary and secondary elected positions (“titulaires” and “suppléants”) using a zebra placement system. The lack of such placement rules had been identified as a factor in the low success of quotas in previous elections. However, a trade-off was made on sanction rules. Sanctions for non-compliance (loss of 50 per cent of public funding) were removed and only incentive measures were retained (20 per cent additional funding for parties that met the target)" (Inter-Parlamentary Union 2021).
Sources
Legal Sources:
- Constitution of Burkina Faso - Link
- Charter for transition - Link
- Electoral Law - Link
- Political Party Law - Link
- Law on financing Political Parties (amended through 2018) - Link
- Law on Gender Quota - Link 1, 2
Other Sources:
- Electoral Commission - Link
- Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU Parline Burkina Faso
- Advancing Women, Peace and Security Agenda in the Sahel (2019) - Link
Additional reading
- See the latest updates on Burkina Faso on iKNOW Politics
- Compaoré, Nestorine. 2002. ‘Le recrutement de femmes pour les élections legislatives au Burkina Faso’, in International IDEA. Les Femmes au parlement : Au-Delà du Nombre (Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers. Stockholm, Sweden: International IDEA.
- Tiendrébéogo-Kaboret, Alice. 2002. ‘Burkina Faso: Les obstacles á la participation des femmes au parlement’, in International IDEA. Les Femmes au parlement : Au-Delà du Nombre (Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers). Stockholm, Sweden: International IDEA.
- Yoon, M.Y. 2001. ‘Democratization and Women's Legislative Representation in Sub-Saharan Africa’, in Democratization, Vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 169–190.
- Reynolds, Andrew. 1999. Women in African Legislatures and Executives: The Slow Climb to Power. Johannesburg: Electoral Institute of South Africa.
- Tamale, S. 1999. When Hens Begin to Crow: Gender and Parliamentary Politics in Uganda. Colorado: Westview Press.
- Inter-Parliamentary Union. 1997a. Democracy Still in the Making: A World Comparative Study. Geneva: Inter-Parliamentary Union.
- Inter-Parliamentary Union. 1997b. Towards Partnership Between Men and Women in Politics. Geneva: Inter-Parliamentary Union.
- Burkina Faso Parliament website, https://www.assembleenationale.bf//
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