Political Participation & Leadership

It has been argued that where women are fully represented, societies are more peaceful and stable. Women's political participation is fundamental for gender equality and their representation in positions of leadership must be a priority for all African governments. Women are largely under-represented in decision-making and leadership positions in Africa.

Over the last years, there has been more women in parliaments and decision-making positions than before. In the parliamentary elections of Rwanda in September 2013 women obtained 64 percent of the seats, which is the highest number in the world. However, women's participation in governmance and decision-making remain very limited. They are outnumbered by men in all decision-making and leadership positions.

In the history of Africa, there are now three women who have been elected president:

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – President of the Republic of Liberia
Joyce Banda – President of the Republic of Malawi
Catherine Samba-Panza – Interim President of the Central African Republic

There is progress here and there on the continent regarding women's rights . We must go much further to ensure greater gender equality in Africa. It is not just a matter of justice....When women take their rightful place at the negotiating table, in the parliament and in leadership positions across society, we can unleash Africa’s enormous potential..." UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

To learn more about women's political participation, please visit the following websites:

Source: All Africa

Africa's billion citizens are the continent's greatest asset - the potential source of a dynamic workforce and an increasingly compelling consumer market.

Kenya

Source: All Africa

A report released by the Gender Monitoring Office, shows that women massively participated in the just concluded local elections.

Rwanda

Source: All Africa

Kenyan women have a huge task ahead if they are to achieve the basic one-third representation in the next government.

Kenya

Source: All Africa
A gender-sensitive political organization, "Network of Women Politicians" has appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to improve on the number of Northern women in the proposed cabinet

Nigeria

Source: All Africa
Concern Universal Tuesday launched a women empowerment project at the governor's bantaba in Mansanjang, Basse, Upper River Region (URR).

Gambia

Source: All Africa
It will be difficult to enforce the requirement that a third of elected officials be women, the interim electoral commission has said.

Kenya

Source: All Africa
A socio-political pressure group known as Parliamentary Civil Society Partnership Initiative, (PCSPI) has described the recent election of principal officers of the House of Representatives as a blatant display of gender discrimination and

Nigeria

Source:All Africa
Increasing the number of women representation in legislative bodies within the African Commonwealth region is on the agenda of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) as they meet in Kigali.

Source: All Africa
A lot has been said about President Museveni's new Cabinet choices. Some names have attracted criticism while others have been praised. In explaining his choices, the President made mention of a "cross-generation" Cabinet that was picked on the basis of unity, mobilisation ability and expertise.

Uganda

Source: All Africa
Is it possible for a female to become president of our nation now or in the near future? In the whole of Africa, there is only one woman sitting president in the person of Madam Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia.

Ghana

Source: All Africa
The struggle has indeed been a long one. We have fought for more than ten years. We went to nearly every village in Mauritius using the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender and Development as a tool to tell men and women about the importance of having women in politics.