No. = number.

% = percentage of candidates elected/percentage of candidates running.

Table 2 Candidates in the senatorial elections by gender

	Men		Women		Total
Candidates	No.	%		No.	%		No.	%
Candidates running	221	91.6		17	8.33		238	100
Candidates elected	51	85		9	15		60	100

Table 3 Candidates in the local elections by gender

	Men		Women		Total
Candidates	No.	%		No.	%		No.	%
Candidates running	6 338	85.37		1 086	14.63		7 424	100
Candidates elected	727	91.45		68	8.55		795	100

Examination of this data reveals that there has been a clear increase in women’s representation in the National Assembly, the Senate and local councils compared to the results in 1992. The percentage of women in the Assembly has risen from 1.6 per cent in 1992 to 9.30 per cent in 2002. The representation of women in the Senate has grown from 3.33 per cent to 15 per cent, and, in the local councils, from 3.64 per cent to 8.55 per cent. It should also be noted that these results are incomplete because certain districts in the Pool region have not yet held their elections.

Within the Government

The Government team installed in October 1997 had 35 members, three of whom were women. After the ministerial reorganization in 1998, there were only two women out of the 25 members of the Government. The current Government has five women out of its 35 members. They head the following departments:

Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Rearing, Fisheries and the Advancement of Women, responsible for the advancement of women;

Ministry of Trade, Consumption and Supply;

Ministry of Social Affairs, Solidarity, Humanitarian Action, War Wounded and the Family;

Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, responsible for literacy;

Secretariat of State in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Rearing, Fisheries and the Advancement of Women, responsible for the advancement of women and the integration of women in development.

Compared to the composition of preceding government teams, in which there were never more than four women, it should be noted that there has been an improvement in ministerial appointments both from the standpoint of numbers and in terms of the type of posts held.

Conclusion

The process of establishing new structures, thereby marking the end of the transition period, is moving forward in the Congo, and the department responsible for the advancement of women will spare no effort in informing the secretariat of the Commission on the Status of Women of any further changes.

Brazzaville, 17 October 2002