Background and political system
With a population just over 2.4 million people, Moldova is located in Eastern Europe, bordering Romania and Ukraine. Moldova’s first multiparty elections were held in 1994, following the country’s transition to independence from the Soviet Union.
The Constitution of Moldova, adopted in 1994 and subsequently amended several times, provides the framework for the country's political institutions and governance. Moldova is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic. The administrative-territorial organization of the Republic of Moldova operates on two levels: 896 villages, communes, towns, and municipalities represent the first level, while 32 districts (raioane) and the municipalities of Chisinau and Balti, represent the second level. Additionally, there is the Autonomous Region of Gagauzia, which holds a special legal status.
Moldova’s government consists of the Executive and Legislative branches, complemented by the Judicial branch. The central government is led by the President of the Republic, who is directly elected for a four-year term and acts as Head of State. The Prime Minister is Head of Government and is appointed by the President. The executive branch’s Cabinet of Ministers, proposed by the Prime Minister-designate, and nominated by the President, is approved though a vote of confidence in Parliament. The unicameral legislative Assembly consists of 101 seats. Following parliamentary elections in 2019, 51 members were directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote, while 50 members were directly elected in a single, nationwide constituency by closed party-list through proportional representation vote. The next parliamentary elections will be held in 2025 under the proportional electoral system. The judicial branch hosts the Moldovan Supreme Court of Justice consisting of the Chief Judge, three Deputy-Chief Judges, 45 judges, and seven assistant judges, and the Constitutional Court which consists of the President and six judges, in addition to subordinate courts.
Gender equality and women’s empowerment
Women’s right to vote and to stand for election was first ensured in the country in 1978 and later confirmed in 1993. The first woman was elected to Parliament in 1990.
As regards gender equality and women’s rights, considerable strides have been made in recent years. According to UN Women, 83.3 percent of the legal frameworks designed to promote, enforce, and monitor gender equality under SDG 5, gender equality, with a focus on violence against women, are already in place. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Gender Gap Index, Moldova ranks 13th out of 146 countries, an improvement from its 2023 ranking of 19th and its 2022 ranking of 16th. Nevertheless, there are still challenges in certain areas of socio-economic empowerment. For instance, women’s inactivity rate in Moldova is among the highest in the Europe and Central Asia region. Unpaid care burdens, insufficient availability of care facilities and a lack of family-friendly policies, embedded in a general societal context dominated by discriminatory gender norms and patriarchal stereotypes, contribute to gender inequalities, posing barriers to women entering (or reentering) the labour market and aspiring to realize their full socio-economic potential.
Structure of parliament
The Parliament is composed of 101 deputies elected to four-year terms, and is responsible for enforcing legislative initiatives.
The electoral code establishes that the lists of candidates for the parliamentary and local elections are drawn up respecting the minimum representation quota of 40 percent for both men and women (four out of every 10 seats must be fairly and proportionally conferred to either women or men, respectively).
Women's representation in parliament
As of July 2024, the Moldovan parliament has 41 women members, representing 40.6 percent of the total number of deputies. The next elections will be held in 2025. The current Deputy Chairperson of the Moldovan Parliament is a woman, Doina Gherman.
Forecast based on past trends
If changes continue at the current pace, this is how women's representation in parliament will look like by 2030.
We calculated this forecast by taking the average rate of improvement from 1995 to 2023 and projecting it into the future.
Forecast based on recent trends
If changes registered in the past five years continue, this is how women's representation in parliament will look like by 2030.
We calculated this forecast by taking the average rate of change in the past five years and projecting it into the future.
Best case forecast
If the situation improves similarly to the country performing best in the region, this is how women's representation in parliament will look like by 2030.
We calculated this forecast by taking the rate of improvement from the country performing best in the region and accelerating the change with this amount over five years and then keeping it constant.
Worst case forecast
If the situation deteriorates similarly to the country registering the worst drop in the region, this is how women's representation in parliament will look like by 2030.
We calculated this forecast by taking the drop rate in the country performing worst in the region and deteriorating the situation with this amount over five years and then keeping it constant.
Women Chairpersons of Parliament Committees
The Moldovan parliament has 11 specialized Committees on the topics of Legal Affairs, Appointments and Immunities; Economy, Budget and Finance; National Security, Defense and Public Order; Foreign Policy and European Integration; Human Rights and Inter-Ethnic Relations; Public Administration and Regional Development; Environment, Climate and Green Transition; Culture, Education, Research, Youth, Sports and Media; Agriculture and Food Industry; Social Protection, Health and Family; and Public Finance Control.
As of July 2024, women are the chairpersons of the Committee on Legal Affairs, Appointments and Immunities (Veronica Rosca), Foreign Policy and European Integration (Ina Coseru), Public Administration and Regional Development (Larisa Voloh), Culture, Education, Research, Youth, Sports and Media (Liliana Nicolaescu-Onofrei), and Public Finance Control (Tatiana Cunetchi).
Structure of government
Central government
The Moldovan President represents the State and is the guarantor of national sovereignty, independence, and territorial unity and integrity. The Prime Minister heads the Cabinet of Ministers. The President is directly elected by citizens and the Prime Minister is designated by the President upon consultation with the Parliament.
The Cabinet is composed of 17 members, who take on the positions of Ministers within the Moldovan Government, and is led by the Prime Minister. The Council of Ministers constitutes the Government of Moldova and is responsible for carrying out foreign and domestic policies, and overseeing the activities of ministries and other national bodies. The Council of Ministers is held accountable by the Parliament, which is also responsible, among other functions, for approving legislation proposed by Cabinet members (auxiliary legislation). As of July 2024, out of 17 Ministers (including the Prime Minister), three are women: the Minister of Justice (Veronica Mihailov-Moraru), the Minister of Health (Ala Nemerenco) and the Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration (Cristina Gherasimov).
The current Prime Minister of Moldova is Dorin Recean, who has been in power since 2023, while the current President is Maia Sandu, assuming office in 2020 and becoming Moldova’s first woman President. Moldova has had four women serve as Prime Minister: Zinaida Greceanii (2008-2009), Natalia Gherman (serving as Acting Prime Minister in 2015), Maia Sandu (2019), and Natalia Gavrilita (2021-2023).
Ministers or Cabinet Members
Cristina Gherasimov
Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration
Veronica Mihailov-Moraru
Minister of Justice
Ala Nemerenco
Minister of Health
Autonomous Region of Gagauzia
The government of the Autonomous Region of Gagauzia is composed of legislative and executive bodies. The legislative branch’s People’s Assembly of Gagauzia sits in a unicameral chamber, composed of members elected directly, while the executive branch’s Executive Committee of Gagauzia is composed of members elected by the region’s legislative assembly. The Governor of Gagauzia is directly elected by voters and confirmed by a presidential decree.
Local government
At the local level, the government is organized into two tiers: an upper tier of 32 district-level local government units and two special-status municipalities (Chisinau and Balti), and a lower tier of municipalities (Tighina, Tiraspol, Comrat), towns and villages.
At both tiers, local governments are comprised of deliberative bodies and executive bodies.
The district, municipal, and local councils are composed of 9-43 members directly elected by citizens based on political party lists, with a consequent distribution of seats as per the statistical results of the vote and the ranking of party members on the running lists. Chisinau makes an exception, with 51 members elected to compose the municipal council.
The gender quota also extends to local government representation, prescribing that lists of candidates for the parliamentary and local elections shall be drawn up respecting the minimum representation quota of 40 percent (four out of every 10 seats) for both sexes.
For more information on gender quotas adopted at the national level, visit the women in parliament section.
Structure of public administration
The central government’s roles and responsibilities include the governance and administration of the country, the formulation, development and monitoring of public policies, the revision and execution of budgets covering such areas as, inter alia, defense, law enforcement, transport, telecommunications, infrastructure of national importance, environmental protection and cultural heritage, and other areas of national importance. The central government is also responsible for the provision of higher education and health care, as well as for social security benefits.
Local government bodies are largely responsible for Moldova’s public administration when it comes to local matters of politics, administration, and finance. Within each local jurisdiction, local government is in charge of making local regulations, adopting the local budget and levying local taxes, providing social services, undertaking initiatives covering local issues, and providing primary and secondary education.
Women’s representation as employees and decision-makers in public administration
This visualization was developed based on data provided by GIRL@University of Pittsburgh.
Data across countries and territories is not comparable. For more information about the methodology and sources used, read here.
Moldova’s public administration has seen a notable transformation in women’s representation at the employee level. Women comprised 45.3 percent of public administration employees in 2022, a substantial increase from 40.6 percent in 1997, reflecting a trend towards a more equal representation in the public administration field. Women’s representation at the decision-making level stood at 22.4 percent in 2019. Comparisons with previous years cannot be made, due to a lack of earlier data.