This
week - 04 April 2007
Changing Goalposts - The position of women in elections
By Netsai
In many parts of Africa, the position of women in elections
has always been that of the receivers rather than the opinion
leaders, the people to be voted for. Political parties have
been predominantly structured along patriarchal settings,
where the leadership roles are supposedly the male domain,
whilst women and children offer support and boost the morale
of the male members in question.
As
a result of this, many women have been sidelined in mainstream
political leadership and decision making, making it difficult
for the views of women and children to be considered within
political decision making.
It is sad to note that Zimbabwe, which has a vibrant women
participation base in local government, has not created
an opportunity for the maximum integration of women councillors
and policy makers within its fold. The result has often
been the misrepresentation of women's interests in budgeting,
city planning as well as in key areas such as urban agriculture.
Women
are by far the largest consumers of local governments' social
amenities. We do not have to look further than the obvious
to understand this point. Water and Sanitation, for example,
are integral to the execution of household functions which
have been largely relagated to the women. Women have to
bathe infants and prepare food for the family, clean the
home and ensure that a hyeginic regime is maintained throughout
the household. If councils do not consider the input of
women in local government budgeting, then the prioritisation
of essential services such as the one above will be lost
to the mundane requests for the upgrading of entertainment
points, which are largely inaccessible to the womenfolk.
Efforts
by organisations like the Urban Councils Association of
Zimbabwe to create forums for women councillors are commendable
but more needs to be done. The Women in Politics Support
Unit recently carried out a gender Audit of the Urban Councils
Act (Chapter 19:15) and the results were in favour of the
augmentation of women's participation in local government
elections. What we need to see is the development of such
initiatives into policy functions geared at producing tangible
results for the women in Zimbabwe.
Keep
up the good work WiPSU!
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