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Society
A Louder Voice
by Rodrick Mukumbira
Women's
organizations in Namibia have now joined voices to advocate gender
balance in politics and decision-making bodies. In a country where 51
per cent of the over 2.2 million people are women (according to current
government estimates), there are only seven women in the 27-member
Cabinet.
When Namibia gained its independence from South Africa in 1990, 9 per
cent of parliamentarians were women. Sixteen years later, women account
for 27 per cent of the 78-member Parliament; 23 per cent of the
permanent secretaries in government ministries; 25 per cent of all
deputy ministers; and 32 per cent of directors and heads of departments
in the civil service.
As the country and the ruling party South West Africa People's
Organization (SWAPO) - in power since Independence - prepares for its
congress in December 2006 and the next general elections in 2009, the
time is ripe for a call for equality. Women's groups - political, NGOs,
activists - are calling on all political parties to field an equal
number of women candidates.
In September 2006, SWAPO's Women Council resolved at a central committee
meeting that there should be a 50 per cent representation in the party
hierarchy and in Parliament. "We need the same opportunities as men,"
said Linea Shaetonhodi, Deputy Secretary of the Council. "We are hoping
that, come the next elections, our presence will be felt."
Women's Manifesto Network, an organization representing nine women's
rights groups, says nominating women as candidates in all elections
ensures more priority to women's interests in policy development and
implementation. "In order to achieve gender balance in politics and
decision-making, we advocate that political parties include 50 per cent
women candidates on their party lists in all elections, including those
of the National Assembly. The government should also legislate an
affirmative action provision to ensure that in future elections, at
least half the candidates at all levels of government are women,"
demands the Network's manifesto.
Namibia uses proportional representation at the parliamentary level, and
winning parties select members from a hierarchical list - that is,
according to the positions that members occupy in the party. This allows
scope for a deliberate infusion of women into Parliament. The country,
however, uses the British first-past-the-post system for the
presidential elections.
"There can be no true and substantive democracy without the equal
participation of women...Political parties tend to blame women for not
coming forward as candidates, rather than analyze and remove the many
barriers and constraints facing women who enter the male-dominated area
of politics," says the manifesto.
Ngohauvi Kavetu is the opposition Democratic Turnhalle Alliance's
representative for Opuwo, an impoverished region north of the capital,
Windhoek. The lack of a level playing field, she believes, is the crux
of the issue. "You need to prove that you know what is happening in your
region and stand your ground in discussions or you will be shot down in
the male-dominated Parliament."
This point is underlined by Liz Frank from the Windhoek-based Women
Action for Development, a group that works for women's empowerment. She
says women are not just asking for the quota system. "We're asking for a
piece of legislation that would make a permanent amendment to the
electoral law," she says.
However, a statement released by the Cabinet in September 2006 - in
response to the call for greater representation of women in
decision-making positions - appears to stress that the reforms demanded
might not be viable in the short term. "Namibia has not yet achieved the
previous target of 30 per cent, and much needs to be done to attain the
new target of 50 per cent of women in politics and decision-making
positions."
The country's private sector has also fallen far short on gender parity
issues and female executives remain a rarity. According to the 2006
annual report of the Employment Equity Commission, only 48 women held
executive positions at the 345 companies and State-owned enterprises
surveyed.
Namibia is a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms
of Discrimination against Women, the Beijing Platform for Action, and
the Southern African Development Community (SADC) declaration on Gender
and Development. In effect, the government has committed itself to
promoting women's issues at all levels.
The country's National Gender Policy and Plan of Action spells out 10
areas of concern in which gender imbalances need to be addressed. These
include the areas of gender balance in politics and decision-making,
poverty and rural development, education and training, reproductive
health and rights, gender and legal affairs, as well as the situation of
the girl child.
In 1997, at the SADC's Heads of State meeting in Blantyre, Malawi's
commercial capital, the 14-member regional body resolved that there
should be equal representation of women and men in the decision-making
of all member States at all levels, and set a 30 per cent target to be
achieved by 2005. The 50 per cent gender-parity goal, in line with the
African Union's recommendations, has no set timeframe.
The June 2006 edition of the SADC Gender Monitor says that, in the rest
of southern Africa, the average representation of women in parliaments
currently stands at 20 per cent, with only Mozambique and South Africa
having reached 30 per cent or above.
Nevertheless, Namibia has excelled in other areas of gender equality. In
2002, its Parliament amended the Local Authorities Act to include a
clause that stipulates that 30 per cent of all candidates fielded by
each political party should be women. This resulted in women garnering
43 per cent of the 283 available seats in the 2004 municipal elections.
The country's main opposition party, Congress of Democrats, is the only
political party with a constitution that stipulates 50 per cent
representation for women. "We have set an example and the ruling party
should follow," says its president, Ben Ulenga.
November 12,
2006
By arrangement with
Women's Feature Service
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Society
The Week of November 12, 2006
Ekla Chalo: Any Point Talking to President Hu?
by Rajinder Puri
Chinese President's Visit to India: Much Ado
about Nothing by Dr. Subhash Kapila
History grants Nitish Kumar an opportunity in
Bihar by Ramesh Menon
Pakistan's Military Dictator Besieged by Dr.
Subhash Kapila
Status: Nemesis of Fools, Smarts and Nations by
Gaurang Bhatt, MD
Reaping the Peace Dividend in India's North East
by Col. Rahul K. Bhonsle
A Panoply of Orchestrated Fraud by V.
Sundaram
Buddhism and Quantum Physics by Christian
Thomas Kohl
Are We Really Civilized? by TA Ramesh
Anger of Varunavrat by VK Joshi
Shaking up the Structure by Zofeen T Ebrahim
Wanderlust by Attreyee Roy Chowdhury
Khat e Kabuliwala: Inside an ancient temple near
Mazar-e-Sharif by Rajesh Talwar
Following the Coast by Naiya Sivaraj
Pachmarhi, Nature's Gift to Madhya Pradesh by
Anil Gulati
If You Can't Slap 'Em, Snap 'Em by Elayne Clift
Women Presidents Pack a Punch by Ambujam
Anantharaman
The Politics of Hair by Nilanjana Biswas
Murky Meat Factories by Alka Arya
Sex Workers' Bank - Healthy Returns by
Nilanjana Bhowmick
A Louder Voice by Rodrick Mukumbira
Reneging the Blue Billion by Priyadarsi Dutta
Strange are the Ways of God by Arya Bhushan
The Witty Side by Melvin Durai
How to Deal With - Analytical Physiologist Disorder
by Michael Levy
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