Our weekly readings on Gender and Development have rather interesting findings. We come to realize that the perception on the concept of Gender shifts from time to time. The theoretical foundations of GAD introduced the idea of focusing on both genders in terms of development. But the question is, is the mainstream patriarchal concept partially or fully dismissed to accommodate the plights of feminists? Especially in the Global South where the issue of poor representation of women in development approaches is still below average?
Take a country
like Kenya, where I come from, the issue of women representation in parliamentary
or governmental positions has been a questions that most Kenyans view as ‘not a
big deal’. On September 21st, 2020, Kenya’s Chief Justice asked the
president to dissolve the legislative houses due to the lack of enough women
lawmakers. And the bitter truth is that, according to Kenya’s constitution, only
22% of the country’s law-making lower house is allocated for women, and 31% of
the upper house is retained for them. The rest are all supposed to be filled by
men. Even with this under-representation fully portrayed, the parliament
decided to launch a legal challenge to the Chief Justice’s plea to the president.
And on what grounds? On grounds that the Chief Justice’s move was ill-advised,
unlawful and premature, and that he was ‘eager’ to plunge the country into a ‘constitutional
crisis’. When the parliament majority representative (who is male), was asked
on how to resolve the issue of unequal gender representation instead of
dissolving the parliament, his answer was ambiguous and with lack of details,
that ‘…this issue could be resolved lawfully.’ Since 2012, the parliament (widely
male-dominated by about two-thirds) passes legislations on the enforcement of
the gender rule, or risk of dissolving the parliament. But attempts to pass on
the ruling in favor of the gender rule have been failing due to the male
lawmakers deliberately blocking such efforts. The change of constitution now
directed the power of choice to the president (who is also male, but in support
of gender equality/equity?- Is a question no one currently knows) and the Law
Society of Kenya, and gender activist organizations, and the country at large,
is waiting on his decision to either uphold the law on the principles of good
governance, or not! (https://www.msn.com/en-xl/africa/other/kenyas-parliament-to-challenge-dissolution-bid-over-lack-of-women/ar-BB19kMrn)
The attached videos show more
information on what is currently going on, on the issue if gender disparity.
Following McIlwaine
& Datta (2003) article on ‘From Feminizing to Engendering Development’ in
week 4 reading, there is an advocacy on the need to not only promote the
development of women, but also of men in the global capitalist world we live in
(McIlwaine & Datta, 2003). But it is still a challenge been realized; the
fact that even in this contemporary century, little has been done to even shift
from the mainstream patriarchal to adoption of women in development. Is it
still paramount to focus in the inclusive development of both genders?
References
McIlwaine, C., & Datta,
K. (2003). From feminising to engendering development. Gender, Place and Culture, 10(4), 369-382.
You are right, Yvette! It’s important to focus on inclusive and holistic development—that way, the issue of underrepresentation of women could be addressed. Kenya is relatively better than in my country. In The Gambia, whereas women have been active in politics for decades, their intense participation has not been translated into adequate representation in government institutions.
ReplyDeleteEven though the government had formulated policies and programs to enhance women’s participation and representation, they have not extricated the country from low representation.
These problems are a combination of many factors, most especially leadership. The politicians are ere nominate women they could use to their popularity rather than those who could address women and public issues. It's correct, women are still trapped by law and leader.
You have raised salient points Yvette and it illuminates some of the issues in Nigeria. Nigeria is also lagging in the representation of women in the decision-making process. Even though the female gender makes up about half of the entire population in the country, very few percentages of women occupy political positions. As of 2018, women in Nigeria had one of the lowest representations in the national legislature when compared to other African countries. The Nigerian constitution clearly offers equal opportunities to every Nigerian to partake in either political office and utilize their voting rights without discrimination. In 2006, the Federal Ministry of Women's Affair and Social Development came up with a gender policy targeted towards building a society free of discrimination and promote the economic, social, and political welfare of everyone to accomplish egalitarian economic development. In essence, several policies in place indicate gender inclusion and participation but in practical terms, Nigeria is yet to address this limitation.
ReplyDeleteOyinade Adesina
I agree Yvette, there is an unequal gender representation present in Kenya because of the patriarchal norms invested in society. In Egypt, for example there are more women in government. According to the Wilson Center, women in the ministry have increased from six members in 2018 to currently eight members. Additionally, there are 89 women who are members of parliament. However, on the local level, women in Egypt still face inequalities compared to men in education and employment. Not to mention, the disparity in the level of harassment women felt during the 2011 Arab uprising. The cultural cross divide among women’s rights to protest in comparison to men was prevalent. Women faced far more discrimination in their activism. When it comes to inequality between the genders, I see it on the local and global level across the board. Perhaps, the only way to improve the situation is to unlearn patriarchal behavior and attitudes in society, which might not be a solution, but it would be a start.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/egypts-progress-towards-gender-parity