SHARECountry Data
Niger (Republic of Niger) has a Unicameral parliament with legislated quotas for the single/lower house and at the sub-national level. 43 of 166 (26%) seats in the Assemblée nationale / National Assembly are held by women.
At a glance
Structure of Parliament: Unicameral
Are there legislated quotas...
- For the Single/Lower House? Yes
- For the Sub-National Level? Yes
Are there voluntary quotas...
- Adopted by political parties? No
Is there additional information?...
- Yes
Last updated: Aug 5, 2022
Single/Lower House
Assemblée nationale / National Assembly
| Total seats | 166 |
| Total Women | 43 |
| % Women | 26% |
| Election Year | 2020 |
| Electoral System | List PR |
| Quota Type | Reserved seats |
| Election details | IDEA Voter Turnout - IPU Parline |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Reserved seats | Constitution | |
| Electoral law | In parliamentary and local elections, the lists submitted by political parties, groups of political parties or groups of independent candidates should include candidates of both sexes. At the announcement of final results, the proportion of elected candidates of either sex should not be less than 10%’ (Article 3 of Law 2000/08 establishing a quota system for elected offices). Niger has launched the process of revising the rates upwards of the law on the quota by increasing for elective positions from 15% to 25% and for nominative posts from 25% to 30% (Art. 279, Fifteen periodic report of the Republic of Niger on the Implementation of the African Charter of Human Rights and Peoples covering the period 2017-2019). |
|
| Legal sanctions for non-compliance | Law establishing a quota system for elected offices | The Constitutional Court rejects the candidate lists that do not comply with the gender quota requirements, and asks parties to correct them. |
| Rank order/placement rules | No | None |
| Is the provision of direct public funding to political parties related to gender equality among candidates? | No | 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 |
Quota at the Sub-National Level
- Quota type: Reserved seats
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Reserved seats | Constitution | |
| Electoral law | ‘In parliamentary and local elections, the lists submitted by political parties, groups of political parties or groups of independent candidates should include candidates of both sexes. At the announcement of final results, the proportion of elected candidates of either sex, should not be less than 10%’ (Article 3 of Law 2000/08 establishing a quota system for elected offices). Any political party or group of independent candidates that obtains at least 3 seats in a constituency must ensure the implementation of the 10% quota requirement (Decree 2001-056/PRN/MDSP/PF/PE of 28 February 2001 on the application of the quota law). |
|
| Legal sanctions for non-compliance | Quota law | The Constitutional Court rejects the candidate lists that do not comply with the gender quota requirements and requests parties to correct them. |
| Rank order/placement rules | No | None |
Additional Information
The 10 per cent quota is applied to the total number of elected members on each list. If a political party or group of candidates obtains at least three seats in a constituency, it must adjust the number of its elected members in order to fulfil the 10 per cent quota requirement. In the 2011 legislative elections, political parties did the necessary adjustments through an internal process, before submitting to the Constitutional Council their final lists of elected candidates (European Union Electoral Observation Mission 2011: 21). In relation to public funding for political parties, the Ordinance on the Charter of Political Parties provides that the public funding of political parties is set at 0.30 per cent of annual tax revenues of the state. A total of 10 per cent of this fund is distributed among parties in proportion to the number of women elected by the quota at all levels.
In addition, according to the quota law, no less than 25 per cent of nominations for high-ranking government posts shall be given to persons of either sex.
The percentage of women is calculated from the current number of seats occupied in the parliament. The National Assembly has 171 statutory seats.
"Rising from a low of just 1.2 per cent in 1996 and 14.6 per cent in the previous election, Niger’s level of women’s representation in the single-chamber parliament jumped 11 points to reach 25.9 per cent in 2020. The elections were held despite threats of Jihadi violence in many parts of the country. The growth in Niger is attributed to the reform of the gender quota in 2019, which increased the quota target from 10 per cent for elected positions and 15 per cent for nominated offices, to 25 and 30 per cent, respectively" (IPU, 2021).
Sources
LEGAL SOURCES:
- Loi 2000-08 du 07 juin 2000 instituant un système de quota dans les fonctions électives, au Gouvernement et dans l’administration de l’État [Law 2000-08 of 7 June 2000 establishing a quota system for elected offices, in the government and the state administration]
- Décret no 2001-056/PRN/MDSP/PF/PE du 28 février 2001 portant application de la loi sur le quota [Decree no. 2001-056/PRN/MDSP/PF/PE of 28 February 2001 on the application of the quota law];
- Constitution of Niger (rev. 2010) (English version)
OTHER SOURCES:
- WAGIC [Women’s Forum, Project for the promotion of women’s political participation], ‘Document de plaidoyer présenté par le projet alternative WAGIC au forum des femmes' [Advocacy document presented by the WAGIC Project and the Alternative forum for women]
- European Union Election Observation Mission, ‘Niger: Rapport Final, Élections Législatives et Présidentielle, 31 janvier–12 mars 2011’ [Final report on the Niger legislative and presidential elections 31 January–12 March 2011]
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Inter-Parliamentary Union [IPU] Parline - Niger Country Profile
-
Inter-Parlamentary Union. (2021). Women in Parliament in 2020 The Year in Review.
-
Ministère de la Promotion de la Femme et de la Protection de l'Enfant, (2020), Argumentaire en vue de rehausser les taux relatifs a la loin N2000-008 instituant un système de quota dans les fonctions electives, au governement et dans l'administration de l'etat
-
LuxDev, (2019), L’égalité de genre au Niger
Additional reading
- Arendt, C. (2018). From Critical Mass to Critical Leaders: Unpacking the Political Conditions behind Gender Quotas in Africa. Politics & Gender, 14(3), 295-322. doi:10.1017/S1743923X17000502
- Stakeholder Democracy Network [SDN]. (2020). Women's political participation and representation in the Niger Delta.
- Yoon, M. Y. 2001. ‘Democratization and Women's Legislative Representation in Sub-Saharan Africa’, Democratization. Vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 169-190.
- Niger Parliament website, http://www.assemblee.ne/
- Trans-Saharan Elections Project [TSEP]. (n.d.). Gender quotas and representation: Niger. [University of Florida]