According to Anne Hidalgo, Mónica Fein, Célestine Ketcha Courtès and Ada Colau of The World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) in 2017, in an article titled "Women mayors are ready to stand up and be counted,"
Knowledge is power. We can only achieve equality if we know where we are now and can measure our progress. Global indicators of women’s representation in local government will allow good practices to be identified and shared, and support to be targeted in places that are lagging behind.[1]
The first woman mayor in the Austrian Netherlands was Catherine Malotteau, who served as mayor of Namur between 1734 and 1749.[2]
The first woman to serve as mayor in the United States is believed to be Susanna M. Salter, who served as mayor of Argonia, Kansas, in 1887.[3][4][5] However, the first woman recorded winning a mayoral election was Nancy Smith in 1862, who declined to be sworn in as mayor of Oskaloosa, Iowa.
^Colau, Ada; Hidalgo, Anne; Fein, Mónica; Ketcha Courtès, Célestine (March 8, 2017). "Women mayors are ready to stand up and be counted". The World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments. Retrieved 5 August 2021. That's why, on 13th March, women mayors from around the world will launch a campaign with UN Women, calling on the UN Statistical Commission to develop global indicators to track the proportion of elected women at local level. We want the UN to invest in monitoring tools to put gender equality at the heart of the development agenda.
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