The Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS) is a non-profit organization based in Cyprus, which promotes and contributes to projects of social, political, and economic themes relating to gender with an emphasis on the Mediterranean region. The Institute recognizes the multi-layered levels of discrimination against women and accepts that this discrimination takes different forms. MIGS is committed to the elimination of this discrimination using a combination of research, advocacy and lobbying, as well as trainings, conferences, and other activities.
MIGS encourages diverse approaches, creative activities, and a variety of methodologies together with feminist epistemologies in order to promote its broader objectives of an egalitarian, non-sexist, pluralistic, democratic, and tolerant society.
MIGS promotes initiatives which strengthen and enhance civil society participation and empower women, especially in the process of governance. Priority is given to issues of involvement of women in local, national and European level; engaging minority and socially excluded groups in training and debate in order to help promote diverse public dialogue; combating gender discrimination and domestic violence; enhancing and promoting social empowerment, human rights and people’s diplomacy. MIGS is committed to working in collaboration with organizations and individuals from other Mediterranean and European Union countries.
Women and Political Decision-Making in Cyprus
National Level
Council of Ministers
Currently there is only one woman in the council of ministers in Cyprus.
Members of Parliament
Mayors
Currently there is no woman mayor among the 34 mayors in Cyprus.
European Level
Distribution of Women and Men Members of the European Parliament
In the first election of 2004 we had no Cypriot women Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). In the election of 2009 we had two Cypriot women MEPs out of 6 Cypriot MEPs in the European Parliament.
Women in electoral lists
European Parliament election Cyprus 2009
In European parliament election in 2009 we had a total of forty-two candidates. Ten of forty-two candidates were women. This makes just the 24% of candidates. It is interesting the fact that the percentage of elected women (33,3%) was higher than the percentage of women candidates (24%).
Electoral lists in European Parliament election in Cyprus 2004
In first European parliament election in Cyprus women were seriously underrepresented in the electoral lists. Only 22% of candidates were women.
