Seven Out Of 159 ‘World Leaders’ Are Women

Today’s Guardian centre-spread picture of all of the world leaders at the UN summit (and not all of them are the top leaders) makes a depressing sight.

There are – count ’em – seven women out of the 159 total. For the record they are:
Gloria Arroyo, President of The Philippines
Khalida Zia, Prime Minister of Bangladesh
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, President of Sir Lanka
Tarja Halonen, President of Finland
Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia
Truong My Hoa, Vice-President, Vietnam
Fausta Morganti, Captain Regent, San Marino

So that’s five national leaders – where are all those “men’s rights” types who claim women are taking over?

(You do have to feel sympathy for the poor protocol officers who had to muster that lot and get them in line, without putting sworn enemies too near each other, and all pointing in the one direction. For those who are sarky about UN diplomats, just imagine that job.)