by Washington Midzi – SANF 05 no 68
Southern African countries have experienced rapid shifts in gender equality and women’s empowerment processes in the last decade.
The rapid shifts have been catalysed by the framework for reference provided by the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BDPFA) and the 1997 SADC Declaration on Gender and Development.
Nearly all SADC member states now have national machineries responsible for gender, and gender focal points within various ministries with a mandate to strengthen mechanisms to promote the advancement of women.
Strengthening mechanisms to promote women’s advancement is one of the six critical areas of concern, which SADC identified to focus on among the various obstacles to women’s empowerment and advancement in the social, cultural, economic, and political spheres.
At the Fourth World Conference on Women (FWCW) held in Beijing, China in September 1995, 12 critical areas of concern were identified as obstacles to women’s empowerment and advancement.
In September 1997, SADC took its cue from the BDPFA and identified, initially, four, and subsequently six critical areas of concern to focus on. These are:
- Strengthening mechanisms to promote women’s advancement;
- Addressing inequalities in power sharing and decision-making;
- Inequalities in access to economic resources.
- Protection of the human rights of women and girl-child;
- Women in the context of armed conflict and peace building; and
- Gender capacity-building, training, networking, and information dissemination.
Ten years after Beijing, all SADC member states have national gender policies except Angola and Swaziland, which are in the process of developing theirs. This has been complemented by national plans of action on the implementation of the BDPFA, post Beijing, and emerging issues.
There has been a growing acceptance of the importance of women’s participation in decision-making with the majority of member states witnessing increases in the number of women in political decision-making positions since 1995.
However, only a few SADC countries have met the 30 percent target of women in political and decision-making positions by the 2005 deadline. By July 2005, only South Africa and Mozambique had passed the 30 percent target.
The challenges of promoting women’s access to economic resources such as land, a key productive resource in SADC, as well as employment rights, and the removal of obstacles to other forms of economic empowerment remain top on the agenda.
Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Zimbabwe have established processes to engender budgets in their endeavours to reduce inequalities in access to economic resources.
Some positive developments have been recorded in legislating against discrimination in the workplace and home, and all SADC member states have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
In spite of all the positive changes, and the important frameworks for action, which have emerged to influence the rapidly changing gender and development landscape in SADC, profound contradictions remain.
The rapid pace of socio economic change in the gender arena is not commensurate with the formal response to address the existing gender inequalities. A number of formal policy responses have not measured up to the reality of marginalisation of women and qualitative change remains minimal for most. A good example is policies to address HIV and AIDS, most of which lack a gender and women’s rights perspective.
The gendered nature and marked increase in HIV and AIDS infections, illnesses and deaths is reversing the gains made in the health, employment, and education sectors, with women and girls bearing the brunt. There is greater stress on women and girls’ socially defined nurturing roles, particularly in caring for the afflicted. (SARDC)
