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Women in decision-making: Meeting Challenges: Creating Change
Southern Africa HIV and Aids Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS)
March 08, 2006

http://www.safaids.org.zw/viewinfo.cfm?id=196&linkid=4&siteid=1

"The world is also starting to grasp that there is no policy more effective in promoting development, health and education than the empowerment of women and girls." - Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General. Message for International Women’s Day 2006

On March 8th, men and women throughout the world commemorate International Women’s Day. This year’s theme is "Women in Decision-making: Meeting Challenges: Creating Change. It is a very important theme because for gender equality to be a reality, women need to be full participants within all spheres of society. They need to have the power to make decisions that influence their personal, professional and civic lives. The Beijing Platform for Action in 2004 concluded that; ‘without active participation of women and the active in-corporation of women’s perspectives in all levels of decision making the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved".

In November 1997, the SADC heads of state adopted a Declaration on Gender and Development that pledged to reach a target of 30% women in all spheres of decision- making by 2005. Currently the proportion of women in parliament in SADC is 17.9% (with at least 5 countries above 15%). This is considerably higher than the global average of 13.4 %. However experience has shown that there is no direct relationship between the level of development in a country and the degree of representation of women in leadership. The major barriers to effective participation in leadership and decision making for women include the deeply ingrained cultural and traditional stereotypes around the role of women, institutional cultures and health challenges like HIV and AIDS. The intersection of the HIV and AIDS crisis with poverty, unemployment, lack of education, and responsibilities for caring for sick family members further limits opportunities for women and girls to contribute meaningfully to development.

Although the impact of HIV/AIDS on women in Africa has been well documented and lamented by global leaders like Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan, little progress has been made in addressing the fundamental drivers of the epidemic which include gender inequality, cultural and traditional practices and economic situations that have brought untold suffering to women and have interfered with women’s ability to bring about meaningful change when they have found themselves in key decision making positions

For this International Women’s Day, SAfAIDS is calling on all women in leadership positions to take a stand in addressing the epidemic. As stated by Graca Machel at the SAfAIDS Gender Symposium held in Swaziland in 2005, "Women must assert their right to live. It is time to say enough is enough. I am calling for a social movement like the one that brought down apartheid. Those who are oppressed first liberate themselves and then liberate others. That is the history of the liberation movements all over Africa"

Women are at the epicentre of the epidemic. Therefore, it is women who should liberate themselves first. Like most liberation struggles in Africa, this one will eventually be won when women stand side by side with their man. On this important day, we are calling for women to take a leading role in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Firstly, women need to take a stand because they are the most affected. Approximately 57% of people living with HIV in southern Africa are women and more than 52% of people that die of AIDS in southern Africa are women. (UNAIDS, 2005). Secondly, women need to take action for their children -our sons, and daughters of the next generation who need care and support to remain healthy.

We are calling women to take action- NOW!!- by directly confronting the cultural and social factors that expose women to a higher risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.

We are calling on women in leadership/decision making positions to make use of their strategic positions to demand accountability from all stakeholders and governments, by challenging them to demonstrate impact of HIV responses and programs in addressing the issues of women. They must mobilise others and create a sense of urgency and outcry that can ultimately give rise to the emergence of strong and meaningful responses from men and women of all sectors and classes. Women in decision- making positions must champion the cause and fight injustices against women in Africa at national, regional and international fora.

According to Collen Lowe Morna of Gender Links, "transformation is about what difference women make to the institutional culture and exercise of power, as well as to making laws and policies of delivery of services." On this International Women’s Day, we acknowledge the progress made in empowering women in decision- making. However, we call on them to become more effective participants- to become transformers of society through appropriate capacity building and training. SAfAIDS believes that it is paramount for governments and donors to provide resources to build the capacity of women in decision-making position and to support their action in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

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