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SADC Ministers Want More Advancement for Women
The ministers responsible for Women' s affairs in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have called on member states to give women more chances in their decision-making posts.
A report from the meeting of SADC Ministers of Women's Affairs, which ended in Maputo on Saturday, said that while some states had made significant progress in opening access for women to greater participation in political life, it seemed improbable that most SADC members would meet the target date of 2005 for achieving a minimum of 30 percent of decision making posts occupied by women.
The ministers are thus recommending to the next SADC heads of state summit, due to be held in Malawi in August that constitutions in the region be amended to stipulate specific minimum quotas for women in southern African parliaments and other key state institutions.
Of the 14 SADC member states, only South Africa, Mozambique, Seychelles and Swaziland have met a reasonable proportion of women in their parliaments.
In the other ten member states, women account for less than 20 percent of the parliamentarians.
According to the spokesperson for the meeting, Josefa Langa, one of the great victories for women of the region was the declaration on gender and development signed by the SADC heads of state and government in 1997. This declaration refers specifically to the need to eradicate all forms of violence against women and children.
The SADC was formally established in Windhoek on August 17, 1992 with the signing of three documents by the heads of state and government of 10 southern African countries. By the end of 1997, there are 14 members: Angola, Botswana, Democratic Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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