SHARECountry Data
Liberia (Republic of Liberia) has a Bicameral parliament with the use of voluntary party quotas and legislated quotas for the single/lower house. 8 of 73 (11%) seats in the House of Representatives are held by women.
At a glance
Structure of Parliament: Bicameral
Are there legislated quotas...
- For the Single/Lower House? Yes
- For the Upper House? No
- For the Sub-National Level? No
Are there voluntary quotas...
- Adopted by political parties? Yes
Is there additional information?...
- Yes
Last updated: Aug 9, 2022
Single/Lower House
House of Representatives
| Total seats | 73 |
| Total Women | 8 |
| % Women | 11% |
| Election Year | 2017 |
| Electoral System | FPTP |
| Quota Type | Legislated Candidate Quotas |
| Election details | IDEA Voter Turnout - IPU Parline |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Legislated Candidate Quotas | Constitution | |
| Electoral law | A political party or coalition in its submission to the Commission, of its list of candidates for an election should endeavor to ensure that the governing body and its list of candidates has no less than 30% of its members from each gender. A list of candidates submitted to the Commission for an election should endeavor to have no less than 30% of the candidates on the list from each gender. (The New Elections Law 2014, article 4.5: 1-b, 1-c) |
|
| Legal sanctions for non-compliance | N/A | |
| Rank order/placement rules | N/A | |
| Is the provision of direct public funding to political parties related to gender equality among candidates? | Not applicable | See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
| Are there provisions for other financial advantages to encourage gender equality in political parties? | No | See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
Upper House
The Liberian Senate
| Total seats | 30 |
| Total Women | 2 |
| % Women | 7% |
| Election Year | 2020 |
| Electoral System | FPTP |
| Quota Type | No legislated> |
| Election details | IPU Parline |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: No legislated | Electoral law | The Political Party and Independent Candidates Registration Guidelines reserves 30% of places on electoral lists for women. |
| Legal sanctions for non-compliance | No | A financial penalty: A party that does not comply with the law with get its contribution by the state for the electoral campaign reduced with up to 10%. |
| Rank order/placement rules | No data available |
Voluntary Political Party Quotas*
| Party | Official name | Details, Quota provisions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Congress for Democratic Change | [CDC] | The National Executive Committee of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) has unanimously adopted in 2022, a resolution requiring 40 percent political participation for women throughout its leadership structures and parliamentary seats in pending general elections. |
* 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
"Liberia’s upper house saw a 6.7 point drop, bringing women’s representation to just 3.3% or a single female senator, Madam Botoe Kanneh. This marks a 22-year low for Liberia, making it the lowest performing country in the region for women in the upper house of parliament and the world’s 3rd lowest upper chamber, after Yemen’s and Haiti’s" (IPU 2021)
"Twelve Diplomatic Missions in Liberia have frowned on the decision by the House’s Committee on Elections and Referendum to remove the Gender Quota Clause in the proposed new elections law, which forces political parties to reserve 30% leadership position slots for women" (Liberianobserver.com February 2021).
Sources
LEGAL SOURCES:
- Political Party and Independent Candidates Registration Guidelines, Jan 2005
- The New Election Law, as amended up to 2014
OTHER SOURCES:
- National Elections in Liberia 2011, Final Report (The Carter Center)
-
Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU Parline Liberia
-
Inter-Parlamentary Union, (2021). "Women in Parliament in 2020 The Year in Review" (Addtional information retrived from page 5).
-
R. Dopoe (February 9, 2021). "Diplomatic Community Reinforces Push for Gender Quota Law", Liberianobserver.com.
-
Liberian Daily Observer (2022) "Liberia: Weah’s CDC Adopts 40% Women Quota"
Additional reading
- United Nations Development Programme [UNDP]. (September 7, 2021). UNDP supports gender stakeholders' conference on women's political participation in Liberia. [Last accessed: 2022-03-24]
- ZOA Liberia. (2020). Rural women step up political participation in Liberia.
- Masitoh, D. (2020). The success of women's participation in resolving conflicts in Liberia. Journal of Governance, 5(1). doi:10.31506/jog.v5i1.7951
- National Democratic Institute [NDI]. (November 6, 2018). Young women set their sights on closing the gender gap in Liberia. [Last accessed: 2021-11-11]
- Visionary Young Women Leadership [VYWL]. (2018). Report on women's empowerment in Liberia. Diamond Leadership Role Model Project.
- Liberia Elections Commission, http://www.necliberia.org/