Quality Vs. Quantity - Global and Local Responses Towards Increasing Women’s Political Participation: Nigeria’s 2015 Elections
This paper was presented at the Women Advocates' Research and Documentation Center (WARDC) & Voices for Change (V4C) THEMATIC DIALOGUE ON NIGERIA'S 2015 GENERAL ELECTIONS AND THE FUTURE OF WOMEN'S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
Chesterfield Hotel,
Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome
Professor of Political Science
Professor of Political Science
Leonard & Claire Tow
Professor, 2015/2016
Brooklyn College, CUNY
Brooklyn College, CUNY
Carnegie African Diaspora
Fellow
Department of Political
Science
University of Ibadan
This paper is excerpted from
Okome, Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké & Afia Serwaa Zakiya, eds. Women’s Political Participation in Nigeria: 2007 General Elections.
Ibadan, Nigeria: Bookbuilders, 2013; and "Beyond the Numbers: Women's Political Participation in the Commonwealth." Discussion Paper presented at 9th CHOGM, in Bridgetown, Barbados. June 2, 2010. It was updated with information garnered
from research inclusive of media reports of Nigeria’s 2015 elections.
This assembly shall be known as the Federation of Nigerian Women’s
Societies [FNWS], where the voice of all Nigerian women will be heard and
known”
Resolution
by 400 “parliamentarians” representing Nigerian women’s organizations in 15
provinces at a 2-day conference organized by the Nigerian Women’s Union in
Abeokuta (August 5-7, 1953).
Introduction:
The issue/problem
Two decades after the Beijing Declaration and the Beijing Platform for
Action it is still necessary to assess the Nigerian political landscape in
terms of women’s political participation, that is: their participation in
governance, measured through women’s representation, decision making,
empowerment, and the achievement of equitable conditions for women. Women’s
accomplishments in political representation and participation, and their
influence in public policy and governance should be highlighted by exploring
factors that enable women’s political empowerment and gender equity in Nigeria.
These factors include Nigeria’s constitutional provisions and national
policies. The Nigerian constitution affords women full de jure rights as
citizens; discrimination against women is unlawful, and women have full access
to the political sphere. However, de jure rights are not always matched by de
facto conditions of women’s lives. Thus the creation and implementation of
national policies specific to women and their advancement in governance remain
important objectives (Okome, Beyond the Numbers:
Women's Political Participation in the Commonwealth 2010) .
It is generally agreed that women’s political participation in politics
is desirable. However, scholars differ
on recommendations on what efforts are ideal, as well as on whether the efforts
should be made to increase the numbers of women in politics or to recruit women
who are guaranteed to be the most skilled, effective, and widely believed to
contribute to the advancement of gender equity and women’s equality. In addition, scholars and analysts differ
over whether or not Nigerian women have always participated actively in the
country’s politics. For some, despite
the difficulties encountered during the colonial era, women’s political
activism was directed at recovering some of the administrative and political
powers that were denied them (Mba 1982) .
Much has been written on the need to increase women’s political
participation, with scholars arguing that more effective and efficient
participation by women in governance requires a critical mass in the number of
elected and appointed women in office. Countries that have attained such
critical mass demonstrate that constitutional amendments that legalize quotas
for women are effective (Jain 1996) . Such countries have met and sometimes
exceeded the 30% MDG and Beijing Platform of Action goals. Parties can also
embrace such quotas. For example, “The
Panchayat Raj Act in India reserves 33% of the three-tiered panchayats (village
council, council of cluster villages and the district council) for women. Today there are close to one million elected
women leaders at the village level. A
recent assessment revealed that corruption has gone down and transparency has
greatly increased because of women's participation in the panchayats.” Also,
“In 1994, South Africa ranked 141st in the world in the percentage of
legislative seats held by women. After
the African National Congress enacted a 30% quota for female candidates, South
Africa jumped to 13th place in 2004 with women elected to 32.8% of its lower
parliamentary seats” (IWDC 2008). If majority of women who enter governance are
activists recruited from civil society organizations, they bring perspectives,
skills and activism (for gender justice, poverty and inequality eradication)
from that arena into public institutions (Jain 1996, 2) .
Despite the laudable gains in women’s political participation worldwide,
many challenges remain. This becomes clear when we consider that by May 2012,
the Interparliamentary Union statistics indicated that:
Only 19.8% of
parliamentary seats worldwide are occupied by women.
Moreover, there is great regional variation in the averages of the
percentage of women in national parliament:
Nordic countries - 42%
Americas - 22.8%
Europe (excluding Nordic
countries) – 21.2%
Asia - 18.4%
Sub-Saharan Africa – 19.8%
Pacific - 12.4%
Arab states – 14.7% (IPU, Women in National Parliaments 2012) .
Not only is there considerable room for improvement when it comes to the
numbers, research also shows that quantitative gains are not necessarily met by
qualitative changes regarding the broader agenda of positive social, economic
and political change in women’s lives (Goetz 2008) .
For this reason, enhancing the qualitative gains from women’s political
participation means that elected women and women political appointees should be
committed to gender equality; among other things, they should be good at
building coalitions for positive change to empower women, including pushing for
budgets that are both gender responsive and adequate (Women 2010) ; they should have
the right skill sets for successfully incorporating their agenda in both policy
making and implementation; they should
have access to seasoned mentors throughout their tenure in public service; and
they should also be connected with the women’s movement in their countries and
internationally so that there is better coordination between demand and supply
of gender equality. Since the burden of domestic responsibilities may prevent
many talented women from participating or doing so effectively, public policy
that supports women in meeting these responsibilities such as affordable and
reliable, high quality childcare, and meeting times that are conducive to
work-life balance are advisable. Further, there should be a pipeline that
ensures that a constant flow of women are trained and prepared for such
service. Finally, the social and cultural constraints that persist and militate
against women’s political participation must be eliminated if their numerical
gains in representation are to make any appreciable difference (Okome, Beyond
the Numbers: Women's Political Participation in the Commonwealth 2010) .
Hypotheses/alternative
explanations
Factors identified as preventing women’s participation include:
v Cultural barriers
v Religion
v Lack of internal democracy
within parties
v Lack of resources, particularly
money and social capital
v Violence and intimidation
v Poor quality of political
institutions
Suggested remedies include those based on the following rationale:
v Where women’s movements are
strong and democratization relatively meaningful, women stand to benefit
more. Where the contrary applies, they
don’t. This means that the nature of
democracy affects women’s capacities to promote their interests effectively
within the political system, and the extent to which women are able to enjoy
the rights of citizenship.
v Where organized women can draw
on an existing political discourse, gender ideologies and the existence of
broader socio political movements that they can ally with, the possibility of
success in pushing the women’s agenda is higher. The inability of women to participate as full
equals with men in broad based democracy impedes the level of success as do
divisions along racial, ethnic, religious, and class lines.
v The existence of a
well-functioning state women’s policy machinery enhances the chances for
women’s rights through viable and effective institutional machinery enhances
the chances for women’s rights through a viable and effective institutional
framework. The Nigerian women’s policy
machineries do not fit the bill (441-443).
The Argument
The
problem is the paradox of plenitude of women’s social, economic, and political
participation combined with profound loss of visibility and prominence
particularly in the public political sphere, where there are gross deficits in
women’s political participation, both quantitatively and qualitatively, i.e. in
terms of numbers and effectiveness,
inequitable distribution of power and persistence of male dominance,
systematic and systemic disenfranchisement of women, danger of cynical
acceptance of male dominance as the norm, strong perception that women who
succeed in politics are mere tokens, and the general subversion of democracy. Women
are also judged more harshly than men, and are held to sometimes unattainably
high standards. A combination of these factors
cause and perpetuate low levels of women’s political participation. Given the existence of a 35 percent benchmark
established by Nigeria’s Gender Policy, and the 30 percent Beijing and MDG
recommendations that Nigeria agrees to, in order to correct the enduring
problem of marginal representation of elected women in Nigeria’s federal and
state legislatures, tried and true remedies garnered from the experience of
other African countries that have met and even in some cases, exceeded the
Beijing and MDG goals should be adopted.
They include:
v A quota
legislation for 35 percent women representation in the legislature as well as
in the cabinet.
v Political
Parties’ commitment to internal democracy
v Women
politicians’ commitment to building a pipeline that increases the pool of
potential candidates for office
v Mentoring the
pool of potential candidates
v Increasing
women’s access to funding to facilitate capacity to run elections
v Public civic
education and consciousness raising to convince Nigerians that gender equity
and robust women’s participation in politics is a positive thing that would
benefit the entire country and its political system.
Given the importance of majoritarian norms in democracies, I believe the
numbers are important based on the rationale that it is more likely that women
would enjoy the full rights of citizenship on an equal footing with men and
gender equity would be more easily attainable if there is a critical mass of
women in governance. The numbers would
ensure that women, who constitute at least half of the population would be
represented to a degree commensurate with their proportional size in the
population. This point is made by
Akiyode Afolabi and Arogundade:
Women’s aspiration to
participate in governance is premised on the following ground; that women in
Nigeria represent half of the population and hence should be allowed a fair
share in decision-making and the governance of the country. Secondly that all
human beings are equal and women possess the same rights as men to participate
in governance and public life. The right
to democratic governance is an entitlement conferred upon all citizens by law
(Akiyode-Afolabi and Arogundade 2003).
Equity and women’s equality would be more attainable if women representatives
are supported by an active national women’s movement that is also connected
with ordinary women in the society, and is representative of their interests;
and if the women in politics are persuaded that women’s rights are human
rights, and protecting such interests would be beneficial to the entire
society.
Without a critical mass of women in governance, they cannot possibly
influence and change the political system.
Professor Jadesola Akande went to the heart of the matter when she said:
Politics is where power is
and that is where women must be. Nothing will change unless and until women
have the necessary number to make a difference. The time to start planning is
now. This is the time to start improving the political relevance of women (Akande 2003) .
Also emphasizing the importance of attending to the interests of women,
and foregrounding their robust involvement and participation in governance, Kofi
Annan while he was the Secretary General of the United Nations said:
Study after study has
shown that there is no effective development strategy in which women do not
play a central role… When women are fully involved, the benefits are immediate
– families are healthier and better fed and their income, savings and investments
go up. And what is true of families is
also true of communities and, in the long run, of whole countries.
(Okome and Zakiya 2013).
The advocacy of women’s key role in governance and the imperative that
their political participation must be a central part of any democracy by Prof.
Akande, Kofi Annan, as well as Akiyode Afolabi is reinforced by the following
exhortation:
This century’s experience
shows that until women as women achieve numbers in legislatures for nearer
parity, all advances in politics, public life and in passing laws of especial
importance to the majority gender must be viewed as extremely fragile and
easily reversible. Without women at the helm, women’s interests and needs will
continue to lose out. (IPU, Towards Partnership Between Men and Women in Politics 1997) , p. 9).
To underline the importance of numbers, and to give us a sense of the
challenge that Nigerian women must surmount, Nigeria ranks 129th out
of 140 states in the IPU’s ranking of women in national parliaments. Rwanda is
number 1, and the top 10 in Africa are the following (listed in order of their
worldwide ranking):
|
IPU
Ranking of Women in national Parliaments top 10 African Countries &
Nigeria
|
|
|
Worldwide
Ranking
|
Country
|
|
1
|
Rwanda
|
|
4
|
Seychelles
|
|
6
|
Senegal
|
|
7
|
South
Africa
|
|
10
|
Namibia
|
|
12
|
Mozambique
|
|
17
|
Angola
|
|
23
|
Uganda
|
|
27
|
Algeria
|
|
28
|
Zimbabwe
|
|
128
|
NIGERIA
|
I also argue for the importance of ensuring the highest quality of
political participation by women.
However, it is often unclear whether the call for quality is about women
conforming to social expectations of purity, or it is about effectiveness and
efficiency in public office. Aspersions
about their immorality are often cast against women in politics in Nigeria,
causing many women to eschew political participation in order to prevent their
good name from being sullied. This is a
mark of enduring bias against women, an attempt to discipline and domesticate
them by scaring them from being politically engaged. It is also symbolic of attempts to hold women
to standards that men are not expected to meet.
It characterizes discrimination against women. Regrettably, many women also employ such
rationale and apply them to fellow women.
I do not find it useful or rational to require that women be angelic in
disposition to be politically engaged. I
don’t think it’s attainable or even desirable to expect women to be different
from men in politics. Women are as
human as men, and being produced by the same society, having to function in the
same political system, and desiring success in that system, which is for the
time being, male dominant, women would tend to manifest characteristics
perceived to be useful to men in their quest to be relevant in the political
system (Narwaz 2010) .
The high quality of their political participation is important for both
women and men. This for me means working
assiduously toward economic and social development that improves the quality of
life, standard of living and human security of citizens served by public
officials. Marginalized groups—the poor,
women, differently abled and other disadvantaged minorities should be
privileged in designs for change by the political system. There is no point to increasing women’s
political participation if they are not primed and equipped to contribute to
such change. This for me is what we
should seek in requiring that there must be high quality of women’s and men’s
political participation.
Nigerian Democratization and
Women’s Political Participation: A Brief look at our History
For scholars who study democratization and political transitions, the
success of the second post-authoritarian elections (which in Nigeria occurred
in 2003) point to the possible durability and consolidation of the transition
to democratic politics. The third set of
elections (2007), were even more significant because they marked the end of two
constitutionally limited terms for one civilian administration and a
civilian-to-civilian transition. The
2011 and 2015 elections also contributed to the increased consolidation of
democracy. The latter was particularly significant
because there was a peaceful change from the 15 year incumbency of the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) and the take-over of All Progressives Congress
(APC). These developments could also be
taken to signify Nigeria’s movement toward the maturation of democracy. However, for Nigerian women’s rights
activists who have consistently struggled for equity and meaningful participation by women as hallmarks
of democracy, these elections remain a test of the extent to which women are
able to exercise the right to participate in politics, not just as voters, but
also as government and party officials, candidates in the elections, and
legislators. Judged using these
expectations, Nigeria has fallen short of full democracy due to enduring
marginalization of women in its political system.
Concerning political appointments, and focusing exclusively on the
percentage of women political appointees, one might be optimistic. Some have lauded the Jonathan administration
for its conformity with the Beijing and Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 30
percent benchmark of women in national cabinets, given that 31-33 percent of
the Ministers appointed by the Jonathan administration were women (Akor 2015, Ajayi and Ogbu 2011) . In contrast, the
Obasanjo administration had 9 women Ministers, while the Yar’Adua
Administration had 7 (Ajayi and Ogbu 2011) . Given that it has not announced its
Ministerial list, it remains to be seen whether the Buhari administration will
exceed the Jonathan administration’s percentage of women Ministers.
A note of caution: We can also consider the extent to which the increase
in women’s appointment contributed to increased well-being and enhanced
citizenship rights for women.
From the IPU evidence and what we already know, it is incontrovertible
that the percentage of Nigerian women elected into office remains abysmally
poor. Idika Ogunye collected and
analyzed diachronic (historical) statistics for Nigerian women’s participation
in politics. She demonstrates that in
the democratic transition process of the early 1990s, only 27 (2.3 percent) of
1172 legislators in the various states’ House of Assembly were women. Only one
woman was elected Senator in the Second and Third Republics. Women did not fare
better in the political parties’ executive committees; 3.99 percent of the
executive committee members of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and 4.32
percent of those of the National Republican Convention (NRC) were women. Only
two to three women were appointed as cabinet members during the period.
The trend continued in the 1997 local government elections when less
than 1 percent of the elected chairpersons were women. Less than 1 percent of the members of the
House of Representatives (in 1998) were women. In the first term of the
Obasanjo civilian administration (1999-2003), women represented only 3 out of
108 senators, 12 out of 360 members of the House of Representatives, one out of
774 Local Government Chairpersons, and one deputy governor out of 36. This very marginal presence of women in
positions of authority is better appreciated if considered against the fact
that women constitute about half of Nigeria’s population, and more than half of
its voters (27 out of 47 million in 1999) (Okome and Zakiya 2013) .
This appalling situation of marginalization of women in Nigerian
politics is reflected in all post 1999 elections. For example, the
seventh National Assembly had 27 women, of which eight were re-elected into the
current 8th Assembly. In addition, a
Daily Trust post-election article reported that “in 2003, women made up only
three percent of elected officials, in 2007 they made seven percent and in 2011
they made up about five percent” (Akor 2015) .
Clearly, the 2015 elections were no
exception to the trend of marginal women’s presence in Nigeria’s federal
legislature. Ene Ede, Gender Advisor,
Search for Common Ground Nigeria said,
Only one female presidential candidate contested the 2015
elections; four Female vice-presidential, one main governorship contender and
five deputy governorships; and 15 percent of … [contestants for] 774 House of Representatives and 17 percent of
747 Senate seats [were women] (Akor 2015) .
The sole Presidential candidate,
Professor Remi Sonaiya, was one of fourteen, and she was in the 12th
position at the conclusion of voting (Uzoanya and Awodipe 2015) . The hopes that the sole female gubernatorial
candidate, Senator Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan of Taraba State would be elected were
not realized. Mrs Blessing Obidiegwu, Deputy Director of the Gender Division of
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) reported that:
14 females (5.6%) were elected into the House of
Representatives and eight women won as senators in the recent National Assembly
election. …. only 14 females out of 360 lawmakers. ….The incoming senate is
also going to have only eight women out of 109 senators (6.5%) (Akor 2015, IPU 2015) .
Historically, Nigerian women have been shown to participate in
governance since the pre-colonial period.
Some were rulers; others were public officials with institutionalized
offices and powers in their communities and realms. The position of women in society was
clear. Ibibio women for example, had
the Iban Isong organization, which protected and extended women’s political,
economic and social privileges. Many
women’s organizations continued to thrive under colonialism. However, political rights were denied both
men and women, and as incremental rights were granted to men, women became
increasingly excluded and marginalized.
The imposition of colonialism and its structural consolidation generated
some powerful resistance, some memorable ones spearheaded by women, who
resented the erosion of their powers and the imposition of unacceptable
draconian measures such as taxation without representation and illegitimate
rulers who refused to be responsive to their people’s needs. Notable among these was Ogu Umuwanyi, waged
by Ibo and Ibibio women which culminated in the 1929 Aba women’s war. Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome Kuti and the Abeokuta
Women’s Union also confronted an insensitive Alake who was widely believed to be
a colonial stooge. In a categorical denial
of women’s rights, the British left them out as they undertook gradual
political reforms such as elections and constitutions. Women could neither vote nor contest
elections. Thus, Ityavyar was right in
saying: “one would not be far from right
to suggest that colonialism is the midwife of the political marginalization of
women in Africa”.
Nationalist struggles continued during the relaxation of some of the
draconian conditions that marked the end of colonialism and the inception of
western forms of democratic governance, but did not yield much gain for women
in the higher echelons of public office and political power structure. This tradition continues today and has become
the watershed characteristic that is used in most analysis to define Nigerian
women’s political participation and power.
For most others, the marginalization and oppression of Nigerian women in
indigenous society continued unabated until the present.
Apologists could well make a claim that there were no women in military
or the top echelons of the civil service, but there was neither sensitivity to
the need for policies that ensured that women could aspire to rise to these
positions through training, mentorship and sponsorship for requisite higher
education. None of the military
Governors appointed by General Gowon was a woman. The Federal Executive Cabinet was composed of
11 civilians and 14 members of the Armed Forces and Police. Not one was a woman. This blatant disregard for women was most
unwarranted because there were numerous Nigerian women professionals in Law,
Medicine, and higher education, who had advanced degrees and requisite
experience and could have been recruited for the positions seemingly reserved
for men. There was a similar absence of
women in the cabinets of state military governments, but a few had one token
woman.
In his first iteration as the primary decision maker in Nigeria, General
Olusegun Obasanjo maintained the male dominant strategies of colonial and
previous postcolonial governments in Nigeria.
Women were also prevented from participating in determining the rules
under which the country would operate in the proposed post-military era. This decision was met with complaints and
agitation. The Constitution Drafting
Committee (CDC), a body of 50 “wise men” who were selected for their
qualifications, experience, and on the basis of ensuring equitable
representation from the 19 States in existence at the time. Unfortunately,
although it was well past the middle of the 20th century, (1978), not one
Nigerian woman was included.
While women in Southern Nigeria got the franchise in the 1954, along
with all Nigerian men, women in Northern Nigeria were still not allowed to vote
or be voted for until Obasanjo’s military regime, through a decree approved the
Universal franchise for women in 1976.
While the women in the south had been enfranchised for over 29 years
before their sisters in the North, the deliberate denial of the franchise to
Northern Nigerian women was not uncontested.
One very significant example is the case of Hajia Gambo Sawaba, who was
a tireless, tenacious and relentless champion for the rights of the poor,
marginalized and excluded. She fought
valiantly for women’s rights, including the franchise. Just because of her participation in
politics, government officials labeled Sawaba a prostitute. She was beaten, jailed more than 17 times,
and was once expelled from the city of Kano by the Emir of Kano. This onerous experience means that she holds
the record as the most frequently jailed Nigerian woman, who was jailed purely
because of her involvement in politics.
During the Abacha years (1994-98) Nigeria experienced the most brutal
dictatorship in its history, and the dictator had plans to succeed himself as
an elected civilian head of state. In
the same period, the State and Federal Commissions for Women were converted
into Federal and State Ministries of Women Affairs. Theoretically, the new policy was designed to
enhance the participation of women in decision-making. Many women participated in the Abacha
transition. After the 1998 elections,
which were held before Abacha died, twenty (20) women became members of the
360-strong Federal House of Representatives, while nine (9) women became
Senators out of a total of 109. Upon
Abacha’s death, the elections were revoked.
Women were not as successful in the succeeding elections organized by
General Abdulsalam Abubakar in 1999.
Both historical and contemporary evidence show that Nigerian women do
participate actively in our country's politics at all levels and in all kinds
of capacities--as voters, members of the political parties, mobilizers for
these parties, and to a lesser extent, as political appointees, and as
candidates for elective office.
Concerning the last two categories of participation, there have been
slim pickings for Nigerian women.
Nigeria is a patriarchal society where the marginalization of women is
widely accepted as the norm, thus tacitly legitimating weak representation of
women in elective and appointed public political office. In addition, the major religions with
significant adherents in the country concur with the presumed cultural barriers
to women’s public exercise of power.
Consequently, everyday practices by the political class put formidable
barriers in women’s way that retard participation. The Nigerian political
system is also very riotous. It has
faced the challenges of authoritarianism and consequent long years of military
rule, as well as a civil war, and the enduring legacies of these historical
experiences. Considerable barriers to
the deepening of democracy are manifest.
Thus, it is conventional that when elections approach, there are fears
of political violence, rigging, intimidation and machinations that work to the
advantage of powerful men, while majority of women are disadvantaged.
Nigerian Elections: Enduring Challenges
It is widely acknowledged both domestically and internationally that
Nigerian elections still struggle to fulfill the free and fair norms in
accordance with long standing international practice. The 2003, 2007, and 2011 elections were
accompanied by rampant rigging, abuse of power, threats, aggression,
mismanagement, illegality, impunity and gross infringements on the rights of
citizens. A major difference between the
2003 and 2007 elections is that the earlier one appears to have been a practice
run for even more dastardly deeds during the later iteration. According to a report by the Stakeholder
Democracy Network, the 2007 elections were methodically eroded, and the process
failed to comply with minimum standards of democracy. They were characterized by gross
malpractices, including rampant irregularities in:
v The opening and closing of
polls
v Collation and announcement of
results
v The prevalence of order and the
rule of law
v Autonomy of the Electoral
Commission (INEC) and State Electoral Commissions.
Key trends observed in the Niger Delta that are generalizable to the
rest of the country include:
For the Gubernatorial and State Assembly Elections: 14th April
v Delayed distribution of
election materials and/or accreditation of officials
v Delayed opening of polls
v Irregular and/or incomplete
election materials
v Harassment of election
observers and/or voters
v Electoral violence
v Implausible results and lack of
access to collation
For the Presidential, Senatorial and House of Representatives Elections,
on April 21st:
v Postponement of elections
v Delayed opening of polls
v Irregular and//or incomplete
election materials
v Voter disillusionment
v Harassment of election
observers and/or voters
v Interference in the electoral
process
v Election violence
v Implausible results and lack of
access to collation (Okome and
Zakiya 2013).
Similar challenges were experienced in 2011 and to a lesser extent in
2015, where the INEC under the leadership of Prof. Attahiru Jega, was able to
impose significant observance of the rules that made the elections more
credible, freer and fairer than others since 1999. Nigeria should have had the 2015 general
elections on February 14. This was the 5th
general election since 1999, and the mere fact that there have been successive
elections symbolize the movement of democracy toward consolidation. It is also noteworthy that the Presidential
elections brought about a peaceful change in government from the 15 year
dominance of the PDP to the take-over of the APC. Unlike previous administrations, the Jonathan
administration was not able to enforce its hold on power through the sheer
power of the incumbency. We’ll probably
all agree that the elections were quite eventful. There was considerable rascality and
mudslinging on the part of many candidates who tried to delegitimize those
against whom they were competing by all means possible. There was violence in some regions, and some
people even lost their lives. On the eve
of the elections, the Jonathan administration abruptly imposed a 6 week
postponement, justifying its puzzling action by a never before expressed
passionate desire to fight Boko Haram.
The move smacked of deep, cynical manipulation of the plight of Nigerian
citizens as part of the electioneering strategies of the ruling party. However, astute analysts and scholars of
Nigerian politics attribute the disorderly and untidy postponement to a fear
that the long reign of the PDP over Nigeria (15 years since 1999) was
threatened by the Buhari-Osinbajo APC team.
The 2015 bellwether election eventually took place on March 28
(Presidential and National Assembly) and April 11 (State Assembly and
Gubernatorial) crashed the "tried and true" incumbent expectations of
winning votes through straightforward material inducements for vote-type
transactions, which are described as "stomach infrastructure"
politics. The President elect had run
for all elections since 1999, when Nigeria made its 4th attempt since
independence to embrace democracy once again.
Nigerian women who are interested in running for office should take a
leaf from his book—a testament to tenacity, learning from past mistakes, and
building coalitions that generate success after much failure. Also, the winner's war chest was minuscule
compared with the loser's. It is also
important to realize that winning coalitions may come with considerable
baggage. President Buhari’s winning
coalition also has some troubling elements, including its hastily assembled
nature, and some political elites who were unethical, even kleptocratic while
in office. Does the president elect has
the capacity to hold them in check? However, would he have won without those
"masterminds" and their resources, including their considerable
strategic cunning abilities? Politics
does indeed make for strange bedfellows.
Nigerian women are negatively impacted by the intimidation and other
abuses that permeate the electoral process, a factor that can be directly
linked to the minuscule increase in the percentage of women in elected office,
and the inability of Nigeria to join the fold of African countries that have
successfully met the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as they pertain to
women’s participation. Over the course
of the five elections thus far, some women have scaled through and taken office
in the federal and state legislature. Evidence
from the 2007 elections show that these were women who belonged to the
incumbent party in the states where they contested, and those who had the
support of the party leadership.
However, the overwhelming majority of women were sidelined, intimidated,
browbeaten, vilified and otherwise prevented from contesting elections. Where they went forward and contested, they
were strong-armed into withdrawing, often in favor of male candidates supported
by the male dominant party leadership.
In order to properly evaluate the nature and extent of women’s political
power and participation in general, one should consider the degree to which the
issues identified as important by women’s rights activists became part of political
party platforms and the extent to which women participated as voters, party
leaders/officials, and candidates. This can
be done through the culling of news media accounts; accessing information from
INEC; from the records of electoral tribunals; petitions made by women who
lodge complaints about flawed elections (primaries and general), interviews of
officials in Nigeria’s political parties and most importantly, through
interviews of women candidates, aspirants, and women’s rights activist and
organizations. This can help to
determine the nature, form, and extent of women’s political power in
contemporary Nigeria, and to build a database that would give sound explanation
and analysis of women’s political participation to inform the actions of the
national assembly women legislators seeking corrective legal redress to
identified barriers to gender equity in politics, gender and human rights
activist, academics, and others interested in advancing women’s political power
and leadership in Nigeria.
The importance of accurate memory and interpretation
of history.
It is well-documented that women were equal participants in the
nationalist and liberation struggles in most African countries, including
Nigeria. Also, while colonialism eroded a significant amount of women’s formal
political power, drawing upon their precolonial bases of power, women in most
African countries asserted their rights, sometimes even succeeding in extending
such rights, even in the weakened indigenous political structures and
institutions. Multi-religious
constituencies then were possible with existing parties.
Nigerian women formed western-style political pressure groups early in
the 1900s. However, indigenous women’s
groups such as the Lagos Women’s Market Association, led by Madam Alimotu
Pelewura, preceded these western-style institutions. The Lagos Women’s League, which was founded
in 1901, and led by Mrs. Charlotte Obasa, was an example of the modern pressure
groups. Their trailblazing efforts were
developed in the 1940s when under the leadership of Mrs. Kofoworola Abayomi;
the Nigerian Women’s Party was formed (on May 11, 1944). The formation of the Nigerian Women’s Party
in 1944 was a reaction to women’s marginalization in the male dominated
political parties, which for Mrs. Oyinkan Abayomi and others, had demonstrated
that they were not interested in women’s issues and allowed for no women in
their leadership. Similarly, Mrs.
Funmilayo Ransome Kuti founded the Abeokuta Women’s Union (AWU) in 1949, and
the organization became the Nigerian Women’s Union (NWU) later that year. Both the AWU and NWU involved a combination
of educated women with women traders.
The AWU used this coalition to challenge the combined powers of Alake
Ademola and the British colonial government for compelling women to pay
taxes. The AWU mobilized, supported, and
joined the women in public disobedience campaigns that culminated in the
temporary abdication of the Alake.
Between 1948 and 1949, branches of the Union were formed in Ijebu Ode,
Ijebu Remo, Ilaro, Egbado area, Benin, Ibadan, Calabar, and Aba. Mrs. Margaret Ekpo had founded the Aba
Women’s Association earlier, and was inspired to join the NWU after Funmilayo
Ransome Kuti’s visit in 1949. Similarly,
Janet Okala, G.I. Okoye, and Madam Peter Okoye had founded the Enugu Women’s
Association in 1945. The organization’s
name was changed to the Nigerian Women’s Union, Enugu branch in honor of
Funmilayo Ransome Kuti’s visit on December 18, 1949, in the aftermath of a
fatal violent attack by colonial police against striking miners in Enugu. By 1950, there were branches of the Union in
Enugu, Aba, Ijebu Ode, Ikare, and Onitsha.
Between 1950 and 1953, there were branches in Zaria, Kaduna, Jos, Kano,
Jebba, Kafanchan, Funtua, Ilorin, Ekiti, Ilesha, Ado Ekiti, Asaba, and
Abakaliki. The organization was
conceived as a federation with autonomous branches. Funmilayo Ransome Kuti was the national
President as well as the President of the Abeokuta branch. Mrs. Ekpo was National Secretary and she
presided over the Aba branch. The
political objectives of the Union were:
(1) Achievement of the
franchise for women.
(2) The abolition of electoral
colleges.
(3) The allocation of a
definite proportion of representation to women with women being allowed to
nominate their own representatives on the local council, which should not be
headed by traditional rulers.
In 1952, Elizabeth Adekogbe founded the Women’s Movement in Ibadan. Nigerian women also participated in most of
the indigenous pressure groups and political parties formed in the nationalist
era: the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP), Action Group, National
Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM).
Recommendations/Way
forward
Many
women attribute their interest in politics to the desire to help their
people. Others express the same
sentiment and say that they would like to give something back, or that based on
their reputation as community activists, they were recruited by their people
and urged to become involved in politics.
Those who won the elections looked forward eagerly to engaging the
political system as their people’s representatives, and were confident that
they would make a difference. Those that
lost through what they believed were machinations, rigging, intimidation, and
other unfair practices largely said that they were disillusioned with politics
and the political process, but some were determined to fight for the mandate
that they claimed was snatched away from them.
There was a perception that the political system had failed Nigerians
and was in need of committed and dedicated politicians, and that the contributions
of women politicians would help to begin the process of political renewal. A
few women were also offered inducements that convinced them to abandon their
quest for elected office in favor of political appointments. They largely expressed satisfaction and some
maintained that they would run for office at a future time. The women who challenged their loss in
electoral tribunals expressed feelings of disappointment and dissatisfaction
with being sidelined. Many felt
abandoned and discouraged, but were resolute in their stand.
Given
these challenges, the recommendations on tactics for women’s agency include:
v
Public action in support of increased women’s
participation,
v
Affirmative action in legislative bodies,
v
Political party and electoral system reforms,
v
Action by women’s organization,
v
The establishment of alliances, between women
legislators, women’s organizations and women in appointive positions,
v
Consultation with role models and
v
Targeting young women for mentorship and grooming
for political office.
Discussing
the use of role models as a strategy, the argument is that the mass media plays
a particularly crucial role. There
should be practical and constant discourse by women leaders and women’s lobbies
and the news media to draw attention to women’s leadership as well as to ensure
that there are news reports on programs and initiatives to address gender
imbalance. At the September 2006
NDI/NASS conference, Roundtable 1: “Increasing Women’s Leadership through
Political Participation in African Parliaments” made the following
recommendations:
v
Women need to network at all levels, including
African women parliamentarians networking and sharing their experiences at all
levels
v
To hold a Women’s Summit
The
Women’s Summit was held but it has not generated any appreciable increase in
the percentage of elected women, although there’s been an uptick in the percentage
of women political appointees. This means that there must be relentless
coalition building, organizing, advocacy, lobbying, a sophisticated media
strategy and work to build a robust and powerful women’s movement that would
facilitate the development of a network of women politicians, activists and
those in appointive positions, causing a routinization of women’s issues and
also the creation of a platform for governance skills building.
Evidence from countries where Women's political
participation has met and exceeded Beijing benchmark
Some
electoral systems are believed to be more amenable to enabling women’s
inclusion in the candidate lists that political parties draw up, and also
enhance the possibility of electing women.
Nordic countries and other African countries that have had significant
increases in the number of elected women to the legislature depend on
proportional representation rather than a first past the post type electoral
system, as found in Nigeria. The
legislative agenda for the Women’s caucus of the NASS should therefore include
the sponsorship of a proportional representation bill.
Affirmative
Action is enshrined in the constitution of some countries, and combined with
methods that ensure that for each male candidate; a female candidate is also
presented by a political party (zebra strategy in South Africa and 50-50
strategy in some other countries).
Uganda, Norway, India, and Seychelles are just a few of the countries
that have used the Affirmative Action strategy, and all attest to its
effectiveness in guaranteeing an increase in the number of elected women. The chapter on gender justice in Nigeria’s
constitution recommended the achievement of a minimum of 30 percent of all
political appointments, as advocated in the Beijing Platform for Action in
order to redress the gender imbalances in the political systems of states
members. Panel Session 2 at the
September 2006 conference “Gender Dimensions to Contemporary Politics,
Decision-Making and Power in Nigeria” recommended the following: “We advocate for quotas as a stepping stone
to parity (50/50).” The Women’s Caucus
of the National Assembly should bear this recommendation in mind and plan to
propose an affirmative action bill.
The
assumption that tradition is irrevocably wedded to the past is wrong. The assumption that African tradition is a
priori, the zone of women’s marginalization and oppression should be
interrogated rather than accepted as a given.
The opposite assumption that modernity is the zone of liberation also
must be unpacked. That women had the
opportunity to participate in the public sphere and wield power within the
family prior to Africa’s colonization is to say that such zones of power should
be considered as opening up the possibility that arguments and struggles for
African women’s inclusion in the public sphere and in the exercise of power
within the family do not have to be based on imported ideologies. Members of the Women’s Caucus of the National
Assembly should fund and support educational initiatives that seek strategies
that research and disseminate findings on integrated progressive traditional
and modern approaches to promote and enhance women’s power.
Modernity
is not an unproblematic phenomenon. It
could either be oppressive or liberating.
It could marginalize as well as centralize. Participation in the global system could be
made more possible or made easier through the mediating power of traditions
that validate, empower, and centralize the African woman. The duty of the scholar as gbénàgbénà and
gbénugbénu (carver and skilled orator) is to use the right tools to create the
right meaning as well as accurate interpretation and explication.
What
ought to be done to improve the lot of Nigerian and African women in the
continent’s democratic political systems?
There are two possible options for those who want change: legal changes
that are combined with public education campaigns aimed at achieving slow and
steady erosion of the male dominant social, economic, political, cultural and
religious practices that discriminate against women, or a revolution: an
abrupt, radical, break with the past. Revolutions
tend to be bloody, disruptive and destabilizing, and any change is difficult to
accomplish. Women have a desire to
participate in formal politics, but they are in essence, swimming upstream,
being prevented from taking most of the positions of power in the political
system; lacking a women’s movement that is well organized. Men cannot be expected to rally to the
women’s cause because they gain immensely from their control of the political
system. The most likely development is slow, incremental change through
legislation, public information campaigns that educate about why affirmative
action may be beneficial, even to men, who are after all, not immune to
discrimination. The recommendation for
the Women’s Caucus of the National Assembly is that they should redouble their
efforts to propose legal changes and fund public education campaigns in support
of increasing women’s political participation and salience.
In
working toward the desired change, first there must be the acknowledgement that
women are both similar and different.
Race, class, and ethnicity, as well as other aspects of a woman’s
identity, including religion and age, insert differences and provide
possibilities for the assertion of sameness based on common socio-economic
locations. The differences need not
preclude the formation of coalitions, and sameness must not be assumed as
making automatic unity for common purposive action possible. Instead, organizing must be done to build
coalitions that cross national, class, gender, religious, ethnic and other
boundaries. The Women’s Caucus of the
National Assembly should engage in domestic and international networks that
constitute coalitions for positive change, engaged in consistent efforts to
legislate, educate, inform and mobilize support for affirmative action and
women’s empowerment.
Conclusion
KEY
COMPONENTS OF WOMEN’S AGENDA IN A DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM
v Connecting Procedures and Outcomes
Connect women's
representation with effective participation and consequent gender
equality. This can be done by staring the
reality of women’s marginalization in politics in the face, suggesting
solutions and connecting procedures and outcomes.
Increased women's
participation is crucial. It is hard to
look at Nigeria and claim that progress is being made, and that by merely
striving, women would successfully challenge the status quo of male dominance
and the presumed inferiority and unsuitability of women for political
office. Thus, it is imperative that
serious recommendations be made for women's political participation that might
begin with the demand for enacting the international conventions and legal
instruments on women's rights into which Nigeria has entered.
Next, there is a need for
the institutionalization of 50-50 quotas both within the political parties when
they present candidates for political office, and in the entrenchment of this
provision in the constitution. It is
equally imperative that the demand for radical change in Nigerian politics
should continue. The essence of
recounting Yoruba history above, and of bringing attention to some of the
historical initiatives by Nigerian women in this report, is to point out the
absurdity of the subversion and delegitimation of systems that gave better
opportunities for women's representation in favor of a presumably democratic
system that does not allow for women to be considered serious contenders and/or
occupants for political office. The need
for gender equity is urgent and glaring.
To subvert gender equity in favor of the status quo amounts to support
for a patently undemocratic system and patriarchal state that is bent to be
regressive rather than progressive. It
is also a bald-faced insult to Nigerian women.
Despite
the desire by many commentators to insist that a few women caught behaving as
badly as the men is an indicator that women should not be given positions of
responsibility, the truth is that such women actually demonstrate that they are
good students of the deeply corrupted male dominant political system in
Nigeria. This is not to excuse such bad
behavior, poor judgment, ignorance, and abuse of office, but to caution both
anti- and pro-women's rights activists.
The former have no confidence in women as leaders, the latter talk about
women's exceptionalism in the areas of nurture, honesty, peacemaking,
alliance-formation. Some women can
indeed be exceptional leaders. Luckily,
Nigeria and the world's past history demonstrate this unequivocally. There is also ample evidence of women's
venality and irresponsibility. In spite
of this reality, women are citizens and must be given equal access to
power. It is incumbent on women to rally
and mobilize to promote this cause, and to do so in spite of the ethnic,
religious, class and other sectional divisions that are a part of Nigeria's
peculiar historical experience and contemporary reality.
We
must look to other African countries that have successfully increased the
numbers of women in public office and legislatures. However, we must do so with the idea that it
is possible to improve on these experiences.
One key factor that contributed to the success in most of the African
countries is that there was serious organizing for change. Most of these countries could be said to have
built sustainable and progressive women's movements, and Nigeria needs to do
likewise. Nigerian and African women
also need to take Nigerian and African culture seriously as objects of careful
scrutiny and study. Such research should
be geared in the first place, at excavating and rehabilitating those aspects of
our culture that honor women and histories of women who attained leadership
position in their communities and their contributions to society from the pile
of delegitimized detritus to which they have been confined due to our colonial
experience. Secondly, we need to engage
in serious research of African women's leadership and political participation
in contemporary times. This and the
historical research would serve the function of documenting women's
history. It will also demonstrate that
women's leadership is not a newfangled invention but part of historical lessons
of the past that give contemporary society "the chance to consider the
right and wrong of human judgment even though the deeds were done long ago"
[xiii].
Representation is key,
thus, it is necessary in the first place, to not trivialize representation by
defining it merely as women gaining access to public power. Instead, it should be extended to cover structural
inequality [xiv]. The challenge of
ensuring that women who are elected to representative positions are accountable
to constituencies that demand gender equity, that there are healthy working
relations between them and national machineries that enable them to collaborate
with the women's movement to push for progressive policymaking in the interest
of gender equity or "access to decisionmaking in order to advance a
project of eliminating gender hierarchies of power."[xv] They must merge quantitative representation
by women with qualitative representation that is demonstrably effective. Thus, they must:
PROMOTE:
v Laws that advance women’s interests
v Transparency
v Accountability
v Relentless networking, lobbying for
advancement of women’s interests, advocacy on women’s issues as required for
fairness, equity and social justice.
v Collaboration and alliances with men that
convince them to work towards gender parity.
v Compromise vs winner take all, work hard,
and be approachable.
CREATE:
v Conditions that allow women to
participate in decision-making where it opportunities to change the rules to
benefit women exist.
PUSH/ENCOURAGE:
v All organizations, associations and
institutions – political, social and economic to deliberately and
systematically advocate to implement women’s participation at all levels – affirmative
action.
v Formation of Women’s advocacy groups in
the NGO sector that collaborate with Women legislators, Women’s Legislative
Caucuses and Women’s Ministries.
MENTOR:
v Young women and girls. Africans have traditionally learned by doing,
and the mark of a great leader is the ability to inspire, encourage and
motivate others.
v Young men and boys to support gender
parity.
REALIZE:
v That power is never conceded and
leadership is extraordinarily difficult but greatly rewarding. This being the case, Nigerian women must
engage the past and present creatively and imaginatively to inform their
struggle to gain power from a political system that is not necessarily
committed to their advancement and transform their gains into meaningful public
leadership positions.
Today, despite the weight
of Nigeria’s post-colonial history, one of the encouraging signs in the
Nigerian political terrain is the emergence and efflorescence of civil society
organizations among which women’s organizations, women’s activist organizations,
and women’s studies scholars are in the vanguard. Another encouraging sign is the large number
of women candidates relative to past elections.
The impediments to women’s
participation in politics include the lack of consideration for women’s issues,
violation of party rules and plans for affirmative action, weak political
institutions, the use of zoning and other gerrymandering strategies to prevent
women from attaining political office, the pervasiveness of an “old boys’
club”, supported by rich and powerful men dubbed “godfathers”, collusion to
engage in corrupt practices, the construction of religious and cultural
prohibitions against women’s public role in governance, lack of financial
capacity, power politics, the use of strong arm strategies, intimidation and
violence, machinations within political parties, the construction of gender to
forbid women’s active participation in politics, and women’s acceptance of the
status quo, structural collusion and smear campaigns that ruin the reputation
of women who dare to participate.
Professor Jadesola Akande
identifies ten benefits of Affirmative Action for women:
1. Ensure greater participation of women in
politics and governance in terms of numbers.
2. Enhance women’s effective participation
in politics and governance in terms of quality.
3. Cultivate the political culture of women
voting for women
4. Cultivate the political culture of men
voting for women.
5. Cultivate the political culture of men
getting used to and accepting woman leaders.
6. Promote greater accommodation and
consideration of women’s views in decision making.
7. Promote personal and collective
development of women.
8. Build the political, social and economic
capacities of women over times.
9. Inspire and motivate girl-children and
youths in general to aspire to greater heights
10. Entrench true and enduring democracy;
promote public accountability and good governance, which will ultimately lead
to sustainable human development (Akande 2003) .
SIGNIFICANCE
OF GAINS
The Rwanda case, and by
extension, the cases of similar countries that have had substantial increase in
women's participation in political decisionmaking, indicate that we have to
think of more than numbers. The numbers should be seen as a beginning point among
the objectives for women’s equal representation because numbers alone do not
guarantee meaningful gender equality and equity. Such representation must be
achieved, but there is much more to be done. The political and ideological
stance of the women elected and appointed into positions of power are also
important considerations. There must be connectedness between women
parliamentarians/cabinet members/women's machineries and the women's movement
(trans-class; trans regional; trans religious women's NGOs and CSOs), and with
political parties as well as men and boys, which allows for the women's
movement to demand equitable policies and insist on their implementation, and
the parliamentarians/cabinet members/women's machineries supply these political
goods by pushing the agenda for gender equality across the board.
NEED
TO ACKNOWLEDGE ONGOING CHALLENGES
Political party
structures; Women’s styles of
leadership; Coalition for positive change with Men and Boys; The challenges of
the capitalist system.
The
political skill and will of parliamentarians/cabinet members/women's
machineries are important. They must be good at proposing change through
legislation, negotiating, building coalitions, building peace, and other
important objectives that contribute to gender equality. They must be
comfortable with being leaders, as well as committed to the struggle for gender
equality in the long term. The women's movement also has to draw up a
"gender agenda". They must push this agenda in the political, social
and economic spheres; they must be tireless advocates for the agenda (Okome, Beyond
the Numbers: Women's Political Participation in the Commonwealth 2010) .
The
extent to which gender equality is achieved depends on the condition and
circumstances of the majority of women, and not the affluent/powerful minority.
Gender equality has become a shared goal for all humanity. It is a fundamental human right that is
guaranteed in the UN Charter as well as other international conventions and
declarations such as the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women. The 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for
Action and Millennium Development Goals also affirm the international community
to gender equality. It is also clear
that if humanity wants to demonstrate genuine commitment to the social and
economic advancement of women, it must not only make rhetorical statements on
interest in women’s empowerment but device strategies that ensure equal access
by women and men, to power, decisionmaking and economic resources (Williams
2003). Alliances with men and boys to change gender relations in everyday life
go a long way toward achieving equality and equity. As well, political economy
is essential to a full understanding of the impediments to gender equality as
well as giving a roadmap for positive change. While there has been tremendous
expansion in the world’s economy as a consequence of globalization, it is also
well documented that globalization has uneven distributional consequences that
produce either wealth or poverty to some regions, sectors and genders. This for Amartya Sen is why inclusive
globalization is imperative. For him, development
does not amount to much if we do not put people first (Sen 1999). This is the crux of the gender and trade
discourse--that we figure out how to share potential gains from globalization
between men and women, in an equitable manner.
Beyond material equity, we must also have respect for human dignity and
realize the equal worth of all humans (Okome, Beyond the Numbers:
Women's Political Participation in the Commonwealth 2010) .
DETERMINATION
TO ACCOMPLISH GENDER EQUALITY WILL YIELD RESULTS
Despite the formidable
challenges, a determination to accomplish gender equality does yield benefits,
as evidenced by increases in some Commonwealth countries in terms of increased
percentages of women participants in national legislatures. Despite the
reversals in some countries, these increases should motivate countries that are
lagging behind to do better. NGOs and CSOs as well as multilateral agencies are
key participants in the struggle. The strategies devised must necessarily
consider the intricate connections between social, political and economic structures
and women’s empowerment on all fronts to take equal part in making decisions
that will foster human wellbeing. This cannot be done without appropriate
budgetary allocations in local, national and international budgets (Okome, Beyond
the Numbers: Women's Political Participation in the Commonwealth 2010) .
UNDER
WHAT CONDITIONS WILL GENDER EQUALITY IN GOVERNANCE THRIVE?
Quotas remain important, but are just the beginning. They are necessary but not sufficient for
achievement of gender equality in governance.
Where women’s movements are strong and democratization
relatively meaningful, women stand to benefit more. Where the contrary applies,
they don’t. Thus, the nature of democracy affects women’s capacities to promote
their interests effectively within the political system, and their enjoyment of
the rights of citizenship.
Where organized women can draw on existing political
discourse, gender ideologies and broader socio political movements that they
can ally with, the possibility of success in pushing the women’s agenda is
higher. The inability of women to participate as full equals with men in broad
based democracy impedes the level of success as do racial, ethnic and class
divisions.
Where there is a well-functioning state women’s policy
machinery to enhance women’s rights through viable and effective institutional
mechanisms promoting and guaranteeing women’s rights by mainstreaming gender
through a sound institutional framework. Many women’s policy machineries do not
fit the bill.
Where Gender Responsive Budgeting is used as a strategy to
document government priorities and shows gaps in gender equity and equality.
Where social and cultural constraints against women’s
political participation are eliminated. In essence, this is a long term
struggle.
Numbers are important as a symbol of equitable, just
representation. However, those striving
for such representation must of necessity go beyond the numbers and motivate
their representatives to work for them toward guaranteeing effective
representation in the political system.
It’s an uphill task, but it’s possible.
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