SHARECountry Data
Burkina Faso (Burkina Faso) has a Unicameral parliament with legislated quotas for the single/lower house and at the sub-national level. 12 of 71 (17%) 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: Jan 17, 2023
Single/Lower House
Assemblée nationale / National Assembly
| Total seats | 71 |
| Total Women | 12 |
| % Women | 17% |
| Election Year | 2022 |
| Electoral System | List PR |
| Quota Type | Legislated Candidate Quotas |
| Election details | IDEA Voter Turnout - IPU Parline |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Legislated Candidate Quotas | Constitution | |
| Electoral law | Lists of candidates must include at least 30% of either sex (Law on Quotas, Article 3). | |
| Political funding legislation | If a party reaches or exceeds the 30 % quota, it will receive additional funding (Law on Quotas, Article 5 & 6). | |
| Legal sanctions for non-compliance | Electoral law | Sanctions for non-compliance (loss of 50 per cent of public funding) were removed in 2020. However, If a party reaches or exceeds the 30% quota, it will receive additional funding as prescribed by the regulations related to public funding of political parties (Article 6). |
| Rank order/placement rules | No | None |
| 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 | 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 | Constitution | |
| Electoral law | Lists of candidates must include at least 30% of either sex. | |
| Legal sanctions for non-compliance | Electoral law | Sanctions for non-compliance (loss of 50 per cent of public funding) were removed in 2020. However, if a party reaches or exceeds the 30 percent quota, it will receive additional funding as prescribed by the regulations related to public funding of political parties (Law on Quotas, Article 5 & 6). |
| Rank order/placement rules | No | None |
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:
- Loi no 010-2009/AN du 16 avril 2009 portant fixation de quotas aux élections législatives et aux élections municipales au Burkina Faso [Law no. 010-2009/AN of 16 April 2009 on Quotas for Legislative and Local Elections in Burkina Faso];
OTHER SOURCES:
- Inter-Parliamentary Union, Regional Seminar for Parliaments in Francophone Africa, 2013, ‘Communication sur la loi portant fixation de quotas aux élections législatives et municipales au Burkina Faso’ [Communication on the law establishing quotas for legislative and municipal elections in Burkina Faso];
- Commission Union Africaine, ‘Rapport de la mission d’observation de l’union Africaine aux élections couplées (Legislatives et municipales), du 2 décembre 2012, en république de Burkina Fasso’ [Report of the observation mission of the African Union on the legislative and municipal elections in the Republic of Burkina Faso, 2 December 2012]
- Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU Parline Burkina Faso
- Inter-Parlamentary Union, (2021). "Women in Parliament in 2020 The Year in Review".
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//