Africa, Africa: Women from P♂lls to P♀lls, Civil Society, Gender, Headlines, Human Rights, Women in Politics

POLITICS-NAMIBIA: Gender Equality – Making The Numbers Count

Moses Magadza

WINDHOEK, Oct 6 2008 (IPS) - Namibian gender activists applaud the goal of a 50/50 split of women and men in government by 2015, but warn that the real work is only just beginning.

Political rally: dancers, cooks, or leaders? Credit:  Moses Magadza/IPS

Political rally: dancers, cooks, or leaders? Credit: Moses Magadza/IPS

The goal was set by the Protocol on Gender and Development, signed in early August by the countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Protocol calls on member states to pass laws to achieve this target. A previous SADC target was set at 30 percent.

Lucy Edwards, a sociologist and lecturer at the University of Namibia (UNAM), believes that the Protocol's targets are desirable and attainable but might remain pie in the sky if women do not fight to achieve them.

"Women must lobby for monitoring mechanisms," she said. "So while we welcome this proposed 50-50 representation, we know that it has yet to be translated into action."

Out of 15 SADC countries, only Angola, Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa have attained the 30 percent target. Namibia reached it in May, after several MPs died or resigned and were replaced by women.

This puts Namibia well over the sub-Saharan average of 17 percent of women in Parliament and among the 20 countries of the world with a critical mass of women Members of Parliament (MPs).


In Namibia's last general election in November 2004, eight political parties contested 72 parliamentary seats. The ruling South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) won 55, and has 22 women MPs. The Congress of Democrats (COD) won five seats and has three women MPs. Among the smaller opposition parties who hold the remaining seats, only the United Democratic Front (UDF) has a female MP.

A voluntary quota of 30 percent of women in party lists helped get more women elected.

"Neither Parliament nor the government compelled political parties to include women on their lists," said David Nahogandja, the Parliamentary liaison officer, adding that, in the absence of legislation, parties that have few women in their structures cannot be penalized.

In spite of the voluntary quota, many women candidates were placed at the bottom of the lists and failed to secure seats. The solution for the next elections in 2009 would be to use the zebra or zipper system, which alternates equal numbers of women and men on party lists.

Namibia follows the proportional representation electoral system based on party lists for parliamentary positions and a winner-takes-all system for the president.

A study by UNIFEM says that, worldwide, more women tend to be elected in systems of proportional representation than in constituency-based systems.

Serving tea

Edwards said that, although most political parties in Namibia have incorporated women in their structures, she was disappointed because women had not "created waves".

"The mere fact that there are some women in various political parties does not mean that they will challenge the status quo or that they will challenge patriarchy. Presence alone does not create conditions for a feminist agenda, which is to attain complete equity," she said.

The protocol defines gender equity as the "just and fair distribution of benefits, rewards and opportunities" and gender equality as "equal enjoyment of rights and the access to opportunities and outcomes, including resources".

One thing Edwards would like to see is a feminist critique of the national budget to analyze how its allocations benefit women.

Another is to see women as leaders in political parties. Often, says Edwards, women are relegated to "the catering wings" of their parties: "When serious debates are in progress, men are at the table while women are outside cooking or serving refreshments. How do they influence policy?"

Still, the Protocol came into action through the combined forces of the women's movement in Southern Africa, with strategic lobbying at country and regional level.

Michael Conteh, a gender activist based at UNAM, said the Protocol now needs to be "domesticated by being made part of the national laws of member states".

He said that some men who stand to lose their "patriarchal dividend" might resist the Protocol but that women had the numbers to prevail. "They just need to organise themselves," he said.

Conteh expressed optimism that Namibia would meet the 50/50 target. Already, women head 59 of the country's 119 diplomatic missions, and 13 out of 31 parastatals have women in senior management.

Phanuel Kaapana, a political analyst, warns that numbers alone don't do the trick.

"Some women who get those positions can also become oppressors of other women and become elites. They might see themselves more like men because they have broken into the men's domain. Some powerful men can also bring in [women] who will not challenge them," he said.

Lovisa Namutenya, the first woman secretary general in the Student Representative Council at UNAM, said the Protocol would embolden women to demand meaningful participation. She noted that, in student politics, women seldom run for the top posts.

"Structures of influence all over the region remain male-dominated and the tragedy is that women seem to have accepted men lording over them as the norm," she said.

With the 50/50 target officially adopted, one might see more women discussing policy and more men serving tea.

 
Republish | | Print |


social work licensing masters exam guide