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Good practice Imported

Post-Coup Collapse of Women's Political Representation in Myanmar

Myanmar · Naypyidaw · See the Myanmar profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 80% 37/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Women held roughly 15–17% of seats in Myanmar's November 2020 parliament. After the February 2021 coup, the military's 16-member ruling council has included only one woman — about 6% — showing how fast political gains reverse when power bypasses elections.

13 %
Women's parliamentary representation (post-2015 election) (after 2015 election)
15-17 %
Women's parliamentary representation (post-2020 election) (after November 2020 election)
1 of 16 members
Women members of the State Administration Council (since February 2021)
6 %
Women's share of State Administration Council seats (since February 2021)
30 %
Nominal women's quota in the Federal Democracy Charter (January 2022)

Details

Promoter
State Administration Council (Myanmar military government); documented by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, The Irrawaddy and International IDEA
Period
2020–ongoing (regression unresolved as of 2026)
Keywords
political representation, governance, democratic backsliding, women's rights

Context

Myanmar's elected parliament showed incremental progress in women's representation over the 2010s, rising from about 13% after the 2015 election to an estimated 15–17% after the November 2020 election, according to Inter-Parliamentary Union data.

Results

This trajectory reversed abruptly on 1 February 2021, when the military dissolved parliament, detained the winning party's leadership, and established the State Administration Council (SAC), a 16-member governing body with only one woman member (about 6%). That single seat has been held first by Daw Aye Nu Sein (2021) and then by Dwe Bu following a 2023 restructuring, and is reported to remain largely symbolic. Resistance-aligned organisations adopted a nominal 30% women's quota in the January 2022 Federal Democracy Charter, but this commitment exists only on paper and does not apply to the bodies that currently hold governmental power.

Conclusions

The coup produced a sharp, well-documented regression in institutional women's political representation, with no restoration mechanism evident as of the latest reporting; the resistance's paper quota commitment has not yet translated into representation within governing institutions.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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