South Africa: Strengthening women's participation in local governance

To what extent do South Africa's municipal participation mechanisms enable meaningful engagement in development planning and local governance by poor or marginalised women? What interventions or alternative approaches are required? This article, 'Strengthening Women's Participation in Local Governance: Lessons and Strategies', from the Community Development Journal, finds a disconnect between women's experience and knowledge and state policy and programmatic responses. It proposes the creation of women-only forums, supported by training, to enable women to develop recommendations.