“The goal for more women in politics is not fewer men in politics but a more equitable society.” This is a popular statement of the United Nations Development Programme which clearly reaffirms abhorrence at the international level for the lingering culture of gender disparity in the structures of power at the national and local levels.
With only sixteen (16) per cent of women Parliamentarians, Commonwealth West Africa is rated among the lowest on the continent, considering the30 per cent international requirement.
According to the latest world classification of women in Parliament, carried in a report produced by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in March 2011, Rwanda ranks first, globally, out of 188 countries in respect of women’s representation in Parliament.
In Commonwealth West Africa, according to the Report, Sierra Leone ranks 88th with 10 women in a 121-member Legislature, while Ghana places 114th with 19 women out of a total membership of 230 in Parliament, the Gambia with 4 women in a 53-member Parliament, ranking 118th and Nigeria ranking 129th with 13 women out of a total of 312 members in the Lower House of Parliament and 4 women out of a 109-member Senate.
Another survey by the IPU has also revealed that women gave priority to women’s issues such as violence against women and children and women’s property rights when they participated in decision-making.
Again, in 1999, when women’s representation in legislatures doubled globally to 18.2 per cent, issues of concern to women were being taken up in mainstream policy and political debates more often―according to a study of policies in the UK, cited by UNIFEM (2000).
Other studies have also found that women were having a positive impact on accountability in politics, while others suggested that women have made a positive impact on the delivery of services to women and children.
In another study in Norway, direct connection was discovered between the zero per cent of women represented in the city’s social and child care programmes.
With these positive impacts of women’s participation in decision-making in view, it becomes an issue of critical concern for the shrinking levels of women’s involvement in politics and governance.
Women’s engagement with political processes is, in fact, an essential component of democracy and sustainable development and, therefore, the lack of it impacts negatively on the responsiveness of both national and local governments to women’s needs and to gender concerns.
Naturally, there has been responses and efforts made to promote the cause of women and bridge the yawning gap in representation imbalance, notable among which are the African Union Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in 2004, the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action and Affirmative Action Policies and advocacies by women advocates, and the agenda of the Commonwealth Women Parliament (CWP).
One important tool for the promotion and enhancement of women’s participation in politics and for gender mainstreaming in all activities of national life has been identified as political parties.
It is in this connection that this year’s conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentarians Association (CPA) in Accra in November 2011 focussed on political parties as major stakeholders in the political process.
Accordingly, the conference called on political parties to make their constitutions gender-sensitive and clearly spell out in their constitutions the nature and form of support that should be extended to women in the parties.
In addition, provisions must be made in the constitutions of the political parties that encourage more women to aspire for higher executive positions in the parties. Political parties are also required to capacitate women financially and materially when women offer themselves to contest for positions while women’s wings should be developed and structured in a manner that would enable them aspire to and occupy higher positions in the political party structure.
The conference also underscored the need to promote and enhance women’s participation and representation in politics through Affirmative Action measures such as quota systems by means of constitutional guarantees and reforms in electoral laws. In other words national constitutions, electoral codes and legal frameworks on elections must reflect Affirmative Action measures with a focus on gender mainstreaming within the structures and processes of political parties.
Without doubt, the structures, policies, practices and values of political parties have a significant impact on the level of women’s participation in the political life of nations.
Thus if strategies to promote women’s involvement in the political process are to be effective, such strategies should be linked to the activities of political parties across the specific stages of the electoral cycle and to the organization and financing of the parties .
Indeed the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Mission Statement says “We work as trusted partners for all Commonwealth people as a force for peace, democracy, equality and good governance; a catalyst for global consensus-building; and a source of sustainable development and poverty reduction.”
Embedded in this Mission Statement are the Commonwealth’s fundamental values of democracy and good governance, respect for human rights and the rule of law, equality between women and men, girls and boys, and sustainable development and the eradication of poverty.
At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 1991 came the Harare Declaration with gender equality as one of the fundamental principles.
On the basis of this declaration, the Plan of Action on Women and Development (1987) and on Gender and Development (1995) were drawn and updated in 2000 to reflect the emerging gender equality issues in the new Millennium.
Presently, the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality (2005 – 2015) has been drawn to provide the framework within which the Commonwealth will advance its commitment to gender equality and equity.
One question that women’s advocacy groups are posing is: “What is at stake for women in Ghana in the election year 2012?”―And the answer lies in the expectation that Government and political parties must give greater consideration to provisions on gender equality and women’s increased representation for the 2012 Elections so as to promote equity in policy-making.
The focus is essentially on Government and political parties because Governments have the responsibility to give meaning to the international instruments and domestic laws initiated to remove discrimination and to ensure that marginalized and vulnerable groups in society are not excluded in national affairs while political parties are crucial in view of their role in the political socialization of citizens and in the recruitment and selection of candidates for political office.
Year 2012 must, therefore, be a “Year of Action”, not only for social and economic development, but also for gender equity and women’s political emancipation.
Ms Samia Nkrumah, Chairperson Of The Convention People's Party (CPP)