Eswatini

Senate

Political system
Monarchy
Structure of parliament
Bicameral
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
30
Women
14
Percentage of women
46.7%

Speaker

Speaker
Lindiwe Dlamini (Female)
Date of birth: 1965
Additional information

Elected on 23 Oct. 2018, re-elected on 6 Nov. 2023.

Secretary general

No information available

Chairs of specialized bodies

Specialized body Theme Name Sex Age
Foreign Affairs Committee Foreign affairs Lizzie Nkosi Female 67
Gender and Development Committee Gender equality Lorraine Nxumalo Female 40

Data on age at the start of the legislature

Number of members, by age (2023-11)
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 1 2 4 5 4 1 0 0 17
Female 0 0 3 0 1 6 3 0 0 0 13
Totals per age interval 0 0 4 2 5 11 7 1 0 0 30
Total <= 45: 6 Total >= 46: 24
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
16.1% 6% 9.7%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
22.6% 13% 9.7%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
Yes
Women
10
Electoral quota for women
Yes

Notes: At least 5 of the 10 Senators elected by the House of Assembly must be women. Additionally, among the 20 Senators appointed by the King, at least 8 must be women.

Sources:

Article 94 clauses (2) and (3) of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Swaziland* Act 2005.

*The country name was modified from Swaziland to Eswatini, effective May 2018.

First woman in parliament

Year of first woman in parliament
1972

First woman speaker

Year of first woman speaker
2006

Women’s suffrage

Date of independence
1968
Women’s right to vote
1968
Restricted or universal suffrage
Universal
Women's right to stand for election
1968
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.

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No