A/HRC/23/50 17. Yet, despite decades of efforts, the Working Group notes that, in 2012, the General Assembly expressed its concern at the reality that women in every part of the world continued to be largely marginalized from the political sphere and saw it necessary to again dedicate a resolution to promote women’s political participation.4 In 2012, the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality of the European Parliament indicated its alarm at the underrepresentation of women in the European Union legislative council and leadership positions, and at the stagnation of women’s representation at one third or less in parliaments across the region.5 In 2011, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) reported on the “inequitable and sluggish” progress made in women’s political representation at different levels of government in the Americas.6 In 2012, the World Bank found that in the Asia-Pacific region, rapid growth and economic development, with the highest female labour force participation rate in the developing world, have not been enough to attain gender equality, including in the area of political agency and representation.7 B. Targets and achievements in women’s representation 18. General recommendation No. 23 (1997) of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women refers to political and public life as encompassing the exercise of legislative, judicial, executive and administrative powers; covering all aspects of public administration and the formulation and implementation of policy at the international, national, regional and local levels; and including civil society, such as public boards and local councils and the activities of organizations such as political parties, trade unions, professional or industry associations, women’s organizations, community-based organizations and other organizations concerned with public and political life (para. 5). The Beijing Platform for Action, in its paragraph 182, referred to the scant progress made towards achieving by 1995 the 30 per cent target for women in decision-making positions. Global progress in achieving the goals for women’s political representation set by the international community continues to be excruciatingly slow and is far from being met 18 years after the target date. 19. In the legislative branch, the current global average of women in national parliaments is 20 per cent.8 While this achievement marks a first in history, the climb has been slow, revealing a global average increase of less than 1 per cent per year.9 Only 33 countries out of 149 have national parliaments where women constitute 30 per cent or more of the members.10 With parity as the ultimate measure of equality, then a mere two countries have reached this point. Furthermore, there are wide divergences among States, with women accounting for less than 10 per cent of representatives in 45 States. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6 General Assembly resolution 66/130. Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, report on women in political decision-making – quantity and quality (A7-0029/2012), pp. 5-6. IACHR, The Road to Substantive Democracy: Women’s Political Participation in the Americas (2011), para. 11. World Bank, Toward Gender Equality in East Asia and the Pacific: A Companion to the World Development Report, Conference Edition (2012), pp. ix and 13. IPU archive, world average (footnote 3). Department for International Development (DFID) and International Development Research Centre (IDRC), summary of discussions at the expert meeting on “Women’s Political Empowerment: The State of Evidence and Future Research”, London, 11-12 September 2012, p. 3. IPU archive (footnote 3).