External collaborator to conduct research and draft a report on women's progress and setbacks in parliament

External collaborator to conduct research and draft a report on women’s progress and setbacks in parliament (2027 edition)

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the global organization of parliaments. It was founded in 1889 as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. Today, the IPU comprises 183 Member Parliaments and 15 Associate Members. We promote democratic governance, institutions and values, working with parliaments and parliamentarians to articulate and respond to the needs and aspirations of the people. We work for peace, democracy, human rights, gender equality, youth empowerment, climate action and sustainable development through political dialogue, cooperation and parliamentary action.

The IPU recognizes gender equalityas a key component of democracy and works to achieve the equal participation of men and women in politics. It monitors the participation of women in parliament at the global, regional and national levels, and makes data available.

The IPU produces an annual report on progress and setbacks for women’s participation in parliament (see the 2026 edition ). The objective of the report is to analyse the results of elections held throughout the year, draw attention to developments, and highlight trends and lessons learned at the global, regional and national levels.The 2027 edition will mostly highlight good examples of progress achieved in enhancing women’s representation in parliament at elections run in 2026.This includes good practices in ensuring diversity among elected women and in combatting sexism and gender-based violence against women during elections held that year across the globe. As 2027 marks the 15th anniversary of the IPU Plan of Action for Gender-sensitive Parliaments, a specific focus will be placed on promising practices in making parliaments models of gender sensitivity in its institutional structures, work modalities and internal policies.

Request for proposals

The IPU is seeking applications from qualified and experienced candidates to conduct research and draft a report on women’s progress and setbacks in parliament in 2026.

The assignment will include a home-based desk review, analysis of IPU data on women in parliament, the drafting of the report, support to its production, and the development of communication materials to help disseminate its findings. The assignment is expected to be completed in a maximum of 40 working days, between 16 November 2026 and 30 April 2027.

Candidates should propose a daily rate and the expected number of days of work.

No travel or daily subsistence allowances will be covered by the IPU for this assignment.

Carry out a desk review between 16 November 2026 and 10 January 2027 related to parliamentary elections/renewals held in 2026, including through your own research and an analysis of data provided by the IPU as follows:

• Results of elections and the numbers and percentages of women elected, using IPU data (drawing on information provided by parliaments and included in IPU’s Parline)
• A comparison of election results with previous results (drawing on IPU data)
• The political situation of the countries where elections held in 2026 resulted in great progress or a significant setback in the election of women
• The existence and types of electoral gender quotas used (drawing on existing data from the IPU’s Parline, the Quota Project database, and own research)
• The number of women candidates (where available)
• The prevalence of acts of violence against women candidates
• Initiatives taken to boost the election of women
• Intersecting forms of discrimination and related challenges faced by women in elections and in office, and measures taken to address them
• Advancements in equal parliamentary leadership (women Speakers, women committee chairs, etc.)
• Adoption of internal policies and parliamentary practices that support work-life balance and promote gender equality in parliamentary work or any other initiatives aimed and transforming parliament into a more gender-sensitive institution
• Diversity among elected women.

Carry out additional research during the drafting process on elections for which results were not yet available by 10 January 2027, and factor those results into the analysis and report.

Monitor and cross-check data on electoral gender quotas applied in 2026 parliamentary elections.

Identify trends and lessons learned from successes achieved and challenges faced, and highlight interesting national, regional or international practices.

Draw main conclusions about the global, regional and national levels of both progress and setbacks for women’s participation in parliament based on elections and appointments in 2026, including in-depth analysis of spec