Women Who? Regime Type and the Gender Imbalance in National Delegations to the UN General Assembly

International organizations (IOs) have played a central role in advancing women’s rights and gender equality norms across the globe, yet women’s representation within these institutions has only recently gained scholarly attention. While research has focused predominantly on female IO leaders and staff, less is known about women’s representation among national delegations – although delegates yield substantial influence in the negotiation and drafting of IO resolutions. This study addresses this gap using a novel dataset on the gender composition of national delegations to the United Nations General Assembly (2004–2016, to be extended). Building on existing research on autocracies and women’s political representation, it examines whether regime type affects women’s inclusion in delegations to IOs. Preliminary findings show that while the overall share of female delegates has grown, substantial disparities persist across countries and delegation roles. Regime type explains some of the cross-country variation, but the proportion of women in positions of political power domestically has an even stronger effect. The study contributes to the literature on women’s representation in international organizations and speaks to research on autocracy and gender by analyzing how regime type shapes women’s entry into positions of international influence beyond the national sphere.