Sub Saharan Africa

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women has launched a report and training manual for building the capacity of stakeholders on Affirmative Action in the country.

The manual titled: "Sociocultural Determinants of Voting Patterns in Nigeria - Reference to Women's Participation and Representation," was expected to serve as guide towards ensuring increased participation of women in the political process.

Somali women have been facing formidable challenges and complain about marginalization in politics but they in turn played a pivotal role in securing peace deals between warring forces on the ground. Among the stumbling blocks are cultural and strict religious beliefs, lack of distant goal, psychological backwardness, rape and domestic violence.  

Following Somali state collapse in 1991, women braced up for arduous tasks by putting their lives on the frontline to make urgently pressing priorities possible and shape their own destinies.

Unfriendly political environmental factors, culture, tradition and religious belief, low level of education as some of the barriers militating against Nigerian women’s participation in politics. Barriers, including gender discrimination, marginalised party policies, lack of confidence and self assertion, family value, among others, also prevent women from playing active roles in the Nigerian political terrain, declaring that these notwithstanding, women still had important roles to play in the political arena.

A REGIONAL research body, Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU), has said although Zimbabwean women are largely marginalised, they still exerted a lot of influence through voting even in the face of serious fears about violence during elections.

STAFF REPORTER

All too often, we measure our progress in the process of gender empowerment by counting the number of woman politicians in Parliament and Cabinet. There is also now a new dynamic in ANC politics with talk of the prospect of a woman leading the organisation and the country next. At first it looked as if President Jacob Zuma was merely being politically correct by saying South Africa could have a woman as president sooner than we think. He repeated the sentiment last week during a briefing with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

Her confirmation in the position will take place at the party congress scheduled for December this year. This would propel her into the party's powerful politburo and mark her official entrance into politics.

As a member of the supreme decision-making body the former presidential typist will play an active role in the battle to succeed her husband, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980.

Five women have successfully gone through vetting to contest positions in the Jirapa constituency election of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Upper West Region.

Mr Richard Kuunaah, Executive Director of GHANACare, a non-governmental organization, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Sunyani on Thursday that women participation in politics in the Jirapa Distict had increased significantly.

Many lessons can be learned from South African women who rose as leaders even when it was dangerous to do so, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela said on Thursday.

In a speech prepared for delivery at a women's leadership conference in Cape Town, she said the lessons were on how to lead with courage and integrity.

Madonsela said leading examples were the lives of anti-apartheid activists Victoria Mxenge, Helen Joseph, and Helen Suzman.

The call for more women to participate in politics need more commitment than mere political rhetoric.

Women's role in African politics must go beyond being voters or 'airport dancers'.

Women in Parliament are better placed to fight vices like gender-based violence, child slave, sexual assault and defilement, early marriages, abortions and unfair distribution of wealth.

The population of women in Zambia is large and hence the need for fair representation in Parliament (of course not the unrealistic 50 per cent).