they are also a litmus test for political will and commitment to gender equality gender equality and womens empowerment in particular are recognised as essential components of human development and basic human rights yet nowhere says the report of the united nations un to the fourth world conference on women in beijing in is the gap between de jure and de facto equality among men and women greater than in the area of decisionmaking un p the world economic forum wef gender gap report wef noted that while the gender gap in political participation was the widest that year it exhibited the most progress narrowing by per cent since