WOMEN DILEMMAS IN POLITICS

 Women represent more than half of the world’s population and just less than half of the global electorate. Nevertheless, women constitute a marginal proportion of representatives in the world’s legislative bodies. The average rate of female representation in national Parliaments stands at a meagre representation.

Many Southern Africa countries have yet managed notably limited success in rectifying these imbalances. In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of women seated in Parliament grew in 2018, with a regional average share at 23.7 per cent, according to the 2019 edition of the biennial Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Map of Women in Politics. The IPU, made up of more than 170 national Parliaments from around the world, tracks the number of women elected to Parliaments globally, every year, and produces an analysis that helps monitor progress, setbacks and trends.

The Convention on the Political Rights of Women provides for equal political rights for women. Under this convention, states are obligated to ensure that women have the right not only to vote in elections but also take part as candidates representing their constituents, to be elected to publicly elected bodies, and to hold public office on equal terms with men. Women are entitled to be free from discrimination in the exercise of these rights.

Articles 1 and 2 (7) provide for the right to vote and to be elected to publicly elected bodies, such as Parliaments, established by national law. These are the basic rights which all people must have to express their interest and protect themselves against discrimination or deprivation of liberty. The Charter of the United Nations reaffirms in its preamble the principles of equal rights for men and women.

The first General Assembly endorsed these rights when it unanimously adopted the resolution recommending that all member states, which had not already done so, adopt measures necessary to fulfil the purposes and aims of the charter, in this respect, by granting women the same political rights as men.

Terms

This convention spells out this recommendation in clear and practical terms, on which all parties in a country can unite. Article 3 (8) of this convention goes beyond the basic rights in Articles 1 and 2 into the matter of public office. It provides that women shall be entitled to hold public office established by national law on the same terms as men, and to exercise all public functions in the same way. The object of this article is to encourage opportunities for women in government service.

Taking measures to enhance the status and visibility of women is critical for sustainable progress against the range of human development indicators, both because women are particularly vulnerable to social and economic marginalisation when resources are scarce, and because women are critical agents in the development processes. According to various international reports, development can be severely hampered by the breadth of the gender gap and limited female participation in traditionally male dominated institutions and social strata. There are countless studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of women’s empowerment as a tool for development.

For example, there is enough evidence and have experienced rapid progress in improving health and reducing mortality and fertility rates, the benefits of which affect men as well as women and in these scenarios women also play a vital social and economic role. This correlation should not be surprising, given that nutrition and child health generally fall within the remit of the woman’s household decisions.

Children

Ultimately, healthy, educated and empowered women are more likely to raise healthy, educated and confident children and engage positively with the life of the community, according to UNICEF. To eliminate gender discrimination and promote female empowerment, women’s decision making capacity must therefore be enhanced within the household, workplace and political sphere. Increased political influence should have reverberations for women’s equality in the other two realms, which will in turn have implications for Eswatini’s performance against all milestones for social progress.

“We still have a steep road ahead, but the growing proportion of women ministers is encouraging, especially where we see a rise in the number of countries with gender-balanced ministerial cabinets,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Women Executive Director. She urged countries to make bold moves to dramatically increase women’s representation in decision making.

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