UN report links female political representation to higher immunization and child-survival rates

The 2026 SDG Gender Snapshot highlights a statistical link between women's representation in legislatures and public-health outcomes. "Countries, in fact, with more than 20% of women in parliamentary seats have shown that their immunization rates go up by about 12 percentage points," Sarah Hendricks said at the briefing.

Shantanu Mukherjee and Sarah Hendricks stressed that representation matters at multiple levels of governance. Mukherjee cited municipal-level findings for the United States, saying electing a woman mayor is associated with a "6% increased likelihood of police arresting perpetrators of violence against women and actually a 13 percentage point increase in crime reporting," which the panel connected to stronger local response and accountability mechanisms.

Panelists cautioned that representation alone is not a cure: Hendricks and Mukherjee both noted that where national revenues or external financing are insufficient, gains in representation may not translate into improved services without concurrent increases in resources and political backing for gender-responsive policies.