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G21 AFRICA - INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2007: Contributor MORAA GITAA reports on the events and programmes around the world and their significance.

Moraa Gitaa

Mombasa, KENYA - "The single most important determinant of a child's survival is the mother's education. Women's economic participation through empowerment is an engine of growth." -- Mr. Moez Doraid - newly appointed Deputy Executive Director of UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women)

On 8th March we celebrated the International Women's day. This day is all about women organizing for equality, justice and peace. It is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women yearning to bring about a better world.

It's commemoration began in 1911 in Europe with a March 19th rally for women's right to vote and took on a new dimension after more than 140 working wom en lost their lives in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City a week later. It grew in proportion in the following years as women held rallies each year to protest the devastation of World War 1.

This day, as always, we are faced with an opportunity for reflection and renewal. To date Kenyan women remain under-represented in the August House. Out of 222 members of parliament, only 18 are women. To compound matters, out of this number, 10 are elected while the other 8 are nominated. Amongst the civic leaders, women only hold 377 of the 2,837 positions.

Whereas women have displayed outstanding leadership qualities in the domestic front, they are almost absent from the public sphere. Retrogressive cultural practices among the majority of communities in Kenya have made it difficult for them to be elected to decision-making positions. Legal and policy frameworks have continued to undermine the promotion of gender equality. We are made to understand that the League of Kenya Women Voters has received over 400 women aspirants seeking support for civic and parliamentary seats for this year's General Election 2007.

Attempts to pass legislation protecting and promoting the status of women, including Affirmative Action for women, have not been clearly understood. Several failed attempts have been initiated. The latest attempt was made through the Constitutional Review Process.

The Kenya Women's Political Caucus has established Women's Regional Assemblies in the 25 districts across the country since October 2003. This concept was borrowed from Rwanda. The overall objective of the assemblies is to build the capacity of women at the local level, to respond effectively to the political, socioeconomic, cultural and environmental challenges that affect their sustainable livelihoods.

According to the United Nations Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki Moon's most recent report, 89 states have legislative provisions on domestic violence, 104 countries have made marital rape a crime and 93 states prohibit trafficking in of human beings. What is urgently needed is implementation.

As the world marked this year's International Women's day, a UN report revealed shocking statistics and new facts on the gender divide, indicating that women still play second fiddle. The report; 'The State of The World's Children 2007' by UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) says that women in Sub-Saharan Africa face discrimination from their spouses, with the worst cases being recorded in Burkina Faso, where a whopping 74% of women have no control over their healthcare needs.

The publication, released to coincide with the celebrations, says the lack of control by women over their healthcare is a disaster in the making as it compromises the health and well-being of the family, especially the children.

Overall, according to the report, there is extreme gender inequality across Africa. In only 10 of 30 countries surveyed did 50% or more of women participate in all household decisions, including those taken with regard to their own healthcare, major household purchases, family investments and daily household spending. To reverse this trend of gender inequality, UNICEF recommends the empowering of women in politics, arguing this has the potential to impact and change society's perceptions.

"Their (women's) involvement in governing bodies at the national and local levels leads to policies and legislation that are focused on women, children and families," says the report.

In line with this, it then seems that in Kenya the advocating for affirmative action is not far off the mark. Similarly, last year President Kibaki issued a directive to the Public Service Commission to ensure a third of the vacancies are reserved for women.

The UNICEF report praised measures such as the free primary education in Kenya and Uganda, as they eventually make school accessible.

On the other hand, Mr. Moez Doraid, the newly appointed Deputy Executive Director of UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women) says gender empowerment is a means to achieve other ends in society. He says that women's participation in decision-making is the way forward for any society.

Speaking in Nairobi last month, Doraid argued that when you give money to a woman, she will spend it on her family's education, nutrition and shelter. The gender activist further pointed out that it is unlikely that Africa will meet the first Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by the year 2015.

Violence meted against women has also been another critical aspect of concern for activists. Ending violence against women requires changing public perceptions and breaking through barriers of culture and tradition to find non-violent means of conflict resolution.

In the last decade, UNIFEM has spearheaded a set of regional and global advocacy campaigns, working with Governments, women's groups and the media to change laws, develop national action plans and scale up community-based interventions to end violence against women and girls. Since 2005, the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, which UNIFEM manages, has supported Governments and NGOs to implement these laws, policies and action plans. This year (2007) marks the 10th anniversary of the UN Trust Fund.

This year's Women's International Day concludes that the cost of gender empowerment is minimal and is a small fraction of the wealth of the world. The continued existence of these inequalities, for example the gender gap in education, is actually more costly to the world than the cost that would go into bridging this gap. Thus, affirmative action is not bad, seeing as it sets the stage to correct historical injustices and strike a blow for equality, development and peace.