WUNRN
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Women must overcome cultural and practical barriers to
earn a voice in politics, say NGOs |
KAILAHUN, 10 March 2009
(IRIN) - In Kailahun, Sierra Leone, the poorest region in the world's poorest
country, women are trying to effect change on the issues that matter to
them – maternal mortality, girls’ education, teenage pregnancy, literacy rates
for women – by entering political office.
One in eight Sierra Leonean women die in childbirth, the
majority of women are illiterate, and just one in five girls finish secondary
school, according to the UN Children’s Fund's (UNICEF) 2009 State of the
World’s Children report.
“We [women] have to advocate for change in the issues
that affect us," said Member of Parliament for Bombali district, Marie
Jalloh, one of Sierra Leone’s 17 female parliamentarians. "And we need to
take informed decisions about our lives – our health, our children’s education,
economic empowerment of women. The best way to do this is by getting into
power."
International NGO Oxfam is working with local women’s
groups to help women gain political power. “We realised that one of the causes
of the war was bad governance and exclusion of marginalised groups,” said
Vrinda Dar, Oxfam programme director in the capital Freetown. “Without good
governance nothing will work, so we decided to promote equal representation of
women in political leadership.”
The programme targets all levels of power, from ward
committees to district councils in Kailahun in the east and Koinadugu in the
north, aiming to dismantle barriers women face in entering politics.
Obstacles to power
Oxfam staff teach women to read, train them in public
speaking and campaigning techniques, and try to ease fears among traditional
chiefs and local politicians that women in power pose a threat.
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Marie Jalloh, Member of Parliament for Bombali district |
Women also have to
overcome political rules that often block them out. In Sierra Leone candidates
standing for a political party must be a longstanding member and have
contributed financially to the party, regularly attend meetings and pay local
taxes, according to Koinadugu women’s group chairwoman, Haja Bintu Mansaray.
These criteria automatically bar most women from engaging, as they are too busy
running the household to attend meetings, and their husband will pay taxes in
his own name, she said.
Oxfam and local NGOs encourage women to pay local taxes
themselves and show women ways to manage their time so they can attend
meetings. In Kailahun Oxfam has given some women’s groups rice milling machines
to free up time by unleashing women from hours of manually pounding grains.
Candidates choosing to run must also first be accepted
by their political party’s electoral committee, which is not easy, according to
Florie De Jager Meezenbroek, governance programme director for Oxfam in Sierra
Leone.
“We have found in Kailahun and Koinadugu, where
political parties want to gain ground, women can be seen as too risky as they
aren’t viewed as vote-catchers,” Meezenbroek told IRIN.
“Men are trying to change their attitude but we still
have a lot to do…especially in rural areas, where men are still threatened by
the presence of women...they think it takes power away from them,” MP Jalloh
told IRIN.
Intimidation, harassment
In the run-up to her election as MP for the All People’s
Congress in Bombali, members of the opposition parties used every tactic to knock her
out of the campaign, she says.
...There is lots of harassment of women in elections....We
encourage women to keep on going as long as it’s safe...
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“The local authorities used all their power to
eliminate me from the race. Dogs came, vehicles came, they tried to kidnap
me…but I had connections and told everyone what was going on,” she told IRIN,
explaining how opponents set dogs on her house to try to intimidate her.
“There is lots of harassment of women in elections,”
Oxfam's Meezenbroek said. “We encourage women to keep on going as long as it’s
safe. If the parties don’t vote them in, we encourage them to run
independently.”
Eight of the 17 women in the 2007 Kailahun race were
independents. And Meezenbroek said she knew of no woman who stepped down due to
pressure.
Results
Results of the 2007 poll were mixed: Eight women
candidates were voted onto the district council in Koinadugu, which previously
had no women, while in Kailahun the number of female winners dropped from seven
to three.
But Susan Vandy, chair of local non-profit the Kailahun
Tortoma Women’s network, (KTWN) at a celebration in Kailahun for International
Women’s Day on 8 March, told IRIN the numbers do not tell it all. “This [the
Kailahun result] was a pity, but all the women candidates stood together and by
doing this they increased awareness of women’s issues, and many of the votes
were very close.”
The three women who were voted in occupy more serious,
strategic roles, she added, which shows women are gaining ground.
District councilor Sam Amara told IRIN: “You can really
see the difference in the council now that women are mobilised. In the past
women were put in charge of only gender issues, but now there is a woman in
charge of education, and it is having an impact in boosting girls’ school
attendance.”
To ensure they keep up the momentum, KTWN’s Vandy said,
women candidates must unite and support each other. “Strengthening our networks
keeps up political momentum on women’s issues...In Kailahun now we are
well-organised; we are able to keep up the pressure for our leaders to take
action. This must continue if our daughters are to go to school, our health
clinics improve, and if we are to become financially stronger.”
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