The Namibian Women's Manifesto Network: 5% to 50% women and men in regional government--get the balance right! Election Campaign 2004 for gender balance among regional councillors and gender policies in regional councils.

What is the current representation of women in regional government in Namibia?

In Namibia, more than half of the population are women, and more than 52 percent of voters are women. Yet there are only 5 women compared to 96 men currently serving on our regional councils. This very low representation of women sends out the message that regional politics is men's business. It also denies women access to the National Council, which is made up of two representatives from each of the 13 regional councils. We currently have only 2 women compared to 24 men in the National Council.

What are the reasons for the low representation of women in our regional councils?

1. Political parties nominate mostly men as candidates for constituencies in the regional elections. Common reasons given for this is that "women are not ready, not educated enough" to govern our regions. There is also the fear that voters will vote for a man rather than a woman to represent their constituency in the council.

2. Regional politics is closely linked to traditional authorities, which are still dominated by men. Fourty out of 42 traditional chiefs are men, who will pass their positions on to other men. This makes it difficult for women to enter regional politics and be elected onto Regional Councils.

The Namibian Women's Manifesto Network together with its allies now challenges political parties to nominate an equal number of men and women as candidates for the 2004 regional elections, and to educate voters on the need to "vote for a woman!" to get the balance right.

Why should political parties implement 50/50?

1 ... because political parties must implement our Consitution.

The Namibian Constitution states that all people are equal before the law and that no-one may be discriminated against on the grounds of sex or race. (Article 10)

The Constitution points out that women have suffered special discrimination in the past. It says that Parliament may need to take special steps to help women play an equal role in all areas of life in Namibia. (Article 23)

Yet participation in public life, and in particular in politics and decision making, is still seen by many as something that "men do". Women are not encouraged to enter public political life, and those who do face the burden of work both outside and inside the home, as well as a lack of support for their public role.

Political parties must therefore take the lead in leveling the playing field for women, by making space for women to participate equally in politics and educating men to share equally in housework and the raising of children.

2 ... because political parties must implement our National Gender Policy and Plan of Action.

The National Gender Policy states that government shall strive 'to establish mechanisms for attaining the goal of gender balance in government bodies and committees, public administration, judiciary and any other decision making organs'. Further, the National Gender Plan of Action calls for gender balance at all levels of government, including cabinet, by 2003!

3 ... because women bring different perspectives on development challenges and solutions to the table.

In Namibia women and children are the poorest of the poor in our communities. Women work as subsistence farmers, domestic workers and in the informal economy, many of them as single parents with little support from the fathers of their children. They hold families and communities together in the face of poverty, escalating domestic violence and the impact of illness and death as we move from being a society affected by HIV to a society affected by Aids which does not yet provide treatment to all those who need it.

The Namibian Women's Manifesto Network therefore calls on political parties to seriously study the National Gender Policy and the international instruments for gender equality signed by our government, including CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women), the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development, the Beijing Platform for Action and the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. Political parties must develop policies to implement these agreements at the regional level. We urge political parties to set specific time-bound targets that promote gender equality in our families and communities.

We call on women, men and young people to vote for political parties that will work towards gender equality and the empowerment of women in our regions in the following ways:

The Development of Gender Policies

All Regional Councils must use the tool of gender analysis to develop gender policies. This should be done in consultation with the communities to ensure that all development and service delivery strategies adopted by the councils are gender sensitive and result in gender equality in our regions.

The Establishment of Regional Gender Desks

All Regional Councils must establish structures such as gender desks or committees to oversee the implementation of the gender policy, and mechanisms for community participation in the monitoring and evaluation of progress towards gender equality.

Gender Budgeting in the Regional Councils

All Regional Councils must use the tool of gender budgeting to ensure equitable distribution of resources to all citizens as well as to correct past imbalances.

Beyond this, the Namibian Women's Manifesto Network calls on all political parties to spell out how regional councils under their leadership will:

* Develop and implement programmes to eliminate poverty

* Promote the economic independence of women

* Provide access to affordable housing, water and land

* Provide affordable and safe childcare facilities

* Contribute to the combating of violence against women and children

* Support prevention programmes and the pro vision of treatment and care for people living with HIV and Aids

* Promote the reproductive and sexual health and rights of girls and women

* Promote access to education and lifelong learning 

* Promote the equal sharing of domestic re sponsibilities between men and women.

Checklist for Gender Equality in the Regional Government Elections:

* My political party has put forward an equal number of women and men as candidates and has educated voters "to vote for a woman!"

* My political party has included specific and time-bound gender policies in its party plat form.

The power of political parties lies in the vote of women. Women are more than 52% of the voters. Our vote is for 50/50 and for gender policies for Regional Government!

Members of the following organisations are participating in this Campaign:

Sister Namibia--Legal Assistance Centre--Namibian Women's Association--Namibian Girl Child Organisation--Women Support Women--Namibia National Association of Women in Business--Khomas Women in Development--Victory Women's Movement--Namibian Women's Network--Namibian Centre for Women's Leadership--Namibian Association of Differently Abled Women--Namibian Women's Lobby--Namibia Institute for Democracy--Forum for the Future--Namibian National Association of the Deaf--The Rainbow Project--National Society for Human Rights--Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa--Namibian Planned Parenthood Association--Stop the Violence Community Action--Breaking the Wall of Silence--Namibia Media Women's Association--Ombetja Yehinga Organisation--Katutura Community Radio--The Big Issue--Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation--The Rossing Foundation--The Association for Children with Language, Speech and Hearing Impairments of Namibia--Namibia Development Trust--Lironga Eparu--Young Women's Christian Association--Trade Union Congress--Namibian Men for Change--White Ribbon Campaign Namibia--Forum for African Women Educationalists in Namibia--!Nara Training Centre--Namibian Women's Manifesto Network Facilitators and women's groups in 35 towns and villages across Namibia

If you need more information or would like to support this Campaign, please contact Sister Namibia at Tel [phone], Fax 236371, PO Box 40092, Windhoek, Namibia. Email: [e-mail]

This Campaign was made possible through assistance from the Embassy of Finland, Oxfam Canada, Canada Fund, the Royal Netherlands Embassy, HIVOS and the Heinrich Boll Foundation.