Women On The Map

By: Editorial Comment

IT is very encouraging to hear that Africa in general is scoring high in terms when it comes to the political representation of women.

This was revealed recently by the release of a report by the

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance

(IDEA) in collaboration with the Electoral Institute of Southern

Africa and the SADC Parliamentary Forum.

According to the report, the rate of increase in women's

political participation in Africa in the past few years has been

greater than that experienced at any other time in the past four

decades, rising tenfold to over 14 per cent since 2003.

 

The report looked at 18 African countries, including Namibia,

and found that the dominant perception of women not making it in

significant numbers to parliaments on the continent, was in fact

untrue.

 

On the contrary, Africa is something of a trendsetter in the

world in this regard.

 

Rwanda scored highest in Africa, and indeed the world, with 48

per cent of parliamentarians being women, and seven of the top 25

countries in terms of women's representation in parliament came

from Africa.

 

A spokesperson for IDEA said important progress in terms of

women's political participation had been made in Africa in the past

decade, and she added that quotas were increasingly viewed as an

important policy measure for boosting women's access to

decision-making bodies throughout the world.

 

It should go without saying that this newspaper would support

higher representation of women in all sectors of life, including

parliament, and so it is encouraging that there is an upward trend

in this regard in Africa in general, and more particularly in

Namibia.

 

However, more importantly, it is vital that we also assess

whether this increase in women's representation in our parliament,

as well as others in the world, is in fact making a tangible

difference in terms of promoting progressive legislation with the

emphasis on policies that will make for tangible changes for the

better for the marginalised in our society; to combat corrupt

practices; and elevate transparency and accountability of political

leadership in general.

 

We need to strive for more than simply numerical increases in

women's representation in parliament, or elsewhere for that

matter.

 

For to emphasise numbers alone may not necessarily change the

status quo as determined primarily by male parliamentarians.

 

We would like to believe that most of these women come to

parliament with very specific agendas, no matter which political

parties they represent, to change things for the better, especially

in areas where women themselves remain vulnerable.

 

We need to see that these women are taken seriously by their

male counterparts; that their comments, proposals and suggestions

in parliament are not simply laughed off or shrugged aside.

 

We would also like to see the women being innovative and

creative when it comes to posing solutions to societal problems

that plague Namibia and some of which are mentioned above.

 

It is vitally important that society as a whole sees these women

as role models, and not simply tokens in parliament for the sake of

gender balance.

 

So while we fully subscribe to greater women's representation,

particularly in areas traditionally dominated by men, we would like

to see women with strength, vigour and vision to bring about change

in the societies they live in.

 

Both men and women politicians should equally be put under the

spotlight by voters and/or the electorate as a whole to measure

their performance and ability to make a difference.

 

We would also like to see IDEA, and the other groups that

participated in this survey, take it to another level next time

around, and try to establish whether women's enhanced presence in

many parliaments is in fact achieving just this and that it is not

simply tokenism, which could be one of the risks of the quota

system.

 

According to the report, the rate of increase in women's political

participation in Africa in the past few years has been greater than

that experienced at any other time in the past four decades, rising

tenfold to over 14 per cent since 2003.The report looked at 18

African countries, including Namibia, and found that the dominant

perception of women not making it in significant numbers to

parliaments on the continent, was in fact untrue.On the contrary,

Africa is something of a trendsetter in the world in this

regard.Rwanda scored highest in Africa, and indeed the world, with

48 per cent of parliamentarians being women, and seven of the top

25 countries in terms of women's representation in parliament came

from Africa.A spokesperson for IDEA said important progress in

terms of women's political participation had been made in Africa in

the past decade, and she added that quotas were increasingly viewed

as an important policy measure for boosting women's access to

decision-making bodies throughout the world.It should go without

saying that this newspaper would support higher representation of

women in all sectors of life, including parliament, and so it is

encouraging that there is an upward trend in this regard in Africa

in general, and more particularly in Namibia.However, more

importantly, it is vital that we also assess whether this increase

in women's representation in our parliament, as well as others in

the world, is in fact making a tangible difference in terms of

promoting progressive legislation with the emphasis on policies

that will make for tangible changes for the better for the

marginalised in our society; to combat corrupt practices; and

elevate transparency and accountability of political leadership in

general.We need to strive for more than simply numerical increases

in women's representation in parliament, or elsewhere for that

matter.For to emphasise numbers alone may not necessarily change

the status quo as determined primarily by male parliamentarians.We

would like to believe that most of these women come to parliament

with very specific agendas, no matter which political parties they

represent, to change things for the better, especially in areas

where women themselves remain vulnerable.We need to see that these

women are taken seriously by their male counterparts; that their

comments, proposals and suggestions in parliament are not simply

laughed off or shrugged aside.We would also like to see the women

being innovative and creative when it comes to posing solutions to

societal problems that plague Namibia and some of which are

mentioned above.It is vitally important that society as a whole

sees these women as role models, and not simply tokens in

parliament for the sake of gender balance.So while we fully

subscribe to greater women's representation, particularly in areas

traditionally dominated by men, we would like to see women with

strength, vigour and vision to bring about change in the societies

they live in.Both men and women politicians should equally be put

under the spotlight by voters and/or the electorate as a whole to

measure their performance and ability to make a difference.We would

also like to see IDEA, and the other groups that participated in

this survey, take it to another level next time around, and try to

establish whether women's enhanced presence in many parliaments is

in fact achieving just this and that it is not simply tokenism,

which could be one of the risks of the quota system.

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