South Africa is internationally regarded as one of the countries with the highest number of women parliamentarians in the world. In addition to its policies, programmes and government interventions, the country subscribes to and has signed a number of international declarations on the promotion of gender equality, such as the heads of state and member states of the African Union's Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa and the UN Millennium Development Goals. These include Goal 3, which promotes gender equality and the empowerment of women.