World needs more women legislators: UN chief

UNITED NATIONS, July 1 (APP):As the world marked the first International Day of Parliamentarianism, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for more women representations in parliaments worldwide.
Guterres, in a message, said the Day — a new UN observance — recognized the pivotal role played by parliaments.
“As a former parliamentarian, I have felt firsthand, the responsibility of representing people and trying to advance their aspirations,” he said.
“Parliaments can be pillars of democracy, important defenders of human rights and can link local and global issues.
Through laws and spending decisions, they can contribute significantly to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals – our blueprint for peaceful, resilient societies on a healthy planet. Yet parliaments are still largely dominated by men. The world needs more women parliamentarians,” the UN chief added.
The UN chief expressed his support for members of parliaments worldwide, as they strived to deliver for the people they serve.
For the first time, June 30 was celebrated as the International Day of Parliamentarianism. It was also the date in 1889 that the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the global organization of parliaments, was established.
Every country in the world has some form of representative government, and parliamentary systems fall into two categories: bicameral – with two chambers of parliament – and unicameral – with one chamber.
Out of 193 countries, 79 are bicameral and 114 are unicameral, making a total of 272 chambers of parliament with over 46,000 members of parliament, according to figures from the IPU.
The oldest parliament is the Althingi, the Icelandic Parliament founded in 930.