Refocusing On Women’s Priorities and Changing Policies In Sub-Saharan Africa
Refocusing On Women’s Priorities and Changing Policies In Sub-Saharan Africa
- Introduction
Africa is the continent with the most diverse ethnicity and languages. There are 54 countries within Africa, but it is still considered the poorest and the most underdeveloped continents despite its vast culture and rich natural resources. In Africa, women represent half of the population living under the poverty line. Women’s invisibility in policy and decision-making in Africa has created a significant absence of policies regarding women’s issues. In Africa, women’s representation is meager. In Sub-Saharan Africa, discriminatory practices against women’s participation in decision making have raised global concern among scholars and writers in the last few years. This memorandum will first outline the lack of political participation in governmental policies and women related issues in Sub Saharan Africa.
Since half of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa live under the poverty line, emphasizing women’s policies and giving them more opportunities will positively affect women’s political participation. According to Rebecca Lefton’s research, a non-profit manager explained that eliminating poverty requires countries to provide opportunities, especially for women, to break the cycle of poverty and have better upward mobility. In Sub-Saharan Africa, many women live below the poverty line. The lack of policies and governmental decisions protecting women’s rights impacts women’s physical and emotional well-being. The percentage of women participating in the intergovernmental policy process is meager. For instance, women face some discriminations in a non-governmental organization like contract Breach in the African Union and not equal participation to men. Under the Constitutive Act of the African Union, states should have a 50% representation of women, which is non-existent. This lack of representation hinders the development of many states in the region.
The key to a country’s economic development is gender equality, norms, and increased women’s participation. According to the 1995 Beijing Declaration from the United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women, The United Nations recognized that empowering women is essential to sustainable development” (Lefton, 2013 ). Additionally, she stated that cultural values and traditions tend to affect women’s access to valuable resources and services in their community. Gender discrimination is another component that impacts women because it places barriers on women’s rights and basic needs—denying them the right to own properties, resources and joining various political offices. For instance, women’s participation in the labor market and their participation in political decisions are some restrictions women face in Sub Saharan Africa.
Certain countries are improving their representation of women’s participation in political offices, but there is still an improvement. According to the scholarly journal African Renewals, “Between 2000 and 2002, elections were held in 23 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, with increases in women parliamentarians in 14 of them. Most of the countries that have achieved significant increases in women’s participation have done so through the use of quotas” (Gumisai, 2004). There was a high rise in women’s leadership and decision-making in Africa between 1995 and 2005. In Mozambique (34.8 percent), South Africa (32.8 percent), Tanzania (30.4 percent), Uganda, Burundi (30.5 percent), Rwanda (48.8 percent), Namibia (26.9 percent), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zubeyr et al. (2013 ) stated that the introduction of a gender quota system increased the number of women involved in public decision-making.
The inclusion of women in politics worldwide is infrequent. The pressures political women place on their country has led to “gender-sensitive policies.” Because of women, various African states have enacted favorable and contemporary laws regarding affirmative action towards women. In South Africa, abortion rights, strict domestic violence legislation, and child support rules have all been put in place to benefit women (Gumisai, 2004). Therefore increasing the level of women’s participation in governmental decisions in Sub Saharan will have some impact on the region and improve women’s policies and overcome women’s issues in Sub-Saharan Africa like it did in Southern Africa.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, Women’s rights are violated because of corrupt officials’ unstable institutions and the lack of transparency from the intergovernmental organization and political leaders. Policymaking in Africa is male-dominated, which creates a huge issue on the policies created regarding women’s issues. Therefore, this memorandum will recommend organizations to increase women governmental decision in Sub- Saharan Africa. This will increase women’s governmental participation in inter-governmental organizations like the African Union, Ecowas, the United Nations.
