5 NOVEMBER2026W MAN LEADERGLOBAL W MAN LEADERGLOBAL Editor's NoteThe Long Climb to the TopA few years ago, it felt as if women in power were finally becoming ordinary. Then the numbers stopped cooperating. The count of countries led by a woman rose from 20 in 2020 to a high of 31 in 2023, then slipped back to 28 in 2026. Progress, it turns out, rarely moves in a straight line.Still, the faces at the top have changed the picture. Ursula von der Leyen steers the European Commission, Claudia Sheinbaum governs Mexico, and Giorgia Meloni leads Italy. In Africa, Samia Suluhu Hassan presides over Tanzania and Judith Suminwa serves as Congo's prime minister. These are no longer symbolic firsts but working leaders with real mandates, making budget calls, negotiating treaties, and managing crises like anyone who has held the job before them. Their presence also shifts what young girls in those countries consider possible, which is a form of influence no poll can fully measure.The quieter story is further down the ladder. Women now hold 27.5 percent of parliamentary seats worldwide, up from just 11 percent in 1995. They also make up 36 percent of elected members in local government bodies, where decisions about schools, water, and neighbourhood safety are made. That shift is slower and less glamorous than a presidential win, but it is where lasting change tends to start.And yet the ceiling is far from shattered. As of January 2026, 101 countries had never been led by a woman. Women hold only 22.4 percent of cabinet posts, and they are losing ground among parliamentary speakers. Even by Pew's stricter count of heads of government, women lead just 13 of the 193 UN member countries.The lesson is that visibility is not the same as permanence. Women's leadership is more accepted than ever, but it can still stall with a single election. Making it durable means building pipelines in parties, parliaments, and cabinets so the next generation doesn't have to be the exception.The real test of equality is not whether a woman can reach the top, but whether we stop being surprised when she does. Until a woman in power is simply a leader, and not a headline, the climb is not over.Meet some global women business leaders and read their inspiring success stories in the current edition of the Global Woman Leader magazine.Read on and let us know your thoughts. Rachita SharmaManaging Editor editor@globalwomanleader.com
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