Women-under represented in decision-making

THE Swapo Women’s Council has instructed newly elected secretary, Petrina Haingura, to start pushing the party’s leadership to change the Constitution so that women make up half the representatives in top decision-making bodies of Government and in the National Assembly.

Haingura told a media briefing yesterday that her priority would be to ensure that 50 per cent of the delegates to the next Congress would be women. She said they want both the Swapo and Namibian Constitutions changed to provide for a quota to achieve gender balance in public institutions and the party’s structures.According to Haingura the Congress had extensive discussions on how to empower women to effectively participate in political and economic activities as a united force.She said there was “skewed access to resources” for women and the Congress mandated her to remove marginalisation, discrimination and all other barriers faced by women in the country.On the issue of equitable distribution of resources, the council resolved to conduct a market research to assist them in getting access for their products and that a collateral fund be establish for this purpose.In 2002, Swapo President Sam Nujoma was forced to drop plans to nominate 21 women to the Swapo Central Committee.He was advised that it was illegal, but the resistance also took the form of claims of dictatorial behaviour being hurled at him.A resolution was passed at the 1997 Congress to increase the proportion of women delegates to the party’s congress up to 50 per cent.If Nujoma had had his way in nominating the 21 women, it would have left only 36 vacancies for election to the Central Committee.Many party stalwarts, most of them Ministers at the time, feared they would have lost out to people who would have been “brought in by wheelchair”, to quote an expression widely used by Swapo members.Having failed to get 50 per cent female representation, Nujoma, responding to lobbying by some in the Women’s Council leadership decided to push for a quota on the Central Committee but once again did not succeed.Namibia has failed to meet the SADC target of 30 per cent women in decision-making bodies by the year 2005.SADC has since increased the target to 50 per cent female representation in national parliaments and the Women’s Council Central Committee agreed that “legal mechanisms have to be set up within the party structures to enable and ensure that more women take up leadership positions at all levels” in Swapo.They also called for a review of the country’s electoral laws to make them “more woman friendly”.A decision was taken at the 2002 Congress that in future Congress should “consider reserving the first 21 seats” on the Central Committee for “women comrades”.She said they want both the Swapo and Namibian Constitutions changed to provide for a quota to achieve gender balance in public institutions and the party’s structures.According to Haingura the Congress had extensive discussions on how to empower women to effectively participate in political and economic activities as a united force.She said there was “skewed access to resources” for women and the Congress mandated her to remove marginalisation, discrimination and all other barriers faced by women in the country.On the issue of equitable distribution of resources, the council resolved to conduct a market research to assist them in getting access for their products and that a collateral fund be establish for this purpose.In 2002, Swapo President Sam Nujoma was forced to drop plans to nominate 21 women to the Swapo Central Committee.He was advised that it was illegal, but the resistance also took the form of claims of dictatorial behaviour being hurled at him.A resolution was passed at the 1997 Congress to increase the proportion of women delegates to the party’s congress up to 50 per cent.If Nujoma had had his way in nominating the 21 women, it would have left only 36 vacancies for election to the Central Committee.Many party stalwarts, most of them Ministers at the time, feared they would have lost out to people who would have been “brought in by wheelchair”, to quote an expression widely used by Swapo members.Having failed to get 50 per cent female representation, Nujoma, responding to lobbying by some in the Women’s Council leadership decided to push for a quota on the Central Committee but once again did not succeed.Namibia has failed to meet the SADC target of 30 per cent women in decision-making bodies by the year 2005.SADC has since increased the target to 50 per cent female representation in national parliaments and the Women’s Council Central Committee agreed that “legal mechanisms have to be set up within the party structures to enable and ensure that more women take up leadership positions at all levels” in Swapo.They also called for a review of the country’s electoral laws to make them “more woman friendly”.A decision was taken at the 2002 Congress that in future Congress should “consider reserving the first 21 seats” on the Central Committee for “women comrades”.