Women’s Network news roundup: near gender parity in Canada’s new Cabinet – and the mountain Japan has to climb
GGF brings you the latest roundup of women-focused and gender equity news from around the world, including near gender parity in Canada’s new Cabinet, gender-responsive policy training in Liberia, a new gender equality framework, the scale of intimate partner violence in Australia, and more.
The Global Government Women’s Network is a free network for women in civil and public services around the world – a global community of women who can advise and support each other as they navigate their careers. It is underpinned by news, opinion, analysis and events on public policy for women and girls and gender equity in government and public sector workplaces. Visit the Women’s Network hub and become a member here.
Australia’s Cabinet comprises more women than men – and Canada nears gender parity
Since citizens of Australia and Canada went to the polls in their respective national elections in May and April, the countries’ prime ministers have appointed new governments and sworn in a record number of women to Cabinet positions.
In Australia, PM Anthony Albanese’s new Cabinet is made up of 12 women and 11 men, while 56% of Australian Labor Party members across the House of Representatives and the Senate are women.
In Canada, of the 28 senior ministers in PM Mark Carney’s Cabinet, 14 are women and 15 are men, while women account for four of the 10 junior ministers.
Following backlash, Carney has also reinstated the minister for women and gender equality having eliminated the role in March.
Read more here for insight on the Australian government and here for a breakdown of the new Canadian Cabinet.
Japan acknowledges poor performance on gender equality, vows to do more
Japan’s prime minister Shigeru Ishiba has admitted that the country’s gender equality efforts “are lagging behind those of other countries”, as his government vows to improve women’s participation in decision-making.
In a meeting held on Tuesday to discuss progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, Ishiba acknowledged the results of the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Gender Gap Index in which Japan ranked 118th of 146 countries. The index assesses gender parity across four key dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
“We will ensure that women have opportunities to participate in policy and decision-making processes in all sectors, and we will further strengthen our government-wide efforts to implement policies with a gender equality perspective,” Japan’s government said in a report released earlier this week.
It plans to launch a gender equality body in 2026; to promote women into leadership roles and to build a support network for female entrepreneurs; to roll out sexual harassment prevention training in the private sector; and to develop initiatives to address the gender pay gap.
In 2003, the government set a target of increasing the proportion of women in leadership positions to 30% by 2020, but it later delayed the target to “the earliest possible time in the 2020s”. At present, the proportion of women In leadership positions at major firms remains in the low teens.
In Global Government Forum’s last Women Leaders Index, published in 2022, Japan ranked second to last of the G20 countries, with women accounting for only 5.3% of civil service leadership positions, against a G20 mean of 29.3%. Only Saudi Arabia performed worse.
Officials in Liberia to receive gender-responsive policy training
Officials in Liberia’s government agencies are to receive gender-responsive policy training led by a coalition of NGOs and women’s rights organisations.
The Stronger Together Project workshop will include sessions on gender-responsive budgeting and policy design, feminist legal analysis and reform, inclusion of marginalised voices in governance, closing gender gaps in public systems, and addressing gender-based violence within institutional frameworks.
Participants from key government institutions including the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism, the House of Representatives, and the Liberia National Police will take part in the training, which is funded by the German Development Cooperation.
Ellen Attoh-Wreh, chairperson of the Women’s Legislative Caucus, said: “We must ensure that gender is not an afterthought but a central consideration in all government decisions.
“Based on this collaboration, we can draft strong laws, advocate among our male colleagues, and work as equal partners to create lasting change.”
Minister hails record intake of female trainees to India’s premier civil service branch
Women account for a record 41% of the latest batch of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) trainees, the government has said.
The IAS includes India’s highest-ranking civil servants and is notoriously difficult to get into.
Of the current cadre of 180 IAS trainees, 74 are women.
Jitendra Singh, the minister of state for science and technology, attributed increasing representation of women in civil service leadership positions to prime minister Narendra Modi.
“The prime minister has always been a champion of women’s empowerment. This record representation is a testament to his unwavering support for inclusive and progressive governance,” Singh said.
“This batch of IAS officers is not only the youngest and most diverse, but also the most representative of New India’s aspirations. Let your work reflect the hopes of a billion people,” he told the trainees at an event.
Zimbabwe adopts new framework for tracking gender equality
The Zimbabwe government has adopted a new framework for monitoring progress towards gender equality.
Developed through technical collaboration with the UN Economic Commission for Africa, the framework replaces a fragmented approach to gender statistics tracking with a comprehensive national standard. It was adopted last week following “intensive consultations”.
The new framework establishes common indicators across six fundamental areas of gender equality: economic resources, health services, education access, human rights protections, political participation, and environmental impacts.
“This represents more than bureaucratic reform – it’s about changing how Zimbabwe understands and addresses gender inequality,” said Egnes Nhengo, gender director at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.
The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency will work with line ministries to establish baseline measurements by August, with the first annual gender equality report expected in early 2026.
One in three Australian men report committing intimate partner violence, study finds
A longitudinal study run by the Australian Institute of Family Studies has found that one in three Australian men have emotionally, physically or sexually abused their intimate partner.
The Ten to Men study began in 2013 and now involves around 24,000 men and boys.
The latest findings show that the proportion of men who say they have committed intimate partner violence is on the rise, from 24% in the 2013-14 study to 35% this year. That equates to about 120,000 men using intimate partner violence for the first time each year.
Sean Martin, a clinical epidemiologist and program lead for the Ten to Men study, said the findings not only underscore the extent of the problem, but also offer key lessons for policymakers looking to tackle the issue.
The Australian government launched its 10-year National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children in 2022.
Read more: APS gender pay gap beats wider public sector
About Mia Hunt
Mia has been editor of globalgovernmentforum.com since 2019. She has 15 years’ experience as a journalist and editor and specialises in writing for civil and public servants worldwide, including covering sustainability policy and related issues. She has led the Global Government Women’s Network since it launched in 2023. Previously, she covered commercial property having been market reports and supplements editor at Property Week and deputy editor at Retail Destination. She graduated from Kingston University London with a first-class honours degree in journalism and was part of the team that produced The River newspaper, which won Publication of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards in 2010.
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