Two experiences in Tunisia and one in Morocco... 28 governments around the world are led by women

Listen to the article. The audio text is automated, generated by an automated system

The appointment of Fatima Zahraa Al-Mansouri as head of the Moroccan government was not just a local political event, as it placed Morocco among a limited list of countries in which a woman reached the top of executive power, and opened again the discussion about the presence of women in the highest decision-making positions, whether in the Arab world or outside it.

Al-Mansouri’s rise to the presidency of the government came after two women’s experiences in Tunisia, as she was preceded by Najla Boudin, who assumed the presidency of the government between 2021 and 2023, and then Sarah Al-Zaafarani, who became head of the Tunisian government in March 2025.

Al-Mansouri becomes the third Arab woman to assume the presidency of the government, while Morocco represents the second Arab country in which a woman reaches this position after Tunisia.

This step is not separate from a broader global context, as women are still a minority among government leaders, despite the expansion of their participation in parliaments, governments, and decision-making institutions.

According to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women, only 28 countries were led by a woman as head of state or government at the beginning of 2026, while 101 countries had never seen a woman reach this position in their history.

From the Arab world to Europe, women have reached the presidency of governments in several European countries, but their presence still varies from one country to another.

Until September 2026, women headed governments in Denmark, Italy, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Ukraine. The list includes Mate Frederiksen in Denmark, Giorgia Meloni in Italy, and Krystron Frustadóttir in Iceland.

However, the arrival of women to the presidency of governments does not necessarily reflect a similar level of presence in various governance institutions.

In the European Union, for example, only two women currently head governments, in Denmark and Italy, while the year 2026 will witness the transition of the presidency of the government in Latvia and Lithuania from two women to two men.

On the other hand, the limited number of women at the head of governments does not mean that their participation in European political life is necessarily limited, as some countries have achieved high levels of female representation within the councils of ministers, even when the head of government was a man.

Here the difference between the arrival of a woman to the top of executive power and the expansion of women’s participation in government institutions in general appears.

France provides another example of this disparity, as women’s access to the presidency of the government is not new there. Edith Cresson was the first woman to assume the presidency of the French government in 1991, then Elizabeth Bourne came to become the second, and she held the position between May 2022 and January 2024. The French government officially confirms that Cresson and Bourne are the only two women to have held this position in the Fifth Republic so far.

Therefore, the French experience reveals another aspect of the issue: the mere arrival of a woman to the presidency of the government does not necessarily mean that this will turn into a continuous presence of women at the top of the executive authority. From this angle, Morocco's experience becomes part of a broader question related to the sustainability of women's participation, and not merely setting a historical precedent.

As for the United States, it differs from Morocco and most European countries from a constitutional standpoint, as it does not have the position of prime minister, as the president combines the presidency of the state with the leadership of the executive authority. Although women have reached high political positions, a woman has not yet been elected to the presidency of the United States, while Kamala Harris has become the first woman to hold the position of Vice President.

Meanwhile, recent opinion polls revealed that the possibility of a woman reaching the White House is still in doubt among a segment of Americans.

In a poll conducted by the Pew Center between July 6 and 12, 2026, 37 percent of Americans said that electing a woman president during their lifetime was “unlikely” or “not at all likely,” compared to 17 percent who saw it as “very likely” or “extremely likely,” while 44 percent said it was “somewhat likely.”

Between Morocco, Tunisia, Europe, and the United States, various experiences reveal that the arrival of women to the top of executive power is no longer an unprecedented event, but it is still far from being a widespread phenomenon.

Thus, the significance of Al-Mansouri’s experience is not only related to her being the first woman to head the Moroccan government, but rather to what this step might mean for the path of women’s political participation in the region: Will the arrival of women to the top of executive power remain an exceptional precedent, or will it gradually transform into a more regular and sustainable presence?