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Gibson Mhaka, Senior Features Reporter
UNEQUAL political and economic representation as well as decision-making processes and leadership of women in relation to men undoubtedly remain a major problem in all developing countries.

Despite considerable progress on many aspects of women’s economic empowerment through increases in educational attainment and share of paid work, women continue to be absent from key political positions and decision-making forums shaping the allocation of economic resources and opportunities, which further perpetuates gender inequality.

Gender inequality is, in fact, manifested in every aspect of public life in developing countries like Zimbabwe despite the prevalent belief that the modern society is matrilineal and more liberal.

Studies by gender activists shows that women continue to face discrimination in access to land, housing, property and other productive resources and have limited access to technologies and services that could alleviate their work burdens.

It is against this background that promotion of income opportunities equally for women and men should be one of the key priorities of every developing country since it is critical for the achievement of gender equality and empowerment of women and for equitable and sustainable economic growth and development.

This is because unequal access to resources limits women’s capacity to ensure agricultural productivity, security of livelihoods and food security and is increasingly linked to poverty, migration and increased risk of violence.

According to a report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) which is one of the key organisations in promoting decent and productive employment and income opportunities equally for women and men, while millions of women have become successful entrepreneurs, women are still grossly underrepresented in the world’s board rooms.

The report says this is due to women’s socio-economic disadvantages caused by gender-based discrimination and their double roles of being a worker and a care taker for the society and largely, because of persistent social norms ascribing gender roles, which are often, slow to change.

Gender activist, Ms Nyasha Nyoni, said women and gender concerns are largely absent from the decision-making processes and leadership in the country as women were considered to be too weak and vulnerable to be good leaders or major decision-makers.

“Men strongly dominated decision-making processes and leadership in the country. They are seen as natural leaders, whereas women were considered to be too weak and vulnerable to be good leaders or major decision-makers. These perceptions down played the important roles played by women in the leadership positions, decision-making and their capabilities of becoming successful leaders and major decision-makers.

“An appeal should be made to give women a chance to demonstrate their capabilities rather than suppress them based on unproven assumptions.
Furthermore, women should be encouraged to organise themselves in their fight for a greater recognition of their capacities as leaders and for a greater involvement in decision-making processes at all levels,” observed Ms Nyoni.

She said cultural stereotypes justify women’s exclusion from negotiating tables, adding that in addressing the economic potential and independence of women, governments and other actors should promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective in all policies and programmes so that before decisions are taken, an analysis is made of the effects on women and men respectively.

Legal and customary barriers to ownership of or access to land, natural resources, capital, credit, technology and other means of production, as well as wage differentials, also contribute to impeding the economic progress of women.

Although, political participation allows women to address their basic problems and needs in their community, segregation is still a dominant pattern in politics where women still remain seriously underrepresented in decision-making positions.

In a recent post election statement, the Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) said while it applauds the comparatively peaceful environment before and during the elections they, however, noted with concern that there was lack of legislation to compel political parties to comply with constitutional provision.

“Although women constituted the majority of voters, their participation as candidates was limited as evidenced by the low number of women who succeeded in the primary elections of different political parties (15 percent at national assembly and 17 percent at local government).

“In the actual election the results show that only 12.4 percent women were elected outside the women’s quota for the national assembly. We also noted that while women were the majority in terms of numbers, more men occupied decision-making positions across levels such as constituency elections officers and presiding officers within the election management system while women occupied mostly administrative and support functions,” reads the report in part.

ZGC recommended that political parties should observe the gender parity principle as enshrined in the Constitution by mainstreaming gender in their party constitutions, policies, structures and processes adding that in future, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) should improve on infrastructure set up and provisions at polling stations to take into consideration gender differences and basic needs.

One of the mandates of the ZGC is derived from Section 246 of the Constitution whose provisions stipulate that the independent body is entitled to monitor issues concerning gender equality and to ensure gender equality as provided for in the supreme law of the land.

In the same vein, the Women in Politics Support Unit (WIPSU) while commending President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s commitment to constitutionalism, said women and men should have equal opportunities in all spheres.

“We welcome the commitment to constitutionalism that the President made at his inauguration and accordingly draw his attention to Section 56 (2) of the Constitution which provides that women and men have the right to equal treatment, including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres.

“Therefore, we strongly urge the President to stand guided by the principle of equality and non-discrimination,” noted WIPSU.

There is no doubt that women’s participation in politics helps advance gender equality and affects both the range of policy issues that get considered and the types of solutions that are proposed.

The Sadc Gender Protocol Barometer 2014, produced by Gender Links, argues that “elections are one opportunity to increase women’s representation, raise issues of gender inequality and women’s human rights, and to press for greater government accountability on gender sensitivity.”

Contrary to the expectation that elections are an opportunity to increase women’s representation, the July 30 harmonised elections in Zimbabwe have actually seen a decrease, as 25 females were elected as members of the National Assembly with 185 being males.

The Barometer further says that although the Zimbabwean elections will be remembered for women finding their voice, as four women participated as presidential candidates; they however, failed to make any significant electoral headway.

This is an indication that gender balance in politics and decision-making remains unfinished business in Zimbabwe. A major contributing factor to this is the unequal access to the resources needed to successfully seek nominations or participate in electoral campaigns.

There is no doubt that insufficient attention to gender analysis has meant that women’s contributions and concerns remain too often ignored in political, economic and leadership structures and as a result, many policies and programmes may continue to contribute to inequalities between women and men.

The positive impact of women in politics is undeniable. Former Secretary General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Laureate the late Kofi Annan once noted, “Study after study has taught us, there is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.

No other policy is as likely to raise economic productivity or to reduce child and maternal mortality. No other policy is as sure to improve nutrition and promote health, including the prevention of HIV and Aids. No other policy is as powerful in increasing the chances of education for the next generation.”

In other words, the world is wasting a precious resource in the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions, often resulting in the exclusion of their talents and skills in political life.

Meanwhile, one area that is believed to break down the barriers to gender equality and empower women politicians is through interparty dialogue. Cooperation across party lines has the strongest potential to put gender-based issues into national political agendas.

This has proven to be the case in Zambia, where women’s issues were put above political party concerns. A communiqué on gender and democracy was issued by five political parties, expressing their commitment to push for the attainment of 50-50 gender parity.