Ultra-Orthodox worshipper Jenny Menashe argues with Rabbi Nahum Weiss. Credit: Pierre Klochendler/IPS

The struggle for gender equality and Jewish pluralism took a highly symbolic turn on Sunday at the Western Wall, Judaism’s most revered site and emblem of unity, as a group of women known as “Women of the Wall” prayed legally and in a way they saw fit.

For 24 years, the Women of the Wall, a Jewish feminist group, have demanded the right to carry and read aloud the Holy Book of Judaism at the Western Wall (“Kotel”, in Hebrew) while wrapping themselves in prayer shawls, donning phylacteries and wearing skullcaps.

According to the Jewish Orthodox Law, only men may don the Tallith, the Tefilin and the Kippa and read the Torah aloud while praying during religious ceremonies. As such, the women’s demand is anathema to Jewish Orthodoxy, Israel’s prevailing stream of Judaism.

The conservatives, reformist, progressive and liberal movements with which the Women of the Wall are affiliated, though prominent in the United States, are a minority in Israel.

The Kotel’s esplanade on Sunday resembled a fortified battlefield, with two opposing camps deeply divided on religious duties and gender rights readying themselves for yet another showdown.

Approximately 300 women, who intended to mark the first day of the Jewish month of Tamuz in full regalia, fought their way through a crowd of similar size of infuriated ultra-Orthodox men.

“These women want to tear Judaism apart. Secular Jews wouldn’t dare falsifying the word of God, but these women, they change Judaism from within,” warned Nahum Weiss, rebbe of a Talmudic school.

Hundreds of police officers – at least two per woman – were deployed between the two camps to prevent the violence that characterised the previous monthly prayer, when Yeshiva boys and seminary girls hurled garbage, diapers and eggs at the Women of the Wall.

This time, men let loose a flood of abusive invectives against the women: “Go pray with the Muslims!”; “Go home to America!”; and “You don’t belong here!”

Jenny Menashe, from the group Women for the Wall, the Women of the Wall’s Orthodox alter ego and whose motto is “preserving the sanctity of the wall”, called on fellow male coreligionists to “allow women to handle these women”.

Placards read, “You make up a new religion, built a new wall!” The group Women of the Wall responded with an Orthodox Hassidic hymn, “The whole world is a narrow bridge; above all, don’t be afraid.”

Policewomen escorted the women to the Kotel’s female section, where they were kept behind barriers to avoid further conflict with Orthodox worshippers. A prayer-like lamentation arouse from the male section to cover the women’s prayers. To practice their faith at the Kotel, men have at their disposal a space twice as large as the women’s.

“It’s a shame we’re relegated to pray like lepers,” deplored Ya’ara Nissan, “It shows what happen to women when they get out of the kitchen.”

A turning point

Two months ago, as if abiding by Orthodox edicts, the police would arrest women for praying at the Kotel in their own way. But on Apr. 25, the Women of the Wall won a historic victory in the long struggle for recognition of their practises and against the Orthodox authorities in charge of prayer rules at the holy site.

Judging that their unorthodox behaviour does not disturb the peace and that, on the contrary, ultra-Orthodox Jews are those who cause disorder, the Jerusalem District Court ruled that the Women of the Wall could pray at the wall.

Judge Moshe Sobel, an Orthodox Jew himself, wrote in his decision that the Women of the Wall’s practices constitute neither a violation of “local custom” nor a provocation.

The court also ruled out police interpretations of a previous Supreme Court ruling from 2003, stating that women are neither forbidden from holding their own prayer services at the Kotel nor required instead to congregate at the nearby Robinson’s Arch.

“Today the Women of the Wall liberated the Western Wall for the entire Jewish people,” clamoured Anat Hoffman, the organisation’s chairwoman.

In response to the court ruling, Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz protested, “I implore the authorities as well as the silent majority who care deeply for the Kotel to prevent extremists from turning it into a site of antagonism between brothers.”

On Sunday, the ultra-Orthodox rabbis called for married and seasoned men to demonstrate their opposition to the Women of the Wall, instructing the hot-tempered single pupils to remain in their Talmudic schools, so as not to turn the protest into yet another unmannerly and disgraceful brawl.

But instead of the thousands expected, only hundreds answered the call.

By and large, the prayer service was peaceful. A few eggs landed at the feet of the Women of the Wall’s male supporters. “They planned a demonstration of force and demonstrated their weakness,” noted one.

“They’re getting used to us,” Hoffman observed cautiously. “The Kotel is a place for all communities and streams of Judaism,” declared spokeswoman Shira Preuce, adding, “The Orthodox Rabbinate fears women empowerment, fears changes.”

A shifting political balance

Indeed, Orthodox Judaism is gradually losing power in Israel.

The political landscape is now such that the Orthodox lobby at the Knesset is unusually weak, and ultra-Orthodox legislators sit in the opposition with liberal, progressive and Arab parties. The relationship between state and synagogue is now shifting in favour of more progressive Jewish currents.

A draft conscription law could break the ultra-orthodox Jews’ longstanding exemption from serving in the Israeli army, while non-Orthodox rabbis now receive state salaries and Jewish Israelis are allowed to marry under any rabbinical council within Israel.

Lakshmi Puri. UN Photo/Devra Berkowitz

In Bangladesh and Cambodia, the shocking loss of life by garment factory workers, many of them women, sparked global debate on how to secure safe and decent jobs in our globalised economy. In Europe, the disproportionate impact on women of austerity cuts, and the use of quotas to get more women on corporate boards continue to make headlines.

Even though women have made real gains, we are constantly reminded how far we have to go to realise equality between men and women.

World leaders recognised the pervasiveness of discrimination and violence against women and girls when they signed onto the visionary Millennium Declaration in 2000. Amongst the eight Millennium Development Goals, they included a goal to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.

With these goals set to expire in 2015, we are now in a race to achieve them. We are also in the midst a global conversation about what should replace them. It’s time for women to move from the sidelines to the centre.

In a new post-2015 development agenda, we must build on the achievements of the MDGs while avoiding their shortcomings. Everyone agrees that the goals have galvanised progress to reduce poverty and discrimination, and promote education, gender equality, health and safe drinking water and sanitation.

The goal on gender equality and women’s empowerment tracked progress on school enrolment, women’s share of paid work, and women’s participation in parliament. It triggered global attention and action. It served to hold governments accountable, mobilise much-needed resources, and stimulate new laws, policies, programmes and data.

But there are glaring omissions. Noticeably absent is any reference to ending violence against women and girls. Also missing are other fundamental issues, such as women’s right to own property and the unequal division of household and care responsibilities.

By failing to address the structural causes of discrimination and violence against women and girls, progress towards equality has been stalled. Of all the MDGs, the least progress has been made on MDG5, to reduce maternal mortality. The fact that this has been the hardest goal to reach testifies to the depth and scope of gender inequality.

To make greater progress, UN Women proposes a stand-alone goal to achieve gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment that is grounded in human rights and tackles unequal power relations. We envision three areas that require urgent action.

First, ending violence against women and girls must be a priority. From sexual violence in the camps of Haiti and Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to intimate partner shootings in the United States and elsewhere, this violence causes untold physical and psychological harm. It is one of the most pervasive human rights violations, and carries tremendous costs for individuals, families and societies.

Second, women and men need equal opportunities, resources and responsibilities to realize equality. Equal access to land and credit, natural resources, education, health services including sexual and reproductive health, decent work and equal pay needs to be addressed with renewed urgency. Policies, such as child care and parental leave, are needed to relieve working women’s double duty so women and men can enjoy equality at work and at home.

And third, women’s voices must be heard. It is time for women to participate equally in decision making in the household, the private sector and institutions of governance. Despite progress in recent years, women comprise just 20 percent of parliamentarians and 27 percent of judges. For democracy to be meaningful and inclusive, women’s voices and leadership must be amplified in all public and private spaces.

Any new development agenda must be grounded in human rights agreements that governments have already signed onto. This includes the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, and U.N. resolutions, including the recent agreement of the Commission on the Status of Women on eliminating and preventing all forms of violence against women and girls.

There is plenty of evidence to show that countries with a higher status of women also enjoy higher levels of social and economic performance. There is also evidence to guide countries on what works, from equitable labour market policies, to the removal of discriminatory laws and policies, to universal social protection and social services, to security and justice reforms that end impunity for violence against women and girls. The activism of the women’s movement everywhere has been critical in demanding and driving change in all of these areas.

The discussions to shape the post-2015 global development agenda offer a real opportunity to drive lasting change for women’s rights and equality. A strong global goal can push our societies to the tipping point of rejecting violence and discrimination against women and girls and unleash the potential of half the population for a more peaceful, just and prosperous world and a sustainable planet.

*Lakshmi Puri is Acting Head of UN Women and Assistant Secretary-General.

Women’s advocate Shazia Bashir leading a rally in support of women’s right to vote in Paikhel, Pakistan. Credit: Irfan Ahmed/IPS

For the first time in her life she will step out of her house on Election Day and join the throng of people heading to the neighbourhood polling station in Paikhel union council, an administrative unit of Mianwali district in the northwest Punjab province, to exercise her right to vote.

Fatima and the roughly 6,000 eligible female voters in this community have been barred from the ballot box for half a century. They were disenfranchised in 1963 when tribal elders and rival castes decided that women must “respect traditional values” of tribes like the Niazi, which dominate this area.

According to Shazia Bashir, a programme specialist at the national advocacy group Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO), local male leaders agreed that the sight of women at polling stations was indecent, and would attract the unwelcome gaze of strangers. They also disliked the idea of women “confronting” or interacting with men at the ballot box, Bashir told IPS.

Tribal elders command a great deal of authority here. A local justice system known as “jirga” acts as a substitute for courts, and few political parties have a presence in the community.

Thus the ban remained in force until Herculean efforts by local activist groups succeeded in bringing stakeholders to the table to finally overturn the archaic law in December 2012.

Struggle to achieve voter literacy

Fatima says her son, who in previous election years had supported wholeheartedly her exclusion from the ballot box, has this year agreed to accompany her to the polling station, since she is completely ignorant of the voting process.

NGOs committed to bringing women into the electoral sphere are conducting practical trainings to develop basic voter literacy, but they face obstacles in the form of deep-rooted patriarchal attitudes.

The SPO’s repeated attempts to set up an adult literacy centre for women in Paikhel have been consistently thwarted since 2009 by locals determined to keep women “in their rightful place.” At most, two or three women would attend classes intended for at least 25 people.

For years, women themselves resisted attempts to reverse the ban, refusing to attend events on voter rights and preventing SPO activists from entering their homes.

Shazia says she even received death threats from some locals who wanted to maintain the status quo, but she stayed her course.

Eventually the campaign turned its attention to the men, spelling out the cost of keeping a huge section of the community out of the electoral process.

Seen by mainstream political parties as an “insignificant” electorate, Mianwali bears all the signs of government neglect, says Muhammad Ziaullah, president of Al Rehman Welfare Development Society.

Only one basic health unit, one dispensary and two secondary schools for boys serve this community of 4,000 households, he told IPS. There are no secondary schools for girls or higher secondary schools for male or female students.

Employment here is restricted to small-scale agricultural production, menial labour and honeybee farming, bringing families an average monthly income of between 30 and 50 dollars.

Children are forced to work to supplement their parents’ income, often employed as assistant mechanics in auto repair shops or helpers in tea kiosks. Inadequate health and education facilities feed this vicious cycle.

In a bid to promote voter participation, activists urged the influential District Steering Committees (DSCs) to revive welfare centres, known as Zakat Committees, capable of doling out funds to the needy.

SPO Regional Head Salman Abid told IPS the ensuing influx of government aid “helped locals to understand the benefits of staying in the political mainstream. They started listening to us seriously.” From there, activists moved to advocating for women’s right vote as crucial to maintaining government support and financial assistance.

By Dec. 12, 2012, tribal chiefs aligned with leading political parties like the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) agreed to lift the ban on women voters, with endorsement coming directly from the descendants of those who imposed it 50 years ago.

Raza-ul-Mustafa, a tribal chief whose grandfather was instrumental in implementing the ban, announced in a meeting held in December last year that his wife would be the first to cast her vote. He is currently contesting elections on the PTI ticket.

To help publicise their efforts, local advocates erected a large board at the main junction in Paikhel, in between the central bus station and rickshaw stand, and asked male members of the community who supported women’s right to vote to sign it.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has promised to set up women-only polling stations at a maximum distance of two kilometres away from the men’s, says Abid. It has been decided that husbands or sons will accompany their female relatives on Saturday.

Zaitoon Bibi, a middle-aged mother of two, told IPS she is “happy to go along with the change”.

“We refrained from voting as our elders decided it was against tradition; this time we will vote, as there is a unanimous decision on it,” she said simply.

But others see this as a monumental development, one that could impact other regions in Pakistan where women’s turnout at the 2008 general election, though not banned outright, was “abysmally low” according to Abid, who cited Punjabi districts like Attock, Chakwal, Sargodha and Jhang as examples of low female participation.

“The Paikhel decision is a historic one and could be an example to be followed,” he said. “If such a strong decision can be made here, why not in other places?”

Indeed, many women’s rights groups around the country have mobilised ahead of May 11 to provide protection to women voters on Election Day. Memories of 2008, when polling stations were torched to prevent women from casting their ballots, are fresh in people’s minds.

Analysts have praised the ECP for publicising the fact that “undue influence” on prospective voters is a punishable offence under the 1976 Representation of the People Act, carrying a one-year jail sentence or a fine.

Kashif Nawab, an election observer with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), told IPS that banning women from voting falls under this category.

Nawab’s duties include timely reporting of violations of the code of conduct issued Wednesday by the ECP. He says he witnessed religious groups attempting to convince women to remain home on May 11 during his recent visit to the Attock district in Punjab. After he recorded his observation, the district election commissioner reprimanded the groups involved.

In Paikhel, the SPO has engaged a local task force to observe and report on possible violations, and ensure that women reach polling stations in time to cast their votes.

This past week volunteers visited hundreds of households and conducted “voting exercises” with women to ensure that they understand the procedure.

Encouraging support for women voters has also come from the most unlikely place: the Pakistan Ulema Council, which issued a decree last month calling voting an “Islamic responsibility” and non-voting a sin, including for women.

Many rural women in Pakistan have never voted. Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS

As Pakistan inches closer to the May 11 elections, and the accompanying heat and dust get even thicker, it is pertinent to stop for a moment and ask: what do women voters in Pakistan want?

Just three square meals and an education for their children, according to Shabina Bibi, an unlettered woman in her thirties who lives in a shanty near the Kemari port in Karachi.

“My husband lost his job last month,” she told IPS, “and for the first time in my life, I have had to venture out, looking for a job.” A mother of four, she now works as a domestic in Karachi.

It has taken Bibi – and her husband – tremendous courage to step out of this boundary. The participation of women in Pakistan’s labour force is just 28 per cent, according to the World Bank’s World Development Report 2013. Gender roles in this society are defined very strictly: a woman has to stay home to look after the family, while it’s the man’s job to go out and provide for them.

There is nothing more that women voters want in this election than to be able to move beyond the traditional stereotypes and walk shoulder to shoulder with men. No longer content to be confined to the shadows of home, they want to step out into the light and participate actively in the public sphere.

It’s not easy being a woman in Pakistan, said Tahira Abdullah, an Islamabad-based peace activist. It’s worse if you occupy the lower rung of the economic ladder, she added, speaking to IPS from the capital, Islamabad.

“Women face disproportionately high levels of poverty, work in exploitative labour conditions, get little or no remuneration, face the double burden of housework and reproductive responsibility, and are subjected to gender-based violence.”

Abdullah wants to see this changed in these elections and hopes for a more emancipated leadership. “It’s time political parties woke up to the feminisation of poverty in Pakistan which is resulting in disproportionate misery and injustice for women,” she said.

However, in a conservative society such as Pakistan’s, that is asking for the moon. “Most men still believe in their own chauvinism and consider women taking a backseat as appropriate to their gender,” said Najma Sadeque, a veteran journalist in Karachi. “The process would have been faster had we got rid of the feudal system and fundamentalists.”

There are some 37 million registered women voters in Pakistan, making up 44 per cent of the country’s 86 million-strong electorate. Another 11 million women are eligible to vote but have not registered.

Women seldom get heard or find leaders on decision-making bodies to carry their voice.

In addition, their aspirations for their country are often radically different from men’s – but these, again, are never articulated.

Women, Islamabad-based gender specialist Naheed Aziz told IPS, are more concerned about day-to-day affairs like food, water, health, sanitation and the welfare of their children.

“The country a woman wants is one where she is not treated as a secondary citizen,” said Aziz, “where she can live with peace and dignity, has a say in the affairs affecting her life, and is not subjected to age-old negative socio-cultural traditions; where her honour and life are not threatened within her home or her community, where she feels secure, where she and her family members will not be subjected to violence and exploitation, where the rule of law prevails, and where everyone has equal and equitable justice.”

“Women want a welfare state, not a nuclearised security-driven state,” said Abdullah. And, unlike men, who are obsessed with their own selves, their ‘biradari’ (clan), feudal and tribal politics, women worry about the future of their families.

“Women are inherently peace-loving and envisage a world free of weapons, war and strife,” Abdullah said. They prefer lawmakers to devote their energy to solving the nation’s problems rather than worrying about who to go to war with or how much money to spend on defence, she added.

Endorsing this sentiment, Sadeque said that women have rarely started or propagated wars. “There are few Margaret Thatchers among women,” she remarked to IPS.

Yet, women are the ones affected disproportionately by conflict and disaster situations, she noted. To help change this, women must be better represented in political bodies and must have a say on the various issues affecting them.

The Aurat Foundation, an organisation working for the rights of women, has long been advocating an increase in the representation of women in the national and provincial assemblies, from 17 per cent to 33 per cent.

The foundation has also asked political parties to hold internal elections for women and to have specific women-only constituencies, to ensure a level playing field during elections. None of these recommendations has so far been accepted.

The foundation had, in fact, come out with a handbook of suggestions on women’s empowerment, for the election manifestos of political parties.

While a few parties included some of the recommendations in their manifestos, most were “relegated to a separate chapter, without cross-references or linkages to mainstreaming,” said Abdullah, who co-authored the handbook with Aziz.

Among the suggestions that were included were the repeal of discriminatory legislation against women and /or minorities, action against negative socio-cultural practices, legislation against domestic violence or violence against women in general, and giving title deeds to women when allocating land to landless peasants.

A few parties even promised to ban ‘jirgas’ (tribal or village councils), but most of them hedged and suggested an alternative dispute resolution system under the local government.

Unfortunately, very few women are members of the manifesto committees of political parties. “The female to male ratio among those who have helped with party manifesto documents is, on average, three females to 20 males,” Aziz said.

What chances do women have, then, of being heard in this election?

They have a long way to go, certainly. Of the 23,079 candidates seeking general seats in the national assembly, only 3.5 per cent are women, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan. Political parties refused to acquiesce to the pressure by civil society to reserve 10 per cent of the spots on tickets for women candidates.

As a result, only 36 women across Pakistan have been able to secure spots on tickets to run for general seats in the national assembly. There are 817 women candidates, though, who are standing for the 60 seats reserved for women in the national assembly. In addition, there are 64 women candidates fighting on an independent ticket, outside of any party affiliation.

What women are doing, however, is getting out into the field and campaigning for their leaders. Party leaders are “ensuring women’s participation in their election rallies through their women’s wings, to garner their votes and nominate them for their reserved seats,” said Abdullah.

It’s a small, but significant, start.

Amina Mohamed is the first woman to be nominated head of Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Credit: Brian Ngugi/IPS

Kenya’s nominees for cabinet secretary positions, who include an unprecedented number of women – six out of 18 – will undergo a gruelling public vetting process by the Parliamentary Committee on Appointments Thursday.

Despite the appointments – which are yet to be confirmed – women’s rights organisations in this East African nation say President Uhuru Kenyatta’s new government must do more to seriously mainstream gender issues in the country.

Kenyatta made history on Apr. 25, when he nominated the six women to the cabinet – the highest number the country has had since independence.

The nominees include former diplomat Raychelle Omamo, who was proposed to head the sensitive Ministry of Defence, a docket which has never before been held by a woman.

And Anne Waiguru, an economic and public policy expert, is expected to head the critical Ministry of Devolution and Planning, which will coordinate the implementation of Kenya’s new devolved system of government in 47 counties.

Charity Ngilu, a former government minister, was nominated to head the Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development; Phyllis Kandie, an investment banker, was nominated to head the Ministry of East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism; and Judy Wakhungu, a former associate professor of science, technology, and society at Pennsylvania State University, was tapped to head the Ministry of Environment, Water and National Resources.

Earlier, on Apr. 23, Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto had announced the nomination of Amina Mohamed as the first woman to head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Twenty-three men, including Kenya’s founding president Jomo Kenyatta, have held this key post since 1963.

But ahead of the vetting process, which will pave the way for the tabling of the list of nominees in parliament for debate, approval and subsequent confirmation, Maria Nzomo, the first Kenyan woman to obtain a Ph.D in political science and international studies, from Dalhousie University in Canada in 1981, told IPS that despite the historic appointments, women here still lag far behind men on a number of fronts.

She said many of them continue to suffer from restricted access to health care, education, political participation and cultural life, as well as legal protection and economic opportunities.

Consequently Nzomo, who teaches at the Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies at the University of Nairobi, said the government must do more to address the plight of Kenyan women.

“Women lack required skills, access to affordable credit or even better education, meaning therefore that they are perennially disadvantaged to men and can only survive by plying informal sector jobs,” she said.

Her comments were echoed by Grace Mbugua, the executive director of Women’s Empowerment Link, a non-governmental national women rights organisation, who told IPS that empowering Kenyan women would take more than the nomination of the six women to the cabinet.

“While we must say that we appreciate that President Kenyatta’s administration actually complied with the constitutional requirement regarding appointment of women in public offices, this is not the glass ceiling for Kenyan women and the state must do more if we are to bridge the gender gap in Kenya,” she said.

The nominations mean that once the nominees to the 18-member cabinet are finally vetted and approved by parliament, the cabinet will meet the one-third gender threshold provided for in the Kenyan constitution as part of a principle of affirmative action.

Article 81 (b) of the constitution provides that “not more than two-thirds of the members of elective public bodies shall be of the same gender.”

The Kenya Supreme Court ruled in December 2012 that a constitutional provision calling for a mandatory one-third gender representation would not apply to the 2013 general elections but instead should be implemented progressively by August 2015.

According to the World Bank’s annual World Development Report 2012, efforts at empowering women in developing countries like Kenya have over the years considerably paid off, yet despite achievements in the advancement of women’s rights and privileges, gender inequality gaps between men and women in key areas of society still persist.

Highlighting this, Mbugua told IPS that the government must now create and implement mechanisms to bridge the existing gender inequalities.

“It must for instance create the proper structures to encourage women in leadership through continually reforming laws surrounding elections to enable more women to participate fairly in elective politics and ascend to decision-making positions,” she said.

According to Nzomo, the appointment of six women to the cabinet may not necessarily translate into the prioritisation of a women’s agenda for the cabinet due to what she terms the entrenched patriarchal decision-making nature of the government.

“Numbers in the cabinet are not enough to enhance gender equity as the Kenyan governance framework is still male-dominated and hostile to women’s participation,” she told IPS.

Nzomo, however, said the move was a step forward in the right direction for women’s empowerment, considering the significance of the ministries the six women have been tapped to head.

“It is a signal of good will, but we are a long way from that point where we can say Kenya has attained gender equality and equity,” she said.

But according to Wambui Kanyi, the executive director of the women’s lobby Women Political Alliance Kenya, the appointment of the six women will create needed awareness that women too can hold critical dockets. She said most Kenyans at the grassroots level still lack confidence in women’s leadership, going by the outcome of the country’s recent elections.

“At the national level we are faring commendably in terms of women’s representation, but we need to do more to increase women’s representation at the grassroots leadership level. It seems the national leadership believes in the capability of women to lead while at the grassroots it is a different story,” she said.

In the country’s Mar. 4 general elections, no female candidate was elected to the 47 gubernatorial or senate positions up for grabs.

According to their share of elected seats, however, political parties nominated another 16 women. Additional nominations were made for two members representing young people and two members representing persons with disabilities.

But only 16 women were elected, out of 290 member of parliament positions. A further 47 women were elected, however, as women representatives on the basis of affirmative action.

Women’s rights organisations blamed this poor performance on a controversial ruling against the implementation of a gender quota in parliament by Kenya’s highest court.

“Women were disadvantaged in the elections because of this ruling as well as cultural barriers and financial constraints to mount campaigns, and this tells you that while the executive may believe in women’s leadership, the story is different at the grassroots,” said Kanyi, adding that the state must do more to create awareness and support women’s participation in leadership.

Former provincial assembly member Shagufta Malik and former national assembly member Bushra Gohar at Peshawar Press Club. Credit: Ashfaq Yusufzai/IPS

“Women in Pakhtun society have traditionally helped their men in hard times,” declares former Pakistani lawmaker Shagufta Malik. They are doing so again, and how, going by their hectic campaigning activity in northern Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

An erstwhile member of the provincial assembly, Malik is spearheading the election campaign for Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, who is running for a seat in the national legislature.

The ANP leader had narrowly survived a suicide attack in October 2008 in Charsadda, one of the 25 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the birthplace of the party, and has since been confined to the federal capital Islamabad and restricted from visiting his constituency as often as he would have wished.

Now, as the May 11 election date looms near, the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has stepped up its deadly exploits against the ANP primarily, and other parties such as the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). Accordingly, Wali Khan and other leaders have been instructed to stay away from electioneering in the province, which is adjacent to the Afghan border.

A band of women leaders from the ANP has therefore taken it upon themselves to campaign for their leaders in their absence. “The Awami National Party is not the type to be frightened by acts of terrorism,” says Malik, who hails from Nowshera district and is leading the campaign for Wali Khan in the NA-7 constituency in Charsadda. “It’s high time we supported our leaders and campaigned for them,” she adds.

Assisting Malik in her effort are other prominent ANP women leaders, among them Bushra Gohar and Jamila Gilani, both former members of the National Assembly. Carrying lanterns – the election symbol of the ANP – these feisty women are going from area to area, talking to the female population.

“We have decided to reach out to the people through our women,” says Malik.

Gohar adds: “We gather them in spacious homes in different villages and hamlets and address them.”

Currently, the National Assembly has 60 seats reserved for women and 10 for minorities; there is direct election for the remaining 272 seats. And forget contesting elections – women in some provinces cannot even cast their votes as it would amount to going against local tradition.

That situation has undergone a sea change now, says Gohar. Malik and her team are not only convincing women in the region to cast their votes in favour of ANP candidates and persuading their menfolk to do the same, but also educating them in the whole process of casting a ballot.

There are a total of 12,266,157 registered voters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 5,257,624 women and 7,008,533 men. The ANP won the largest number of seats in the last general election in 2008, getting its first chief minister since 1948.

Attacks on the party, however, have made the going tough for the ANP. The 2008 attempt on Wali Khan’s life took its toll and he has had to pay the price of being away from his constituency. Incidentally, his mother, Begum Nasim Wali Khan, was the first woman to win a general seat in the National Assembly, in the 1977 elections.

The ANP, says Gilani, who is also a staunch activist with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, has already lost some 800 leaders and workers to the Taliban and can’t afford to lose their leader. If the terrorists succeed in killing him, she says, it would be difficult for the party to stay united because he is a binding force.

The ruling party is standing steadfast in its resolve to face up to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. Despite the blasts and the killings, party leaders are continuing their electoral campaign and holding meetings, though perhaps with less fervour than in the last elections.

The effort is to garner sympathy among the electorate by highlighting the sacrifices of its leaders and the ANP’s bravery in not backing down despite the constant threat to lives from the militants. Impressed by their efforts, people are joining the party in droves, the leaders claim.

Senior leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilour survived a suicide attack as recently as Apr. 16. His younger brother, Bashir Ahmed Bilour, a senior minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was killed Dec. 22 last year.

Regardless of this, Ghulam Ahmed Bilour is in no mood to give up and cede ground to his rivals, particularly Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, against whom he is running in the NA-1 constituency of Peshawar.

Barely a fortnight before the elections, he was found addressing a meeting of the elders of the Mohmand tribe. Ghulam Ahmed’s nephew – the deceased Bashir’s son – Haroon Ahmed Bilour is contesting PK-3, a constituency they have won five times in a row.

Former chief minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti is also holding election-related meetings in Mardan, a city and district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He is cautious about the unsafe environment, but is managing to stay in touch with workers.

Likewise, the ANP’s general secretary Malik Ghulam, who is standing in PK-2, in Peshawar, is leaving no stone unturned to reach out to his electorate.

In a meeting at Bilal Town Grand Trunk Road on May 2, where he says many people announced their intention to join the ANP, he tore into rival Pakistan People’s Party candidate, former minister Syed Zahir Ali Shah, and presented himself as the credible alternative. He argued that his party’s track record would help them win.

At their end, Shagufta Malik and other women leaders are spreading the same message of development and the need to battle against Islamist militancy.

At a public meeting of women in Prang Mamakhel in Charsadda district on May 2, Malik said the party was confident of showing better results due to the massive development work it had undertaken during its five-year rule in the province.

“Our party executed development schemes at the cost of the lives of its workers and leaders, and won’t spare any effort to continue their struggle for the uplift of the Pakhtun population (the majority in the province),” she said.

She exhorted people to vote for ANP leader Wali Khan and other candidates, to enable the party to resume its efforts to crush militancy and establish peace.

Gilani and provincial assembly member Yasmin Pir Muhammad Khan also addressed the meeting.

Muhammad Khan emphasised yet again that the ANP was the main target of the militants and the only party taking them on. She also said the matchless sacrifices were bearing fruit: even the women are out in support of the party.

Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, the general secretary of the global rights network World YWCA, said that further economic and social empowerment was needed to change the lives of women in Africa. Credit: Ravi Kanth Devarakonda/IPS

Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, a human rights lawyer and the general secretary of the global rights network World YWCA, knows what it is like to struggle against poverty and violence: she herself comes from a poor family in Magaya village in Murewa district, which lies northeast of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare.

But Gumbonzvanda has travelled a long way from her home. And she has spent much of her life trying to change the lives of women who were not as fortunate as she was.

And now she is a candidate for the executive director position at United Nations Women – a post formerly held by Chile’s ex-president Michelle Bachelet, who resigned in March.

In an interview with IPS at her offices in Geneva, Switzerland, Gumbonzvanda said that economic growth and development have to address “opportunities for creating wealth at household level, but also structural issues such as the violence and inequality that women continue to experience almost on a daily basis.”

She applauded development on the African continent, while stressing that further economic and social empowerment was needed to change the lives of women.

“I see women going forward in various areas and sectors in all African countries, who are able to shape a new narrative. We need economic and social empowerment – it is not enough to have political empowerment,” she said.

Excerpts of the interview follow:

Q: Let us start with the growing rates of rape and domestic violence against women. How grave is this problem and is it universal?

A:  I think this is one of the biggest issues facing women and girls in the world today. I see the violence against women as a manifestation of inequalities, disempowerment and exclusion…

Social disempowerment, the fact that women are seen as second-class citizens who do not often have a voice or rights about their own bodies; the painful realities of poverty and violence against women; and child trafficking for sexual exploitative work are all burning issues that need to be addressed.

What is important is that we work on preventing violence against women, including domestic violence, violence in conflict (situations) and sexual abuse. The prevention part is critical, (and it should be) followed by robust policies in different social sectors within countries and at the international level.

Q: Over the last 30 years there have been tremendous changes in the global economy and culture – largely due to the internet and globalisation. What impact has this had on women?

A:  I think there are a couple of things that happened in the last 30 years. I was in Beijing (in 1995) for the (World) Conference on Women and I would argue that there has been real international work on the international norms to do with women and human rights that is progressively good.

We now have conventions and treaties at an international level, and even at regional level, like the Maputo Plan of Action for Women (on reproductive and sexual health rights).

Even at the normative level, we see quite a lot of work and some good progress. However, whether an economic model can address the structural issues that contribute to violence against women still needs to be resolved.

Q: Are governments doing enough to address these challenges?

A:  They are not sufficient. I think governments need to get (their) priorities right and do more when they formulate their budgets. The greatest security of any nation is when its mothers and children are secure, when there is food on the table and water nearby, when there is a functioning school and, ultimately, the possibility of getting a job. That is the most secure nation.

I would urge our governments to rethink the relationship between military expenditure and expenditure on social and basic services. Just by buying one military helicopter less, governments can build 10 schools. That is the paramount challenge for governments all over the world.

Q: While there has been renewed conflict on the African continent, there are also great successes and progress with regards to development and empowering women. What do you think still needs to be done for women on this continent?

A: This year, the African Union is celebrating its 50th anniversary and African women were quite involved in the decolonisation process. They were in the trenches looking for a new Africa – and it has happened.

We are celebrating Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is the first African woman to lead the African Union, and that’s good for Africa.

We see countries like Rwanda and others having (significant) number of women in decision-making (positions). And yet we have to address the issue of conflict. As long as countries remain in conflict situations, and as long as there is violence, it continues to hold us back.

The continent, from the Cape to Cairo, is a rich one and we need to look within Africa (and see) where women can be more involved in the big sectors like mining, transport, and agriculture.

Q: We see technology playing a role in developing the continent with SMSs being used to inform mothers of vaccinations for children etc. What role does it have to play in bettering the lives of Africans?

A: We see a lot of potential in Africa in mobile telephony and we see it being used in Tanzania around services for family planning or for the immunisation of kids. We have also seen the introduction of mobile (phone) banking services in Kenya and Zimbabwe, and these are powerful ways to enable and empower communities.

There is a lot of potential that can be harnessed from technology and what is critical is the infrastructure and regulatory framework, which needs to be enabled.

Q: What, in your opinion, are some of the greatest successes of African women? And what can we learn from them?

A: I think I always reached out to the women leaders from my continent.  You have to remain grounded in your identity … You (have to) embrace the totality of what is good about your own context. And that is your contribution as a global citizen … My identity is informed by the collective identity.

Since two-year anniversary of the January 25 Revolution, Egypt has seen numerous clashes between anti-government demonstrators and security forces. Credit: Khaled Moussa al-Omrani/IPS

The governing programme of Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood has been disappointing. His commitment to genuine democracy has been faltering, and his efforts at inclusion and political tolerance have been wanting.

Morsi’s actions against the Egyptian comedian Basim Yousif belie his initial statements supporting tolerance, inclusion, and freedom of expression. Humor is the backbone of a mature democracy; muzzling the voices of dissent is an omen of a budding dictatorship.

These actions unfortunately confirm the suspicions of many Arab secularists, liberals, and non-Muslim Brotherhood citizens that once the MB reaches power through elections, they would scuttle democracy and replace it with their version of theocratic rule or divine hukm.

Many had feared that once mainstream Islamic parties are elected through “one man, one vote”, they would transform the process into “one man, one vote, one time” and choke the democratic impulse.

Morsi’s intolerance of secularists, women, Christians, and even liberal judges is generating fears in Egypt and elsewhere that the country has replaced the secular Mubarak dictatorship with a theocratic autocracy. Morsi’s rule does not allow a diversity of views, and the Muslim Brotherhood’s interpretation of the role of religion in the state has emerged as the guiding principle for governing Egypt.

This disturbing phenomenon does not bode well for political Islam, especially as Islamic political parties become majorities in Arab and Muslim governments.

My former government colleagues and I have argued for years that as part of government, Islamic political parties would focus on “bread and butter” issues and relegate their religious ideology to the backburner. We believed their policy concerns would trump their ideology.

As minority government partners in Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco, Yemen, Malaysia, and Indonesia, Islamic parties focused on legislation that responded to the needs of their constituents, bargained with other parties to pass needed legislation regulating commerce, transportation, power, energy, food prices, and other issues of concern to their citizens.

They generally were not elected or re-elected because of their Islamic credentials and did not use their Islamic ideology to govern. They promoted moderate platforms during their election campaign and generally have governed as responsible factions in their respective parliaments.

As we briefed senior policymakers, we highlighted the difference between mainstream political parties, including the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots in Jordan, Palestine, Morocco, and elsewhere, and extremist Islamic groups, which did not believe in man-made democracy and inclusive government.

At the time, all of those parties were in the minority. We also judged that when some of those parties become a majority, they would uphold the same democratic, inclusive tendencies.

The Turkish Justice and Development Party or AKP, which became the first Sunni majority governing party in the region, emerged as the poster child of our briefings. It governed democratically, defended Turkish secularism, and encouraged inclusion in the economic and political life of Turkey. Despite its Islamic roots, AKP supported the democratic notion of separating religion from politics.

Many had hoped the Muslim Brotherhood would bring a similar governing model to Egypt. In fact, that was the promise that President Morsi made upon his election as president. He consolidated his power the first one hundred days, but since then he’s begun to consolidate his control in undemocratic ways based on a constitution that he helped push through hastily and without much public discussion.

How can Morsi recapture democracy and move Egypt in the right direction?

First, rescind the sham constitution and replace it with a constitution that reflects the diverse political ideologies in Egyptian society. Second, include secularists, women, Christians, and non-MB leaders in high positions in government and promote a national programme of tolerance toward these groups and punish those who engage in sectarian and gender hate crimes.

Third, hold open, free elections for the next parliament, with much simpler and straightforward voting procedures and without stacking the decks in favour of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Fourth, create a major fund to support young men and women in start-up initiatives in technology and entrepreneurship to develop businesses and create jobs. The young generation must have tangible incentives to have a stake in society in order to help build a prosperous future.

Fifth, convene a series of high-level meetings of leaders – men and women – from across Egyptian society from the business, banking, and tourism community, the professions, civil society, academia, and the high tech industry, with different political, social, and religious ideologies to discuss the immediate future of Egypt and develop specific strategies of how to get there.

The Muslim Brotherhood has no monopoly on the future vision of Egypt. If Morsi is to be the president of all of Egypt, he must take concrete steps to alleviate his citizens’ concerns about his leadership, create jobs for the youth, and partner with leaders of different ideological stripes to build a more democratic Egypt.

Egypt is endowed with a rich culture and a diverse social fabric and could not possibly prosper under a theocracy. Putting the country on the right path will be Morsi’s greatest legacy.

*Emile Nakhleh, a former Senior Intelligence Service Officer, is a Research Professor at the University of New Mexico and author of “A Necessary Engagement: Reinventing America’s Relations with the Muslim World.”

Badam Zari (right) campaigning ahead of the elections. Credit: Ashfaq Yusufzai/IPS.

“My sole motive is to serve my people, especially women who have had no role in politics so far. I feel we can make progress only by bringing in women into mainstream politics.”

These are the words of Badam Zari, 40, who has filed her nomination papers with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Zari is contesting from the militancy-hit Bajaur Agency, one of the seven districts in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) near the Afghanistan border.

Zari’s tiny but lush green house in Arang village is buzzing with activity as women from the neighbourhood come in droves to congratulate her for the exemplary courage she has shown in standing for elections.

Forget standing for election, women in FATA do not vote. It was only in 1997 that the federal government gave the six million residents of FATA the right of adult franchise. Before that, only a few government-nominated elders called Maliks were entitled to cast votes or stand in election.

In January this year, the Election Commission of Pakistan proposed an amendment to the Representation of People Act, 1976, making it compulsory for every polling station to have at least 10 percent of its total votes cast by women. It went so far as to suggest that results from polling stations not be taken into account till that provision was met. The government, however, paid no heed to the suggestion.

“I am extremely worried about tribal women, most of who stay in their houses, which has prevented them from making any progress,” Zari told IPS. “My only ambition is to struggle for the improvement of women’s conditions in Bajaur Agency. Women here are suffering as none of the lawmakers in FATA have ever worked towards their development.”

Her action, she is sure, will motivate women to come to the polling booths on polling day and vote in her favour.

However, the indications are that women will continue to stay disenfranchised not only in FATA but in the majority of the country, especially in rural areas where people are reluctant to allow them to cast their vote as it would constitute a break with tradition.

Free and Fair Election Network, a local NGO, says that women were barred from voting at 564 of the country’s 64,176 polling stations in the 2008 general elections. Political parties in Dir, Kohistan, Battagram and other districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province decided to bar women from voting citing local traditions.

Government data indicates that Pakistan has more than 48 million registered male voters and just more than 37 million female registered voters. For the 12 National Assembly seats that went to the polls in 2008, only 394,977 or 30.37 percent were polled out of the total registered votes of 1,280,897. Women, as usual, had stayed away.

Women have never voted in FATA either, which has a total population of 1,749,331. Of these, 1,153,073 are male registered voters, and 596,258, female. In Bajaur Agency, female voters make up 132,134 of the total 355,969 population.

This is the reason why Zari’s decision to take part in the election is both unprecedented in Pakistan’s history and a crucial step in the emancipation of women in the area. “No women have so far turned up at polling stations on voting day in FATA,” Prof. Zahra Shah of the sociology department at the University of Peshawar told IPS. “Zari’s decision to jump into the race is likely to be welcomed given the boldness and courage she has shown.”

Educated up to eighth grade, Zari has no children. Yet she is determined to work towards the education of the children in her region and help them play a part in development.

Zari told IPS she is undeterred by the presence of wealthy and influential people in the elections. She is determined to give women a voice in the National Assembly.

She has the full support of her husband Sultan Khan, a teacher in the government-run Bajaur Public School and College. Khan says he will strive for women’s development with her.

“Despite being poor, we are committed to running a full-scale campaign and seek victory. Zari’s win would mean a victory for all FATA women,” he says. “There is tremendous pressure on us to withdraw her from the election but there is no looking back and we will go to the polls with complete preparation.”

Zari has much support from other women in the area. “We will support her as she is the only woman to have mustered courage against all odds. She requires our unflinching support,” Jamila Bibi who hails from the National Assembly constituency NA-44 Bajaur-II from where Zari is contesting, told IPS.

“I also hope that men will throw their weight behind her,” she says. “We have planned to make door-to-door visits to canvass for Zari. She is our beacon of hope.”

Zari is not alone in her act of courage. The submission of nomination papers by another woman, Nusrat Begum from Lower Dir district NA-34 of adjacent KP province, is also being hailed by womenfolk.

Begum, 28, a graduate from the University of Peshawar, also happens to be the first woman in Lower Dir ever to have the courage to contest elections.

Both are contesting elections as independent candidates.

Leader of the former ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Peter Mutharika (c), was released on bail on Mar. 14 after being arrested with 11 other top Malawian government officials on charges of treason. Credit: Mabvuto Banda/IPS

Malawi’s first-ever tripartite elections in May 2014 will be a litmus test for President Joyce Banda, who is faced with an opposition majority in parliament, soaring food prices, and a potential treason trial.

The charging of 12 top Malawian government officials with treason may be a catalyst for more unrest and a recipe for disaster for Banda as soaring food prices are set to impact over 65 percent of Malawians this year.

“Those who blame Joyce Banda for the food shortages and the high (food) prices will easily join in and use the arrests to ferment their anger towards her government leading to the elections next year,” independent political commentator John Phiri told IPS.

Banda, the country’s first female president, will seek re-election next year. She took over the role after her predecessor, President Bingu wa Mutharika, collapsed and died on Apr. 5, 2012. She heads the governing People’s Party (PP).

However, on Mar. 11 she ordered the arrests of 12 government officials, including Peter Mutharika, the late president’s younger brother, and Minister of Economy and Planning Goodall Gondwe, a former vice president of the International Monetary Fund. Gondwe has since resigned from his post as minister.

The accused, who were released on bail on Mar. 14, have been charged with seven counts of treason, inciting mutiny, conspiracy to commit a felony, breach of trust, and giving false evidence to the Commission of Inquiry into President Mutharika’s death.

The Commission of Inquiry report found the accused guilty of conspiring to prevent Banda’s ascendance to the presidency. The inquiry also found that they allegedly tried to convince the Army Commander of the Malawi Defence Forces, General Henry Odillo, to take over the country. Odillo had refused as the request was against the country’s constitution, which calls for the vice president to assume power in the event of the death of a sitting president.

However, the arrests of the government officials sparked protests in Lilongwe and Blantyre, and the former ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which is headed by Peter Mutharika, is already using this to pressure the government to drop the treason case.

“President Banda should focus on the suffering of many Malawians who cannot get food or medicines in hospital, and not on arresting Peter to stop him at all costs from contesting the 2014 tripartite elections,” DPP spokesman Nicolaus Dausi told IPS.

“Such actions breed violence and she will be blamed if things get worse,” Dausi said. The latest data from the Centre for Social Concern, a local research institution focusing on the cost of living in urban Malawi, showed that since Banda took over, a family of six now needs an average of 200 dollars per month to meet basic food demands. In a country where the minimum monthly wage is about 20 dollars, it has left many unhappy with Banda’s austerity policies.

Charles Mlombwa, a vendor and DPP supporter, warned of more protests if Peter Mutharika was prevented from participating in the next election.

“I support late President Bingu wa Mutharika’s party … because I know that many things are wrong and this government has failed,” Mlombwa told IPS.

The government estimates that over two million people need food aid this year. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, cereal production for 2011/2012 was seven percent below the previous season’s harvest. In addition, “significantly high maize prices in the southern region are negatively affecting access to food, especially for vulnerable people.”

In urban centres women have been sleeping outside Admarcs, government grain markets, waiting to buy cheap maize. Reports of women fainting from hunger in queues have become the story of the day here. Many here blame Banda for the maize shortage.

On Mar. 13 the Consumer Association of Malawi accused her of emptying the country’s silos of maize and distributing it to the poor for free. The association claimed that much of the maize Banda was distributing was meant for sale at the Admarc markets.

Elizabeth Gama, a mother of seven, has been travelling over 70 kilometres every day from her home on the outskirts of Lilongwe to the nearest Admarc.

“There is no maize in the Admarc markets and when I find it, I am only allowed to buy 15 kilogrammes per person, and yet the president is busy distributing maize for free across the country,” Gama told IPS.

Mphatso Katuli, a mother of four who said she had been sleeping outside an Admarc depot for the last three days waiting for maize, was also unhappy with Banda’s regime. “During President Bingu wa Mutharika’s time all of this (did not happen) because we had enough maize and Admarc markets were well stocked then,” she told IPS.

Meanwhile, Augustine Magolowondo, the Africa regional programme coordinator for the Netherlands Institute for Multi-Party Democracy, feared that the treason arrests were likely to fuel unrest in the country.

“It is apparent that these arrests have created an environment of tension in the country and the reaction of the supporters when their leaders were arrested cannot simply be wished away…under such circumstances, conflicts are bound to arise,” he told IPS.

Ophamally Makande, the spokesman for the PP, defended the arrests.

“This government is only trying to promote a culture of accountability and the arrests, therefore, are justifiable because people need to know what happened to their president (Bingu wa Mutharika) and why they wanted to stop President Banda from taking over,” Makande told IPS.