Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women Director Marit Danon today informed the Cabinet that from June 2007 until the present, there has been a gradual increase in the proportion of women serving on the boards of Government companies, from 32% to 38.5%.  She added that 49% of approved directorship candidates last month were women, as opposed to 41% in January.  Danon praised the foregoing trends and said that she hoped women would be equally represented on the boards of Government companies by International Women's Day in March of next year.
 
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said: "Despite the increase, we are still not doing enough and the gap between what needs to be done and the current situation is still too large.  For example, I see no reason why women cannot serve as directors of Government corporations and, to my regret, this has not happened yet.  Similarly, we must find additional ways to encourage women to work."
 
In March of last year, the Government decided – at the initiative of the Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women – that women would be appointed to the boards of government companies until 50% of the directors of government companies were women, by March 2009.