Let’s double efforts to have more women in decision making - Inonge

Let’s double efforts to have more women in decision making - Inonge
By Mwala Kalaluka
Tue 08 Mar. 2011, 04:02 CAT

INONGE Wina says it is sad that issues of women and their active participation in decision making processes in Zambia just end at talking.

Wina, who is PF national chairperson, said while the issue had been talked about every year, no action had been taken to realise the dream of having more women in decision making.

“I think a lot has been said about women and their active participation in decision making in Zambia,” said Wina in an interview yesterday ahead of International Women's Day which falls today. “It is very sad that it has just become a talk.”

Wina said Zambia needed to look at the many aspects of having more women in decision-making processes.

“We have the issue of poverty in the country and many women are unable to participate fully in the political process,” Wina said. “We have the issue of the role of political parties in enhancing women participation. I think as political parties we haven't done enough to ensure that more women are incorporated in the more senior positions and in sponsoring them to stand as candidates.”

Wina said PF made some strides in the 2006 general elections by adopting women in most areas, especially in Lusaka.

“It's one way of getting more women in Parliament,” she said.

Wina said it was important that Zambia doubles its effort in the process to have more women in decision-making because the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and African Union had raised the threshold of women in decision-making positions from 30 to 50 per cent.

She said more effort should be centered on parliamentary representation.

However, Wina noted that the Zambian Constitution did not help much in the women empowerment process.

She said there was need for some constitutional provisions to help the process of empowering women as the National Constitutional Conference draft constitution was being finalised.

“The electoral system also needs to be refined to include proportional representation,” Wina said. “It is important that the country moves in tandem with the international community, with the SADC community.”

Focusing on the 2011 International Women's Day theme, which talks of access to education, training, science and technology as a pathway to decent work for women, Wina said the theme was timely in view of the rapid technological changes and increasing need for a skills-based workforce.

But Wina said Zambia continued to lag behind many countries in the area of girls' education and women empowerment.

She said some of the factors behind the status quo included lopsided cultural and traditional socialisations and wrong perceptions that caused girls to receive less education compared to the boys.
Wina said the girls were regarded as an essential tool for household subsistence.

“The only premium that some parents place on their daughters is lobola or bride price,” said Wina.

“Girls are forced into early marriages thus curtailing their potential to access education let alone going into science and technology. Our country has to make some very serious adjustments in the way that they bring up their children if we desire to make our country move forward.”