Lithuania All Set To Make One Of The World’s Most Gender-Balanced Cabinet

Ingrida Simonyte, likely to be Lithuania’s next prime minister, said about half of ministerial posts in her government, will be occupied by women. This will make her cabinet one of the world’s most gender-balanced.

Simonyte is the current Prime Minister-designate of Lithuania, expected to take office in November 2020. She will be the second woman to hold the office, following Kazimira Prunskiene. Her party, Homeland Union won a plurality of seats in the country's parliamentary elections. Following the certification of the election results, Simonyte was proposed as the prime ministerial candidate by a coalition consisting of the Homeland Union, Liberal Movement, and Freedom Party. The three center-right parties are led by women.

Her decision is in sharp contrast to the outgoing cabinet, which for eight months last year was the only one in the European Union to contain only men. Gender issues are typically higher in western European countries. Lithuania follows Serbia in seeking a government where jobs are evenly divided between the sexes.

Also Read: This International Men’s Day, Let Us Smash These Five Stigmas That Men Have To Deal With

According to Simonyte, women will head at least six of the Baltic country’s 13 ministries. Gintare Skaiste, a lawmaker with a PhD in economics, will take the finance portfolio. The appointments require approval from the president and parliament. The post of parliament speaker is now also held by a woman.

Some Other Gender-Balanced Cabinets Of The World

• Spain is the country with the highest proportion of women ministers at 62.5%. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s acting cabinet includes six men and ten women.
• Nicaragua has 58.8% women ministers. President Daniel Ortega Saavedra’s current cabinet includes seven men and ten women.
• Sweden, under Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, has 54.5% proportion of women ministers. There are 10 men and 12 women ministers in their current cabinet.
• Under Prime Minister Édouard Ngirente, the government of Rwanda includes 25 ministers, among which 13 are women (52%). The country has the highest proportion of women MPs in its Chamber of Deputies at 61.3%.
• Colombia's President Iván Duque announced its first parity cabinet in August 2018. There are eight men and eight women ministers in their current government team.

Also Read: New FIFA Rules Propose Mandatory Maternity Leave For Women Players