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: The Standard

Joana Mamombe stood out as the youngest MP in the new Parliament when Zimbabwe’s newest crop of legislators took their oaths last week following the controversial July 30 elections.

Mamombe of the MDC Alliance replaced Jessie Majome as the Harare West representative.

The 25-year-old legislator, a molecular biologist, says one of her major priorities in the next five years is to fight cancer.

Mamombe (JM) told our senior parliamentary reporter Veneranda Langa (VL) that she also wants to use her five-year term in the legislature to advance the interests of youths.

Source: New Times Rwanda

Women will take 67.5 per cent of seats in the next Lower House going by the latest results from the just-concluded parliamentary elections.

The National Electoral Commission (NEC) Tuesday released provisional results from legislative elections, which saw the governing RPF-Inkotanyi take most seats out of the 53 that are openly contested for.

RPF won 40 seats in the house after garnering 74 per cent of the votes cast by 6.6 million Rwandans who turned out for the direct vote on Sunday and Monday.

Rwanda

Source: UNIOGBIS News

The law was unanimously voted by the 81 MPs present. The National Assembly (ANP) thus concluded two days of discussion under the leadership of the chairman of the Specialized Commission for Women and Children, Ms. Martina Moniz.

Guinea-Bissau

Source: Ghana Web

Research by the International Republican Institute (IRI) on females’ participation in politics in Ghana has shown that most women refuse to contest political positions for fear of being insulted and tagged as prostitutes.

Ghana

Source: The Economist

Diane Rwigara and the perils of dissent in Rwanda

Rwanda

Source: Voice of America

Born into slavery and kept as a servant for 30 years, Haby Mint Rabah is now running for parliament in Mauritania to fight for freedom in a nation with one of the world's worst slavery rates.Rabah's candidacy is a first for the West African country, where more than two in every 100 people — 90,000 in total — live as slaves, according to the 2018 Global Slavery Index.

Mauritania

Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union News

Djibouti’s new legislature is making great efforts to become more representative of the country’s people. Elections in February changed the composition of the National Assembly with an intake of 60 per cent of new MPs. Women are better represented, making up 26 per cent of the intake, up from 11 per cent in the last legislature; the Assembly is also proactively reaching out to civil society and youth.

Djibouti

Source: UN News

Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka’s comments were made on Sunday in Baidoa, the interim capital of Somalia’s South West State (SWS), at the start of a three-day visit to the country, said UNSOM, the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia. Visiting as part of a delegation led by the Somalian Minister of Women and Human Rights Development, Deqa Yasin, Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka met with the acting president of South West State, Hassan Hussein Mohamed, cabinet ministers, female members of the SWS regional assembly and civil society representatives.

Somalia

Source: New Telegraph

Against all odds, politics in Nigeria is no longer a men’s affair. In this report, WALE ELEGBEDE looks at the women who are after President Muhammadu Buhari’s job ahead of the 2019 election.

Nigeria

Source: Equal Times

Daring to join the male-dominated world of Nigerian politics was a tough decision for Ladi Mamman Watila, particularly in the conservative north-eastern state of Borno. But in 2003, Watila ran for a seat in the House of Representatives (the lower house of the National Assembly of Nigeria) on behalf of the All Nigeria People’s Party. Most of her opponents were men who felt she was better suited to the kitchen than the rough and tumble of national politics.