Benin

National Assembly

Political system: Presidential system
Structure of parliament: Unicameral
IPU membership: Yes

Data on women

Information on the current and historical representation of women in the parliament. Consult the 'Elections' tab to see how women have fared in elections or renewals.

Current representation

Women's representation in the current parliament or chamber

Current number of members: 109
Women: 29
Percentage of women: 26.6%

Speaker

No information available

Secretary general

No information available

Data on age at the start of the legislature

Number of members, by age (2023-02)

Breakdown of members by age and gender
	18 - 20	21 - 30	31 - 40	41 - 45	46 - 50	51 - 60	61 - 70	71 - 80	81 - 90	91 and over	Totals per gender
Male	0	0	3	12	10	31	20	4	0	0	80
Female	0	0	3	7	6	10	3	0	0	0	29
Totals per age interval	0	0	6	19	16	41	23	4	0	0	109
	Total <= 45: 25				Total >= 46: 84

Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal	Overall	Male	Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger	5.5%	3%	2.8%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger	22.9%	14%	9.2%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups: Yes

Notes: Article 144 of the 2019 Electoral Code reserves 24 of the 109 seats in the National Assembly for women (one seat in each of the 24 constituencies across the country).
Women: 24
Electoral quota for women: Yes

Notes: Article 145 of the Code requires political parties to present their lists of candidates in all electoral constituencies. Each list must include the same number of candidates as there are seats to be filled, including one woman and her substitute, specially presented under the reserved seats section.

Sources:
Law No. 2019-43 of 15 November 2019 establishing the Electoral Code in the Republic of Benin, Articles 144-145

Law No. 2019-44 of 15 November 2019 on public financing of political parties in the Republic of Benin

First woman in parliament

Year of first woman in parliament: 1979

First woman speaker

Year of first woman speaker: Not applicable

Notes: No woman has occupied the function of Speaker in the country.

Women’s suffrage

Date of independence: 1960

Women’s right to vote: 1960
Restricted or universal suffrage: Universal

Notes: Prior to independence, Article 10 of the 1956 framework law gave the right to vote for the territorial assemblies to both sexes over 21. Universal suffrage was first exercised in the 1957 elections. Universal suffrage was confirmed at independence.

Women's right to stand for election: No information available
Restricted or universal: No information available

Women's caucus

Women's caucuses or parliamentary groups that bring together women parliamentarians to strengthen cooperation and amplify their voices. For other parliamentary bodies or committees that have a specific mandate to address gender equality matters, see the ‘Specialized body – Gender equality’ tab.

There is currently no women's caucus in this chamber.

Updated at	Current number of members
2023-01	109
2021-12	81
1999-01	83
1998-01	64
1997-01	83
1991-01	64
1989-01	205
1984-01	196
1979-01	336

Updated at	Women
2023-04	29
2023-01	28
2021-12	6
2020-12	7
2015-04	6
2014-01	7
2011-04	8
2010-01	9
2007-03	7
2003-03	6
1998-01	5
1997-01	6
1995-01	5
1991-01	4
1989-01	6
1984-01	8
1979-01	28

Updated at	Percentage of women
2023-04	26.6%
2023-01	25.7%
2021-12	7.4%
2020-12	8.4%
2015-04	7.2%
2014-01	8.4%
2011-04	9.6%
2010-01	10.8%
2007-03	8.4%
2003-03	7.2%
1999-01	6.0%
1998-01	7.8%
1997-01	7.2%
1995-01	7.8%
1991-01	6.3%
1989-01	2.9%
1984-01	4.1%
1979-01	8.3%