Southern Africa: Call for 30% women’s representation in public office by 2005

Gender and Free Expression organisations call for 30% women’s representation in public office by 2005 and adoption of Gender Guidelines in Budgeting in SADC

On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2005, the Gender and Media Southern Africa (GEMSA) Network and CREDO for Freedom of Expression & Associated Rights have called on the Southern Africa Development Community to live up to its pledge of “ensuring equal representation of women and men in the decision making of member states and SADC structures at all levels, and the achievement of at least 30% target of women in political and decision making structures by the year 2005”. The commitment is contained in the SADC 1997 Gender and Development Declaration.

 Speaking in Windhoek, Namibia Jennifer Mufune of MISA and Executive Committee member of GEMSA noted that:

“It will be exactly eight years in September since the SADC gender declaration was signed in 1997 and still the target has not been achieved by member countries. SADC Heads of State must accelerate work towards this target and put in place infrastructure for its realisation by the time of the SADC summit later this year.”

She pointed out that: “Southern Africa civil society fully intends to hold our leaders accountable for their pledges and they must summon the political will to fulfil them.”

Rotimi Sankore of CREDO emphasised that the development aspects of the Gender Declaration are just as important and go hand in hand.

 “SADC member states are so far behind targets to make reproductive and other health care services more accessible to women that it may not be an exaggeration to describe it as criminal negligence. For instance, maternal mortality is unacceptably high. **123,000 women died in Southern and East Africa in 2000, and 980 women per 100,000 still die at child birth annually in southern Africa compared to 13 per 100,000 in western Europe. This clearly violates the right to life and adequate healthcare and undermines development.

Elaborating further, he stated that: “Can you imagine the outcry if for some reason an equivalent number of men died whenever their wives gave birth.”

CREDO and GEMSA also called on the SADC Countries
“To strongly factor in Gender in developing their budget’s as a realistic means of meeting targets set by the Gender Declaration”

 They further called on all SADC countries to follow the examples of Namibia, Lesotho and South Africa in ratifying the African Union Protocol on Women’s Rights stating that:

“There is no tenable excuse for not having ratified the women’s protocol two years after its adoption at the African Union Summit Maputo”

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**Statistics from World Health Organisation, UNICEF and UNFPA.

Editors Note: GEMSA and CREDO urge the southern African media in particular to work with them towards “encouraging the mass media to disseminate information and materials in respect of human rights of women…” as contained in section H(X) of the SADC Gender Declaration.

GEMSA
Gender and Media Southern African (GEMSA) Network is an umbrella organisation of individuals and institutions who work to promote gender equality in and through the media. GEMSA has its roots in the historic Southern African Gender and Media Summit attended by 184 participants from around the region as well as international observers in September 2004.

Members include the Media Institute of Southern Africa and its country chapters; Gender Links and affiliated gender and media networks in eight countries; the Federation of African Media Women and country affiliates; editors forums; media training institutions; media NGOs including the media monitoring projects in the region; NGOs that promote gender justice and media practitioners.

Contacts:
Gender Links, Lower Ground Floor, Lakeside Place 1 Ernest Oppenheimer St, Bruma Lake 2198, Johannesburg. South Africa. Phone 27-11-622-2877, Fax: 27-11-622-4732 E-MAIL:, E-mail: [email protected], Website: http://www.genderlinks.org.za/
Or
Executive - Gender & Chapter Support, MISA Regional Secretariat, 21 Johann Albrecht Street, Private Bag 13386, Windhoek, NAMIBIA. Tel: +264 61 232975, Fax: +264 61 248016, [email protected], Website: www.misa.org

CREDO
The Centre for Research, Education & Development Of [CREDO] Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights is an African led organization working on Freedom of Expression & Key Associated Rights including: the Right to be Free from Discrimination - based on Gender, Citizenship Rights, the Rights to Assembly, Association, Political Participation, Access to the Media for all/Media Freedom. CREDO believes that these Rights are interwoven and are best promoted in a holistic way.

 One of the key objectives behind CREDO’s formation, is to respond to the growing influence of sub-regional intergovernmental organisations such as: the East African Community (EAC); Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS); Southern African Development Community (SADC) etc; and the African Union [which was then still in its formative stages]. CREDO also acts an interface between North and South on African and Africa related issues.
-CREDO aims to, through monitoring, public education, campaigns, advocacy, network building and the development of legal and rights standards to ensure that (alongside national level rights work) rights issues are firmly at the centre of the evolution of African sub-regional and continental inter-governmental organizations and institutions as their influence grows over a wide range of issues including citizenship rights and governance at the national level.

CREDO works with and through networks and associates composed of organisations and rights experts across Africa.

CREDO for Freedom of Expression & Associated Rights
Int. Office 73-75 Newington Causeway, London, SE1 6BD, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7787 5501 Fax: +44 (0)20 7787 5502
Email: [email protected]

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