Almere’s outgoing mayor Annemarie Jorritsma is to take over the leadership of the government’s database of female candidates for top jobs, news agency ANP says on Monday.

VVD stalwart Jorritsma succeeds former parliamentary chairman Gerdi Verbeet and will work on the Topvrouwen initiative with co-director Leo Houwen.

The database, set up in 2014, contains the names of some 1,000 women.

Emancipation minister Jet Bussemaker said earlier this year she would continue with the initiative despite complaints that the database is unfair competition for private sector headhunters.

Last week official figures showed that just 10% of the board members at 5,000 of the Netherlands’ biggest companies are female. The government target is 30%.