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20/09/2023 | Indicator
Autonomy in decision-making

Executive power: percentage of women in ministerial cabinet positions
This indicator corresponds to the proportion of women holding ministerial positions during a presidential term or the government of a prime minister. The result is expressed as a percentage. The indicator is updated annually and represents a cumulative calculation over the presidential term for each country, with data presented for the last three presidential terms. The Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean compiles this indicator annually based on information provided by the National Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women or directly from the official websites of each government and its ministries.

Analysis

The greater or lesser presence of women in ministerial cabinets is a direct expression of the political will of the head of state, the negotiations within the ruling political parties, and the priority given to gender parity and equality in the government program.

The first appointment of a woman to a ministry or state secretariat in the region occurred in Cuba in 1948. Since then, there has been a gradual, albeit unstable and insufficient, increase in women's participation in ministerial cabinets.