by Singy Hanyona – SANF 05 no 62
The just released draft Zambian Constitution has proposed the establishment of a Gender Commission, in a bid to curb the increasing abuse and violation of women’s and children’s rights.
The proposal is contained in the new draft constitution currently under discussion.
The proposed Commission will address the country’s objective to attain the 30 per cent women’s representation in decision making positions as required by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Declaration on Gender and Development.
For the fourth time after independence from Britain in 1964, Zambia is reviewing its constitution and the government has appointed a Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), which is in the process of drafting the new Constitution.
The Constitution is to be adopted by a Constituent Assembly before the forth-coming 2006 local, parliamentary and presidential elections. Outgoing United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Zambia Country Representative, Margaret O’Callaghan, says all laws, customary or regulatory, that permit or have the effect of discrimination against women, should be abolished and declared void.
“In terms of population issues, we need to think about gender equality and what is causing huge statistics in HIV infection of teenage girls,” said O’Callaghan.
Citing some gender instruments such as the African Charter on Human Rights and the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing platform for action, O’Callaghan called on the Zambian government to implement the National Gender Policy and Action Plan of 2000.
The Gender Commission will look into the adherence to international and regional gender instruments and propose how gender issues can be integrated into the constitution.
Civil organisations have also called for the draft Constitution to entrench children and women’s rights by enshrining them into the proposed Bill of rights.
“The major weakness in our current Bill of Rights is that it does not guarantee the rights of people with disabilities, women and the youth,” said Dean of the School of Law at the University of Zambia, Alfred Chanda.
In addition it is possible for an Act of Parliament to be enacted in terms of developing new constitutional structures that will include representation of women and the disability movement, says Chanda.
“Women and men have the right to equal treatment. This includes the right to equal opportunities in cultural, political, economic and social activities,” said Chanda.
The Women’s Movement in Zambia has applauded the Constitutional Review Commission for bringing the issue of traditional authority into the arena of modern laws.
Non-Governmental Organisation Co-ordinating Committee (NGOCC) chairperson Lucy Muyoyeta, says women and other marginalised groups should be allocated special seats which should be filled in through an elective process as prescribed by an Act of Parliament.
She urges government and civil society organisations to intensify awareness campaigns against ‘harmful’ traditional practices such as sexual cleansing, HIV and AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).
“We need to harmonise the statutory and customary law. Young girls are being married off at a tender age in many villages,” she said.
The current draft Constitution however has no provision that restricts or prohibits polygamous marriages.
A member of the Constitutional Review Commission, Nellie Mutti, acknowledges that the issue of gender imbalances has been haunting the women folk for the past decade, not only in Zambia, but the entire SADC region.
Gender should be mainstreamed in the draft Constitution. “We should not talk about women, but men as well, said Mutti.
In terms of good governance and poverty alleviation, the draft Constitution is not explicit, but provides that parliament will enact an annual budget that should include issues of public participation in its design and formulation. (SARDC)
