Thursday, December 13, 2007

Why can't we have a woman president?

As WOMANKIND’s programme manager for West Africa, Kanwal Ahluwalia focuses on supporting existing, and developing new, partnerships with women’s organisations in Ghana to reduce violence against women. In Accra, Kanwal experiences a country rich in resources, a dissatisfied electorate ― and WOMANKIND partners leading work on violence against women and HIV and AIDS.

Day 1 – The flight to Ghana was unusually full of obrunis or ‘white people’. Most turned out to be British and South African rescue teams responding to the severe floods in the north of the country which affected around 400 000 people — and swept away whole villages.

There were also the usual NGO types as well as Canadian missionaries. While in Business class sat the mining executives, off to oversee the extraction of Ghana’s numerous mineral resources. Just another of the contradictions facing not only Ghana but many other African nations.

In the taxi from the airport, Prince, the driver fills me in on what’s been happening in the six months since I was last in Accra. He talked about the hardship facing those affected by the floods — and the need for politicians to provide more emergency materials. On the flipside, the rains have meant that the daily power-cuts which were seriously hampering our partner organisations’ ability to work were now over, thanks to the Akosombo hydro-electric dam now being filled to the brim.

Prince went on to say that Ghanaians were fed up with the failure of politicians to deliver — echoing sentiments I’d heard on previous visits — to the extent that many people were threatening not to vote at the general election in December 2008. But when I asked Prince if he would vote, he replied with an emphatic ‘Yes!’ — the need to stand up and be counted was crucial.

We talked about WOMANKIND’s practical support to local women’s organisations, so that women felt competent and confident to stand for election — something he was very much in favour of. He felt that Ghana could only benefit from more women in power as they would be more sympathetic to the needs of the poor than their male counterparts. After all, if neighbouring Liberia could have a woman president, why couldn’t Ghana?

Prince also told me about his family; that he was one of eight brothers and sisters and that his elderly parents lived in the prosperous Ashanti Region. His sister was on her way there to seek their blessing to marry her boyfriend. This involved not only meeting the prospective husband but also a visit to his tribal area to verify that his family were worthy of marrying into. In the absence of living parents, this procedure can be carried out by an elder brother — another reminder of the patriarchal elements of women’s lives.

Although, ordinarily, the blessing is done prior to a marriage (and consummating the relationship) Prince reminded me that ‘Ghana is changing, so things are different now.’

Day 2 – Watching the evening news whilst eating supper in my guesthouse, I noticed that the Government were using cartoons to encourage people to vote — despite the election being 13 months away.

They’ve obviously cottoned on to the high level of public frustration and voter apathy. Given WOMANKIND’s strategic aim of supporting women to participate in political processes, of course I was on the look out for subliminal gender messages in the ads. Whilst women did feature, all the main characters, including the candidates, were men ― no wonder women only account for 9% of parliament.

Common basket-case?

Day 3 – Following a warm welcome, our long-time partners at the Gender Studies and Documentation Centre update me on their work. They talk about the difficulties of finding funds for their excellent work on violence against women and HIV and AIDS. Most aid to Ghana is managed through what is called the ‘common basket’ which means that the governments in the developed world, such as the UK, pool their funds in an attempt to harmonise their aid.

This is called Multi-Donor Budgetary Support (MDBS) — an increasingly common way of providing aid to the South. MDBS is radically altering the funding landscape and is shaping which NGOs will survive. Whilst much of the aid goes directly to the Ghanaian government ― the rhetoric is that they can spend it as they wish (although, generally, they need to show spending on education and health for example) ― there are many associated problems.1

One is that many women’s organisations aren’t able to access funds as they often are too small or not doing enough lobbying work. Two, recipient governments often have only a limited commitment to women’s rights and gender equality which, coupled with weak women’s ministries, means that there is little being done at the national level to achieve women’s rights. So, this job is often left to a small but vocal group of women’s organisations ― many of which are partners of WOMANKIND. But our partners are finding it increasingly hard to obtain funds through the common basket, which is a highly competitive process.

Next year, Ghana is hosting a meeting to review the Paris Declaration, which is meant to monitor the way that aid is disbursed. This is a key event and one that partners and WK will be following keenly.

Day 4 – The next morning Prince drives me to the Gender Centre’s office. We sit bumper to bumper in the stifling heat. Young boys and girls wind through the traffic selling everything from maps to packs of tissues to CDs of religious music. A disabled man asks for money from the stationary cars. The shanty-town we drive through is a hive of activity ― women making doughnuts to sell, and taxi drivers polishing their cars.

Traffic is one of the most hotly discussed topics amongst the residents of Accra. Yesterday, Esther, the Documentation Officer at Gender Centre, explained how people start leaving their homes at 5.30 am to get to their offices on time.

A huge problem is collecting children from school at 2pm. Parents just can’t pick them up, take them home and get back to work because of the congestion.

The government is making some efforts to deal with this impact from rural migrants coming to the cities in search of work. The infrastructure is improving but, say Ghanaians wryly, this is because 2008 is election year …

Day 5 – yet another traffic jam on the way back to my guesthouse, but a great opportunity to get Prince’s take on things again. We talk about the women hawkers on the beach road selling odds and ends ― a visible sign of what is called the informal economy. I ask how much they would expect to make standing in the hot sun all day, dodging cars and motorbikes. Prince tells me that, on average, they would take about 3 to 4 cedis (£2-3) to provide for the whole family. He says that many women resort to prostitution to make ends meet. What alternative do they have, being uneducated and without other opportunities? What’s worrying, he says, is that they are getting younger and younger – some as young as 13 or 14. And the recent war in Liberia has resulted in many Liberian girls and women coming across the border to work in the sex trade.

We also talk about HIV: although many women get infected, as they don’t always show symptoms for several years, they aren’t aware that they are HIV-positive. Many young men don’t want to use condoms and believe that if they are spiritually strong enough or they get hold of some medicine from a fetish priest, they won’t get infected.

A worrying story indeed. Especially as the prevalence of HIV in Ghana is on the increase ― with young women being disproportionately vulnerable, not only for physical reasons (for example, a greater surface area of genitals being exposed during sex and semen being more likely to carry the virus), but all sorts of gender norms also put women at greater risk.

These include, for example, the fact that women are not meant to know much about sex and are subservient to a man’s sexual needs. This means that a woman is rarely able to negotiate with a sexual partner, even her husband, to use a condom. WOMANKIND’s partners have been undertaking research in two areas with a high incidence of HIV and are developing work looking at gender stereotypes and how they are affecting women’s vulnerability to the virus.

Day 9 – It’s my first day off and I spend it with friends. One big topic of conversation is the discovery of oil off the coast of Ghana ― generating equal amounts of optimism and concern. Many Ghanaians are only too knowledgeable about the conflict and bloodshed that has resulted from oil extraction in neighbouring Nigeria ― but they’re also aware that the oil could mean billions in revenue for Ghana, and real development.

However, they are optimistic that oil dollars won’t be lining the pockets of the politicians as Ghana’s vibrant (and often critical) media has been discussing the topic feverishly. The general opinion is that citizens will hold the government accountable for using the oil revenues wisely — with an election coming up. NPP, the ruling party, has no fewer than 19 presidential candidates lining up for a stab at running the soon-to-be oil-rich country.

Ghana is rich in minerals – gold, diamonds, bauxite, manganese and now oil. But the story so far is that many multinational companies have been mining for these resources, often from the lands of some of the poorest and most marginalised men and women in the country. Much of the wealth has been taken out of Ghana without ordinary Ghanaians reaping the benefits.

WOMANKIND is developing work with NETRIGHT, the Network of Women’s Rights in Ghana to train up member organisations to educate their communities to see the links between micro- and macro-economic issues ― for example, how mining can impact on their communities, their livelihoods and the environment ― so they’ll be able to lobby the government effectively.

You can read more about our partners in Ghana, and the women we are helping them to support, in the Spring 2008 WOMANKIND newsletter. To go on our mailing list for print and e-communications, contact: info@womankind.org.uk ― and don’t forget to include your address!

1. For another WOMANKIND perspective on how new aid modalities are affecting women around the world, read Brita Fernandez-Schmidt’s blog

Monday, November 05, 2007

The girl who walked over the mountain

When the girl discovered she was about to be circumcised, she went to KMG for support. Rachel Carter — Senior Programmes and Policy Manager for Africa — witnesses the scale and the success of KMG’s work.

Rachel Carter - Senior Programmes and Policy Manager for AfricaI’ve just returned from a two-week trip to Ethiopia to visit WOMANKIND’s partner Kembatta Mentti Gezzima–Tope (women pooling their labour in Ethiopia). KMG is an Ethiopian non-governmental organisation founded in 1997.

Based in the Durame region — about 350km south of Addis Ababa — KMG’s range of work is astonishing: preventing Female Genital Mutilation and HIV and AIDS, girls’ education, legal advice, environmental projects, income generation, and a Mother and Child Health Centre, and much else.


I spent two days at projects in Shinshicho, one of theMeeting of uncircumcised girls at Durame eleven woreda or districts in which KMG works. My first stop was at an awareness-raising meeting of 400 uncircumcised young girls. Older girls shared their fight and choice to remain uncircumcised ― and talked about the health problems associated with circumcision. The turnout was large, including boys and men ─ indicative of how KMG works to raise awareness of the choices families and girls do have to remain uncircumcised.

We also visited the newly opened Mother and Child Health Centre which is providing vital health care to the whole community with a particular focus on maternal care. As the local Government Hospital has no doctors on its staff at the moment, the two volunteer doctors at the MCHC are providing care — including major surgery such as caesarean sections and HIV and AIDS care — for the whole community.

Fugar community pottery projectOn the second day we visited the Fugar community — artisans and potters who have traditionally been excluded and isolated by the rest of the community. Historically, women are the potters in this community and the work of KMG has focused specifically on their empowerment and independence. Through the work of KMG these communities have been given skills training, micro-credit loans and awareness-raising training on their rights so that they are now able to live more independently and equally.

Two weeks was hardly enough to even begin to understand the breadth and complexity of the work which KMG carries out within this region of Ethiopia and I am looking forward to returning in February to learn more. But the amazing achievements of the individual girls and women whom I met will stay with me. From the girl who ran away when she discovered she was about to be circumcised and walked over a mountain to ask KMG staff for support, to the women managing their pottery business. These women are really fighting for their rights — to a life free from violence, and to equality and autonomy.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Becoming visible

Susana Klien is WOMANKIND’s Programme Manager for South America. A Peruvian human-rights lawyer, she has also worked with Latin American women immigrants in the UK. In an earlier post, Susana wrote about a visit to Peru. Here she talks about the experiences of WOMANKIND partners in Bolivia.

Susana KlienI arrived in La Paz a few days ago. You always forget how bad the soroche ─ the altitude sickness ─ is and, as soon as I got off the plane, I felt the 13 000 feet above the sea inside my body.

I am very excited to be back in Bolivia. My first visit to WOMANKIND’s work here, and the amazing women and organisations we work with, was last March. I took a cab to the hotel and, as soon as I sat inside, we started talking politics ― something deep-rooted in Bolivians. I asked the taxi driver what he thought about Evo (Evo Morales, the first indigenous Bolivian president). His answer was straightforward: ‘The poorest people are better off, and the ones complaining are the rich people, they don’t like Evo.’

Evo Morales was elected in December 2005 ─ the first indigenous president in a country where almost two-thirds of the population is indigenous. For centuries, indigenous Bolivians were treated as second-class citizens, excluded from decision- making, and exploited.

Evo channelled many expectations and dreams of change for a new Bolivia. To date, opinions are diverse, social demands are huge (inherited from previous governments) and this is a country where everybody has a political opinion on what is happening ─ and everybody is waiting.

Yesterday I visited WOMANKIND’s partner Red Ada, an organisation of community- based communicators. They use the media to change attitudes ─ and to help develop an inclusive and equal society. They provide spaces for women, particularly indigenous women, to raise their voices about their needs and dreams, which have always been invisible.

Red Ada has achieved amazing things by making the most of community radio and the internet — an even greater achievement given there are only six staff, helped by nine local co-ordinators and five regional co-ordinators, with a total annual budget of £30,000!

Personal is political

Lidia Aliaga (left) and Teresa Canaviri of Red AdaTeresa, Red Ada’s Director, is Aymara (the biggest, indigenous, ethnic group in Bolivia). She came to La Paz to earn a living as a domestic worker when she was a teenager. She worked during the day, and went to high school at night. Her parents were illiterate, and her sisters still wear polleras, the typical indigenous colourful skirt.After a few years, Teresa started working at a radio station, taking papers from one place to another, and helping with the administration. Some years later, she was producing a cultural programme on which she spoke about Aymara culture. Eventually, she was able to achieve her dream of studying Communications.

Teresa’s commitment to women’s rights and indigenous rights was there from the beginning ― and has grown and developed. In 2003 she was invited by the then-President to become Vice-Minister for Women’s Affairs. I ask her if accepting was a difficult decision. Teresa replies that Meza, the President, had a political position completely different to hers ― indigenous rights were not his priority:

‘However,’ she continues, ‘we as women have fought so many battles and struggles to open spaces for women’s political participation, that I thought I needed to accept and use the space to do something’. Indeed, many people tell me that Teresa was an excellent Vice-Minister.

She doesn’t regret her two years in government: she learned a lot, and helped achieve specific things for women. But she looks sad when she says this; she tells me her children are resentful about her work, as she wasn’t around much when they were growing up: ‘I tried to do my best but, like many indigenous women, I had to fight many battles towards equality.’

I tell her that I am sure her children will understand better when they grow up ― they will appreciate and admire all the sacrifices she made. I certainly hope so.

Protest songs

I also talk to Lidia, who covers news for Red Ada and liaises with the regional co-ordinators. Lidia tells me she inherited her commitment to social causes from her mother, who was a union leader dedicated to improving women’s pay and conditions.

Lidia studied to be a secretary, then found a job on a Catholic radio station. She loved music, and went along to concerts by people singing canciones de protesta against the country’s dictators. She began to record the concerts for broadcasting and was given her own programme, where she played only women singers ― to highlight women’s unrecognised contribution to culture.

Later on, Lidia covered news stories for different radio stations: ‘I was a “feminist without theory”. I had the experience, the commitment, the political analysis of power and discrimination, but I didn’t know much of the theory behind it.’ She more than made up for this with her own reading and research until, like Teresa, she got the chance to study when she was older.

I left Red Ada on air: how lucky I am to work with these women — and learn about their lives, their struggles, and their dreams…

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

The equality gap -- home and away

I’ve just received a copy of the Equal Opportunity Commission’s new publication, ‘The Gender Gap’.1 It makes for a depressing read. Take a look at the statistics:

• The average woman working full time is still paid 17% less than men — for part-time workers the difference is 38%
• Conviction rates for rape stand at 6% — so it’s not surprising that 95% of women never report an attack in the first place
• At the present rate of progress, it will take 195 years for women to be equally represented in Parliament (20% of British MPs are women, a lower proportion than in Afghanistan!) and 65 years for women to make up half of FTSE 100 directors.

As a well-educated, professional woman doing a job she loves, it would be easy enough for me to be complacent and think that any woman could get where they want if they want it enough. (‘But do they have to want it more than men?’ was the question put to me and another eight women ‘role models’, at a ‘Leadership and Networking’ lunch at a large financial firm. Only one of the eight had children: is it still the case that to get to the top of her profession a woman has to, in effect, live like a man?)

If it can be this hard to achieve equality here in the UK, how much greater the challenges are for the women WOMANKIND works with in Africa, Latin America and South Asia. Even the directors of our Afghan partner organisations have to leave the office dead on 4pm so that no one might suspect that they are doing anything other than working at their office. And the beneficiaries of the projects we support in Afghanistan have to invest enormous amounts of their time and energy in gaining permission for women and girls just to leave their homes to attend a training session.

It can be easy for women in the UK to think that the equality debate is history and that it doesn’t concern them any more. But this ignores some ongoing structural inequalities in our own country and the fact that women’s struggle for equality is only just beginning in many other parts of the world. If you want to stand alongside these women, I hope you will consider becoming a WOMANKIND supporter — there are many different ways to help and you will make a real difference to the lives of girls and women across the world.


1. Find out more about the EOC’s Gender Agenda at: www.gender-agenda.co.uk
Note. From 1 October 2007 the EOC will be replaced by the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) www.cehr.org.uk

Thursday, July 26, 2007

One step forward -- two steps back?

Susana Klien is WOMANKIND’s Programme Manager for South America. A Peruvian human-rights lawyer, she has also worked with Latin American women immigrants in the UK.

Peru’s economy is on the up — but strikes are paralysing the country and the gap between rich and poor is growing. Susana Klien has just been in Lima with WOMANKIND’s partners: in her blog she describes their new concerns, their ongoing commitment to improving poor women’s lives — and their concerns for the future.

I was back in Peru for only two weeks − but what an eventful fortnight!

Peru was beaten by Argentina in the Latin American Football Cup, Machu Pichu was chosen as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World ― and a judge in Chile blocked former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori’s extradition to Peru.

Peru wants him tried for human-rights violations and corruption offences, but the judge decided there wasn’t enough evidence. And days of protests and a national strike by unions, teachers, and many other groups left much of the country paralysed.

The strike originated when proficiency tests for teachers were introduced, but now construction workers, farmers, miners and politicians are demonstrating their dissatisfaction with the government.

The country’s economy is growing. Yes, in cold, economic terms, Peru is a better place than before. I have seen a lot of new restaurants, shops and boutiques, many new buildings, many 4 x 4s.

But the gap between rich and poor has not been bridged. The public-education system is appalling ― and getting worse. The ‘flexibilisation’ of labour conditions means many people are being exploited and earning very little – particularly women. Many people have to have two or three jobs to survive, if they can find them. The sick can die in public hospitals because hospitals don’t have the medicines or space for them. Taxis are driven by teachers, economists, sociologists…

Women feeling the backlash

WOMANKIND’s four Peruvian partners are working in a very difficult environment. There is a real backlash against women’s rights, after a period in which community organisations and women’s organisations ― and progressive public institutions like the Women’s Department at the Ombudsman’s Office ― made significant advances.

Women started to benefit from better sexual and reproductive rights and improved practices, for example in interpreting VAW legislation and prevention of sexual violence. Peruvian women succeeded in getting a Domestic Violence law passed — and a quota law for women representatives in national congress and regional government.

Many battles were won. But right now the influence of the Catholic Church is very apparent in relation to sexual and reproductive rights: even though the law allows abortion for women whose life may be in danger, public hospitals don’t have the necessary guidance. When the main women’s hospital in Lima did develop guidelines, the Ministry of Health caved into pressure from the Church and invalidated them. Now the Ministry is holding a multi-sectoral roundtable to discuss the issue of therapeutic abortion with representatives from different government institutions and religious leaders.

And the army is still a strong power, and impunity has been the rule in relation to human-rights violations carried out by the military for more than 20 years.

WOMANKIND partners in the vanguard

But there are shafts of light — in the form of new opportunities provided by the current decentralisation of government power, giving women more chances to influence change at the local level.

WOMANKIND partners are taking the lead — building the capacities of community-based organisations and working with regional and local government to develop policies and projects taking into account communities’ needs.

Asociacion Aurora Vivar (AAV) has helped three regional governments develop equal opportunities plans, with long-term targets. Also, AAV is training Social Watch Committees. These monitor public policies so that women can hold their local/regional governments to account. Calandria (Association of Social Communicators) is WOMANKIND’s partner in San Martin. It supports women’s groups to develop specific project proposals, including one to tackle maternal mortality.

Each partner has been working to challenge violence against women and discrimination for around 20 years. They have seen changes in legislation, Presidents and Ministers come and go; experienced strikes, protests, steps forward and steps back. They have been able to do their work thanks to the commitment of extraordinary workers and volunteers ― and through their close engagement with the community.

Is the money running out?

They’ve also kept going because of the support of the international community. But something is hitting them very badly now. Not only are there attacks on women’s rights, but the funding is running out. As Peru is considered a ‘middle-income’ country with a growing economy, the international community isn’t prioritising support to Peruvian organisations.

But in the regions where WOMANKIND’s partners work, equality hasn’t been achieved, and women bear the burden of economic policies and discrimination. Furthermore, in some areas there is extreme poverty, with communities completely excluded from public policies. Huancavelica, where partner organisation DEMUS works, is the poorest city in Peru, at an altitude of 3,600 metres. People are experiencing levels of malnutrition comparable to the poorest countries in Africa. Our partners are offering crucial support to women and communities, but at the same time are struggling to survive.

At our last meeting in Lima, our partners asked me why international donors don’t see this. Why they don’t go to these places to see what is going on. Is Peru’s government going to tackle these issues if they are in a ‘Triple Alliance’ with the Catholic Church, the Army and Big Business? And I don’t have the answer … and will never have.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Why aid isn't reaching women

Guest blogger Brita Fernandez-Schmidt is WOMANKIND’s Head of Programmes and Policy. She’s just taken part in the Women in Development Europe conference — and was inspired by a groundswell of support for a global movement to challenge how donors deliver aid.

Brita Fernandez Schmidt, WOMANKIND Worldwide Head of Programmes and Policy

I have just spent three days with women from 40 different countries, from Uruguay to Uzbekistan and Senegal.

We talked about the Paris Declaration, the Financing for Development agreements, and the Millennium Development Goals — all international documents and agreements ultimately aimed at reducing poverty and achieving sustainable development, but unfamiliar to many, including organisations WOMANKIND works with on the ground. And that is the first problem ― if those of us working in women’s organisations don’t even know about them; we clearly have not had much input into their creation in the first place.

Let´s start with the Paris Declaration. Endorsed in 2005 by the rich countries that provide international aid, it focuses on harmonising aid (donors coming together to agree how aid is delivered), aligning it with the recipient government's agenda, ownership, effectiveness and managing for results. Sound principles we all agree with when it comes to delivering aid …so what is the problem?

Whose aid agenda?

Well, in Madrid we all agreed: the problem is that the Paris Declaration is being sold as a merely technical concept to delivering aid, when quite clearly it is highly political. Whose agendas are we aligning to, who owns the agenda, who defines effectiveness and how?

Unless we unpack and answer those questions, the Paris Declaration will not be able to fulfil any positive potential. So we need to listen to women and men on the ground. As a Nicaraguan delegate said: ‘what women want are tangible answers to their needs — employment, better health care, access to education.

And we must learn from the past. Many women in Madrid were questioning the need for a new ´development paradigm´ every seven years ― the issues haven’t changed! Women are still not being asked for their opinion, are still not setting the agenda and, as far as some of those I talked to are concerned, they believe that this is why nothing much is changing.

Making aid mechanisms work for women

So what can we do? ― the million-dollar question. We talked about getting our citizens involved, particularly those in donor countries. It is their taxes that end up as aid; they have a right to know that the money is not reaching the poorest ― and is not adequately reaching women.

I found myself thinking that we should all ask our MPs about where our money is going in terms of the development aid the government provides ― and how it is supporting women and the equality between women and men. WOMANKIND also believes that it is important to take the Paris Declaration agenda and make it work for women. Let´s talk about women´s ownership and aligning agendas to women´s needs and concerns.

And let´s remind governments of the long-standing commitments they made when they signed the Beijing Platform for Action — the most comprehensive Women and Development agenda in the last 20 years. And, that in two years’ time we will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) — the principal legal instrument addressing women’s human rights and equality.

We ended the Madrid meeting fired up to return to our countries to create a global women´s movement linked to other movements critical of the current aid architecture. The next step is to formulate concrete demands that cannot be dismissed when governments revisit the aid agenda.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Beneath the surface

Sue went to Zimbabwe to see for herself how WOMANKIND’s partners are coping with rampant inflation and growing insecurity. She found them focusing on supporting women to play their part in politics — and to get equal treatment in the courts.

It's been 10 years since I was last in Zimbabwe — it’s good to be back. Back in the mid-1990s I lived in Zambia in a remote, rural village and going to Zimbabwe was a real treat — running water, electricity, restaurants and good shopping!

Things don't seem to have changed much. The city is still well cared for and people are busy, going about their daily business. But when you look below the surface you can see how much has changed. On a visit to a supermarket to buy some lunch for ourselves and some staff from one of WOMANKIND’S partner organisations, we spent the equivalent of almost half a month’s salary for a Zimbabwean teacher on two loaves of bread, cheese, cucumber, tomatoes and some crisps.

The Director of another of our partner organisations told us that she can no longer afford to buy fruit for her family. Even professionals with good jobs are growing vegetables to sell — or have a second job just to get by. Today we met a young man who had a degree in chemical engineering in the park who was selling sweets to try and bring in a bit of income.

Taking the plunge

On Friday afternoon Emily — Womankind’s Programme Manager for Southern Africa — and I drove for about an hour from Harare to join our partners WiPSU (Women in Politics Support Unit) at a new Constituency Consultative Forum.

WiPSU has set these up in the 24 constituencies now represented by a female MP. Over 50 people (33 women and 12 men) turned up at a small primary school for a two-day workshop to find out how the Zimbabwe government is organised — and why there are so few women in politics.

Over an afternoon of lectures and group work I realised how hazy I was about some of the finer points of the British government — how many women do we have in the cabinet? In the highly political context of Zimbabwe, WiPSU skilfully remains focused on its mission of increasing the number of women involved in Zimbabwean politics and supporting those who have taken the plunge across all levels of the political system.

The colonial legacy

At the downtown Harare Magistrates Court we attended a women’s ‘empowerment’ session run by our partner ZWLA (Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association). Nineteen women, some of them with babies on their backs, sat in Court 9 as a ZWLA legal intern explained what rights they had in the maintenance court they were to attend the following week.

All the women were applying for maintenance for themselves and their children from ex-husbands or boyfriends. A Clerk of Court showed them how to fill in the numerous forms which have to be submitted before attending their hearing. I was surprised that the forms were all in English — many of the women speak English poorly. Even stranger was seeing some of the antiquated phrases such as ‘I am an un/married African woman’, a hangover from British and white-Rhodesian rule.

Poorly maintained

At the same Harare Court we spent half an hour watching the previous week’s ‘empowerment’ graduates appear before the Magistrate to hear the ruling on their maintenance claims.

One case involved a young woman in her early 20s who had a 9-month-old baby by a married man who had two other children with his wife. The woman was asking for maintenance of Z$200,000 (£4 at the informal exchange rate) a month — about a pound more than her ex-boyfriend was offering. The Magistrate asked them both a number of questions in English which were then translated into Shona, although the Magistrate herself spoke Shona.

After a few minutes’ deliberation the Magistrate awarded Z£150,000 maintenance, having believed the man about his salary, shown on a payslip, and his high living expenses. Margaret, one of ZWLA’s lawyers, told me that many men forge their wage slips to show a lower salary than they actually receive in an attempt to minimise the amount of maintenance they will end up having to pay.