Immediately after the Beijing Conference, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, an organization of national elected officials like our members of Congress, adopted the one-third marker as the goal for national legislatures. The U.S. government under President Bush promoted change by adopting hard targets for women in office--but only outside U.S. borders. The government required the new constitutions of Afghanistan and Iraq to have quotas for women in their national parliaments. Afghanistan is now 28th in the world in women's legislative representation, Iraq is 35th. In stark contrast, the United States has greeted the 30% solution with silence and inaction. It is barely halfway home to reach the one-third mark for women in Congress, and ranks 69th in the world.

1. Fact Sheet:
U.N. Beijing + 15 Conference
and the 30% Solution
The 30% Solution: The critical tipping point where enough women at power tables can be heard and heeded,
positively affecting policy decisions, changing the terms of the agenda, and impacting the style of achieving goals.
The 30% solution was a benchmark for women’s leadership at the 1995 UN Beijing Conference in 1995.
The Fourth UN Conference on the Status of Women (Beijing, 1995)
 Goal: to elevate gender parity on the international political agenda Percent Women in NaZonal
Legislatures, World Average
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 100
 Highlights women’s unequal share of political power among 12 critical 80
areas of concern. 60
 Outlines strategic objectives “to ensure women’s equal access to and full 40
participation in power structures and decision‐making,” which were to 20
lead to fundamental change by the year 2000. 13.8 16.2 18.6
0 11.3
Beijing + 15 1995 2000 2005 2009
 15‐year review of progress on the Platform for Action by the Commission Although the 30% target for women's leadership
remains a distant goal, women’s representation in
on the Status of Women
national legislatures has steadily increased since the
 Meeting in New York City, Mar. 1‐12, 2010
Beijing Conference and now rests at its highest
historical level.
PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN IN
NATIONAL LEGISLATURE
The UN Beijing Conference and the 30% Solution
An excerpt from Women Lead the Way by Linda Tarr‐Whelan
From the Inter‐Parliamentary Union’s world
ranking, as of November 30, 2009. “ Immediately after the Beijing Conference, the Inter‐Parliamentary
Union, an organization of national elected officials like our members of
1. Rwanda 56.3% Congress, adopted the one‐third marker as the goal for national
2. Sweden 47.0 % legislatures.
3. South Africa 44.5 %
 23 countries now meet or exceed the goal
4. Cuba 43.2 %
 101 countries have changed their constitutions, laws, or political
5. Iceland 42.9 % practices to aim for it.
6. Argentina 41. 6 %
7. Finland 41.5 % The U.S. government under President Bush promoted change by adopting
24. Guyana 30.5 % hard targets for women in office—but only outside U.S. borders. The
30. Afghanistan 27.7 % government required the new constitutions of Afghanistan and Iraq to
have quotas for women in their national parliaments. Afghanistan is now
39. Iraq 25.5 % th th
28 in the world in women’s legislative representation, Iraq is 35 .
51. China 21.3 %
58. U.K. 19.5 % In stark contrast, the United States has greeted the 30% solution with
65. Sudan 18.1 % silence and inaction. It is barely halfway home to reach the one‐third
th
74. U.S.A. 16.8 % mark for women in Congress, and ranks 74 in the world.”
–Linda Tarr‐Whelan
Data from the Inter‐Parliamentary Union, on the Linda Tarr‐Whelan led the U.S. delegation to the Beijing Conference, and served as the U.S.
basis of information provided on November 30, Ambassador to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women. She is a Demos Distinguished
2009. Senior Fellow and author of the Women Lead the Way: Your Guide to Stepping Up to Leadership
and Changing the World (Berrett‐ Koehler 2009).