Commonwealth Leaders contend that women are central to peace, security, development and nation-building, thus, they must strive to raise the profiles of women in politics and decision-making in their respective countries.
The 54-member nations of the Commonwealth are also members of the UN family which have set a host of resolutions, since 1945, aimed to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW ). They also form part of regional bodies that have set and agreed on time frame to reach between 30-50 per cent gender parity in decision-making levels come 2015.
But, while the UN and regional instruments have been signed by member countries of the Commonwealth little has been achieved to realize this goal.The Commonwealth 80 years ago embraces three aspirations of Democracy, Development and Diversity while offering global wisdom and value by striving for equity and in service of the people. In the history of 80 years of the commonwealth, three out of the 54 Heads of Government are women, accounting for 3.75 per cent of the Commonwealth Leaders.
They are: Ms Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Ms Julia Gillard, the Prime Minister of Australia and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina. In an unexpected move, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain and Head of the Commonwealth took a souvenir photograph with “the rare species of the Commonwealth.”
Both Ms Hasina and Kamla, in the key notes address to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHO GM 2011) held in Perth, the Capital City of west Australia ast month, talked of “The need of empowering women and “women as agents of change” in the Commonwealth.Sheikh Hasina said women’s empowerment is central to progress and economic development of the Commonwealth.
“I feel it is vital for adequate progress and development, and yet achievable within a reasonable time, is women’s empowerment,” she said in her address to CHO GM 2011. She added: “Women’s empowerment is a global challenge, and in the Commonwealth, it needs a more fundamental role as it is at the crux of the Commonwealth’s core values of human rights.
In fact, the Commonwealth success in upholding its ideals and principles would largely depend on how innovatively it assimilates women as equal partners in governance and development activities.”The Commonwealth, on the other hand, dedicated this year’s Commonwealth Day to “women as agents of change.” In addition, on March 8, 2011, the world community observed the centenary of the International Women’s Day.
The Commonwealth Day was this year celebrated under the theme “Women as Agents of Change” in recognition of the fact that empowering women and girls is an essential prerequisite to achieving sustained economic development. Great strides have been made, at international and regional levels to raise the status of women and, thus, raised the profiles of several countries social, political and economic developments.
“We celebrate the great strides that women have made ever since the first women’s suffrage women’s movement when they (women) had raised their voices against exploitation, low wages, hostile working conditions about 100 years ago. “The progress encourages us to aim for equal partnership of women and men in transforming the social and political landscape of the world,” noted Sheikh Hasina.
Ms Kamla Persad-Bissessar became the first female Prime Minister of Trinidad and Togabo and the first female chair-in-office of the Commonwealth, said empowering women and girls is an essential prerequisite to achieving sustainable economic, social and political development.
She handled over the mantle to the Australian Prime Minister, Ms Julia Gillard as the new chair of the Commonwealth until 2013.She said women must be given a voice through representational politics “if we are to achieve gender equality in and outside of the Commonwealth.”Ms Kamla expressed optimism that the Commonwealth Heads of Governments are fully aware of the potential and successes that could be unleashed in countries where there is greater gender parity “yet there is a lot to be done to overcome the pressing inequalities still confronting many women in the Commonwealth.”
But, despite the political will on the part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government on the important of empowering women in the Commonwealth, the general picture indicates a different scenario. For the 80 years of the Commonwealth only 3.75 per cent of the 54 leaders are women.The Secretary General of the Commonwealth Parliamentarian Association (CPA) Dr William Shija, admits that this is an area where the Commonwealth has not done enough-to empower their women in decision making particularly in the political leadership.
“The area that we have not been very successful is to encourage member nations of the Commonwealth to elect more women into their parliaments. It true there are several countries that have made good progress in this area such as Rwanda by involving more women to participate in the leadership of their country through their parliament. “Tanzania and South Africa started well but they seem to be stagnant.
They should do more. But there are countries whose women representation in their parliaments is only one to two per cent. This is not encouraging, we need to do better in this,” Dr Shija said recently in an interview in the sidelines of the CHJOGM 2011 in Perth, Australia.
According to Dr Shija, parliamentarians in Commonwealth member countries need to encourage their women to seek elective positions in their respective countries.
“More importantly, there should be a level field in political activities to ensure both men and women get fair deal in the process-but this is lacking in many countries because of corruption in politics,” he noted.Women in Tanzania, like anywhere else in the Commonwealth, are facing a host of challenges that impede their empowerment.
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