Sub Saharan Africa

From time being, sex stereotyping has always been an issue in contemporary setting. It assumes that masculine and feminine traits are intertwined with leadership. Due to the aggressive and competitive nature of politics, the belief is that participation in elected office requires masculine traits.

The National Institute of Legislative Studies (NILS) has identified the low number of women in Nigerian parliament as the reason for the failure of gender-based bills in the legislature, adding that it is unacceptable that only seven per cent of lawmakers are women.

Director general of the institute, Dr Ladi Hamalai, while speaking yesterday at a round table organised by NILS and UNDP/DGD for civil societies and community based organisations in Abuja said advocacy must be explored towards ensuring an increase in the next elections.

Women in Zanzibar will have more courage to take part in future elections, should the BRIDGE training introduced in Zanzibar be effective.

Speaking at the opening of the five-day BRIDGE training on 'Gender and Elections' to members of the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) and women activists, senior members of ZEC said it was a timely and crucial capacity building.

The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Zainab Maina, has reiterated Federal Government's commitment to economic empowerment of women in the country.

The minister spoke at the weekend when she received the executive members of the Nigerian Quintessential Business Women and the Association of Non-Bank Micro-finance Institution of Nigeria in her office.

Maina noted that the economic well-being of women was urgently required to guarantee their full participation in governance and decision making.

A female politician and former member of the House of Representatives, Mrs Juliet Nnenne Obasi-Akano, spoke at at her country home, Abajah in Nwangele Local Government Area, while marking her formal declaration for the Senate race of Orlu Senatorial Zone of Imo State in 2015.

She declared that the decision to offer herself for the Orlu senatorial seat was borne out of her desire to continue to serve and take them out of the woods, stressing that the zone had been marginalized in terms of federal presence.

As Burundi heads towards the 2015 general elections, and despite a quota of 30 percent women’s representation in parliament, women in this southeast African nation feel that they are yet to have a significant say in the management of their country.

Bernardine Sindakira, the chairwoman of Synergy of Partners for the Promotion of Women’s Rights (SPPDF), a Burundian coalition of women’s rights organisations, tells IPS that the country’s very traditional culture still considers women as “homemakers” as women are educated to play this role from young.