Source: Coastweek
NAIROBI, (Xinhua) -- A Kenyan lawmaker has urged African women not to stop at the one-third minimum that the African Union (AU) charter on women’s rights accords them on political equality, but should demand for even more.
Speaking during the occasion to mark the 10th Anniversary of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa on Friday, Nairobi, Nairobi County Women’s Representative to the Kenyan National Assembly, Rachel Shebesh said women should now demand for 50-50 share of social and political rights.
“I am a product of affirmative action. I hold a political office not because I am loved by all people, but owing to the fact that Kenya is a signatory to the agreement that opened space for us to compete with men on the political sphere,” Shebesh said. She described the protocol, better known as the Maputo Protocol, as the single-most important legislation that has given the African woman her comprehensive rights.
The protocol, which was adopted by the AU in 2003, also guarantees social equality with men as well as control over their reproductive health including an end to female genital mutilation.
Shebesh said women have not only gained political mileage, but were as well ‘shining’ in other areas where they now hold influential positions in government and private sector.
“The next generation of African leaders should produce the next presidents. Nobody said that once you get the one-third minimum you should not ask for more.”
The protocol was signed by 46 out of the 53 member countries of the AU and so far only 46 countries have ratified and deposited the protocol, with Botswana, Egypt, Eritrea and Tunisia having neither signed nor ratified the protocol.
Executive Director of the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) Dinah Musindarwezo said that though much has changed in terms of the rights to women, much still needs to be done, especially in the area of women empowerment.
“Overall, the growth has been tremendous, though the path has not been easy. Resistance has come from both men and women which pushed us to understand the depth of the culture of patriarchy.”
Though Kenya has 75 women in the National Assembly out of 349 seats, only five per cent (16) were elected from the constituencies. The rest, 47 were elected from the counties as women’s representatives whereas 12 were nominated by political parties.
On the continental scene, Africa has two female presidents, namely Joyce Banda of Malawi and Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.