Who do you see when you vote?

Who first comes to your mind when you think about who you would vote for?

How many of those people are women?

Women are on the candidate lists. But after the elections, far fewer women are represented where decisions are made.

In the 2022 General Elections, women accounted for 27% of elected representatives. Only 7 women out of a total of 42 representatives were elected to the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina [1].

In the 2024 Local Elections, only 8 women were among the 142 elected mayors and municipal heads [2]. 

There are different reasons for this: who gets more space during election campaigns, who receives more support, what we expect from political leaders, and how we assess women and men.

So, before you decide:

Look again.

Who is running for the office?

What experience and expertise do they have?

What do they propose?

When voting, let competence, experience and values be the key considerations in your decision, not gender.

Get informed. Assess. Then decide.

Make an informed choice.

This campaign is implemented as part of the Gender Equality Accelerator Joint Programme, implemented by the United Nations agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina: UN Women, UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF, with financial support from the European Union and the Governments of Denmark and Sweden, in cooperation with the Agency for Gender Equality of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Centre for Equality and Equity between Women and Men of Republika Srpska, and the Gender Centre of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[1] Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 2023. Report on the Implementation of the 2022 General Elections.

[2] Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 2024. Election Indicator - 2024 Local Elections.