Gathering global data on
women’s representation in local government is a challenging process, partly
because decentralization processes are different in each country and,
considering the wide diversity of governance structures at the subnational
level, there is not a common understanding of what level of government
constitutes local government. Until recently, a standardized system to collect
information on women in local governments has been missing. However, UN Women
has developed the methodology and is currently collecting data to measure the
global proportion of seats held by women in local government as the custodian
agency for SDG indicator 5.5.1b to monitor progress towards achieving SDG
target 5.5, “ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal
opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political,
economic and public life.”[1]
