Additional information about gender quotas

Electoral quotas for women had been introduced for the first time in Maldives in 2019, allocating 33 per cent of the local council seats to women. Enhanced gender representation in the judiciary was a top priority in the judicial reform agenda of the Government and today women judges were adjudicating over cases in all tiers of the Maldivian judiciary. The Government acknowledged the low rate of women representation in the current Parliament and would continue to bring the necessary legislative amendments to establish quotas for women within political parties’ internal elections.(OHCHR, 2021).

According to the NATIONAL GENDER EQUALITY ACTION PLAN 2022-2026, the Target is that at the end of 2026 33% quota of national parliamentary seats reserved for women is introduced and endorsed.