Quarterly Bulletin

More than fifty percent of the population is female – women and girls. In the developing world, women grow up to 80 percent of all food produced, but rarely hold title to the land they cultivate on. And yet much of their work is unpaid, including gathering fuel and water, among a wide range of activities. Audrey Shamabuyu, a part-time staff of the JCTR, looks at the role women plays in national development and the need for the government to fulfill its commitments of promoting gender equality.

WOMEN AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Even if women dominate the informal sector of the economy, this work is not usually reflected in economic statistics. When all of women’s work is taken into account, their economic contribution increases dramatically and is generally greater than that of men. It is also clear that women work much longer hours than men. It is however disappointing to note that despite this fact, women’s wages are often under the control of the husband.

Despite their economic roles, women occupy a very small minority of decision-making positions in the economic arena. Women’s poverty is directly related to the absence of economic opportunities and autonomy, lack of access to economic resources, including credit, land ownership and inheritance, lack of access to education and support services.

A more balanced view is needed. There are many reasons why women should be in top decision making positions, ranging from women’s equal entitlement to such positions, the growing proportion of women in the labour force, the increasing proportion of women among persons in technical, professional, and administrative and management occupations, as well as the advantages to the economy of drawing on skills, experiences, and abilities of women. Existing economic structures are unjustifiably dominated by men and pose major obstacles to women’s advancement even when women’s roles in the economy are critical to family survival and to economic development

While poverty affects households as a whole, because of the greater division of labour and responsibilities for household welfare, women bear a disproportionate burden attempting to manage household consumption and production under conditions of increasing scarcity. Poverty is particularly acute for women living in rural households.

INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENTS

Currently, there are various instruments in place to ensure that the rights of women are respected. Some of these are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the national Gender Policy. But these have not stopped disrespect of women’s rights. Although the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR, 1948) states  that every one has a right to education, today more than half a century after this historic text was adopted, the right to education remains an empty promise for millions of people all over the world, especially women and girls.

Another instrument that Zambia is using to help achieve gender equality is the United Nations MDGs. The MDGs were developed as a pathway to achieving the Millennium Declaration of 2000 which commits member states to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women, as effective ways to combat poverty, hunger and disease and to stimulate development that is truly sustainable. The target to achieve the set objectives is 2015.

Despite government’s health policy that acknowledges women’s sexual and reproductive health concerns,  women’s  health has not improved significantly. Major areas of concern for women are the high maternal mortality rate and HIV and AIDS prevalence rates which are higher among women than men.

Another instrument that, when adopted, could be helpful is the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Gender Protocol. There has been growing debate around the gender Protocol. The drafting of the Gender Protocol can be traced as far back as 2005. This was when the council of Ministers endorsed the decision to transform the SADC declaration on gender and development and its addendum into a Protocol.

The Gender Protocol addresses a wide range of issues that affect women in the SADC region, including constitutional and legal rights, governance, education, productive resources, gender based violence, health, HIV and AIDS, peace-building and conflict resolution and media.

As an inspirational document, the SADC Protocol lays out the necessary steps to address these complex  issues.  For  example,  it requires member states to enact and enforce legislation criminalising all forms of gender-based violence, including marital rape, by the year 2015.

The Protocol also incorporates commitments from all regional, global and continental instruments to which SADC is a party such as the Beijing Platform of Action, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), The MDGs and the Rights of Women in Africa.

Above all, the importance of the Protocol is advancing gender equality to ensure that we move from an era of commitments to an era of implementation.

The Gender Protocol could help to improve lives of many poor women in a number of ways. First, poverty and health crises like HIV cannot be overcome unless and until gender-based violence is eradicated. Second, there should be commitment from national leaders to ensure that equality between men and women in the policies are turned into action.

Third, the Gender Protocol could help to empower women educationally. The right to education is an integral part of the Protocol on women’s rights. Gender inequalities in education translate into larger socio-economic disparities, and affect not only individuals, but the social and economic development of communities and nations. The Protocol on the rights of women offers a powerful tool for remedying these disparities, and addresses not only the grassroots level but also the political processes that grant women access to decision making.

CHALLENGES

Finally, the following concerns need to be taken into account if we are to incorporate women in the development process. Parliament can help make use of the MDGs to attain development and gender equality through legislation that demonstrates national commitment. An oversight role would check if the gender commitments are being met.

There is need to enact national laws that will not only accelerate the increase in women’s participation but also create an awareness among women about their rights and the importance of the Gender Protocol.

Macro-economic polices need rethinking and reformulation because current policies focus exclusively on  the  formal  sector, when the majority of women are found in the informal sector. There’s need for policy makers to focus on the informal sector if women are to come on board.

The constraints to women’s human rights lie largely in customary and traditional, social and religious practices that permeate the way the law is interpreted and dispensed. These practices should be uprooted if women are to potentially realise their rights.

The government should also show some commitment in terms of increasing women’s participation in decision making positions. Women continue to be marginally represented at all levels of decision making. Socially embedded patriarchal tendencies and lack of gender sensitive political will on the part of political parties and government limit women’s participation.

LACK OF POLITICAL WILL

This means that more than 50% of the population is left out of institutions where major decisions are made. Zambia has not achieved the 30% minimum representation in decision making positions stipulated by the 1997 SADC Gender Declaration.  In 2001 and 2007, for example, there has only been 12% and 14% representation of women in parliaments.

There is no political will on the side of government to push for gender equality, an example of this being the failure to adopt the SADC Gender Protocol at the recent SADC Heads of State Summit (Lusaka, August 2007). This calls for more effort to be done in order to incorporate more women in decision making positions.

The national allocation of resources does not respond to women’s needs such as reproductive health needs. Due to limited financial resources allocated to the health sector and the cost sharing schemes, it is almost impossible for the vulnerable groups particularly women to access health. High HIV and AIDS prevalence among women increases maternal mortality rates. The lack of capacity to mainstream gender in health programmes has affected the health budgeting system, where resources are not allocated to areas that will have a greater impact on women’s health.

These issues and the rising cases of abuse of women’s rights show that there is lack of commitment on the side of government and the people to end these abuses and incorporate women in development processes. New strategies like the SADC Gender Protocol could help end these abuses and increase women’s participation in development process.

Audrey Shamabuyu
JCTR
Lusaka