WUNRN
Namibia - Women in Government - Numbers Decline
By Brigitte Weidlich
|
WINDHOEK,
Namibia, Dec 28, 2010 (IPS) - Twenty years after independence, representation
of women in senior government structures and in Parliament is declining in
In 2010
However,
following the 2009 November national elections women's representation in
Parliament declined from 30.8 per cent to 20 per cent. Only 16 women are now
Members in the National Assembly, which has 72 elected seats.
Fifteen of
the women in Parliament are from the ruling South West Africa Peoples
Organisation (SWAPO) party, among them five Cabinet ministers and four
deputies. Only two women MPs are from opposition parties. The Deputy Speaker is
a woman. Cabinet representation of women stands at 22.7 percent.
While SADC
already targeted 30 percent women in decision-making positions by 2005, the
2008 Protocol strives to achieve 50 percent of women in such positions in the
public and private sector by 2015.
This target
is in line with that of the African (AU)
The Protocol
is only enforced once two-thirds of all the applicable countries ratify it.
At the
annual SADC summit in the Namibian capital of
Jo-Ann
Coetzee, Gender Project Assistant at Women's Leadership Centre, wants more to
be done. "I think here in
The ruling
party’s Women’s Council has already demanded a 50:50 representation in the
party’s hierarchy like the Politburo and its central committee come 2012 - the
next Swapo congress.
Even
Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba was disappointed with the
under-representation of women on his Swapo party list for the November 2010
regional and local authority elections.
Veronica de
Klerk, Executive Director of the local Women’s Action for Development (WAD)
organisation sees the decline in women’s representation as stemming from
political parties low listing of women candidates. "It should be made
compulsory for all parties to introduce an alternate listing system of women on
party lists with men, meaning a 50:50 share or zebra listing" says De
Klerk.
In the
Namibian Cabinet the ministers for justice, finance, gender equality/child
welfare, home affairs and environment/tourism are women and four women are
deputy ministers in the health, defence, gender equality and regional
development portfolios.
But have
they made their mark? Finance Mister Saara Kuugongelwa Amadhila- Kuugongelwa,
who was appointed in 2003, reduced national debt and the budget deficit
considerably during her term in office. The tax regime was also revised and the
Financial Intelligence Act was drafted and promulgated to curb money laundering
and fraud.
Dianne
Hubbard of the Legal Assistance Centre's Gender Research & Advocacy Project
in
The Local
Authorities Act of 1992 requires that over 30 per cent of candidates on every
party list for local elections must be women. "This law has worked very
well with over 42 per cent of local council members being women," says
Hubbard. Regional Councils, where there is no legal requirement for affirmative
action, consist of only about 11 percent of women.
The
Traditional Authorities Act of 1995 also requires traditional authorities to
promote women to positions of leadership, Hubbard points out.
The
Combating of Domestic Violence Act of 2003 was the result of strong advocacy by
women’s groups. Some 250 people demanded a law on this issue at the opening of
Parliament in 2003. "To help put these laws into action,
Before
The Married
Persons Equality Act changed this in 1996 and wives now have the same rights as
their husbands.