Your Excellency President Paul Kagame,

Your Excellency, Commissioner for Political Affairs, African Union Commission Dr. Aisha Laraba Abdullahi
Members of the PRC Bureau,
Excellency’s, Heads of the African Governance Architecture Platform

Colleagues from the African Union Commission, AU organs and RECs

Distinguished Participants

Ladies and Gentlemen

I am honoured to make these opening remarks at this High Level Dialogue whose theme on equal participation of women in political parties is very timely. As we may recall, the 23rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, in June 2014, declared 2015 as the Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063. The theme for this year is therefore a response to this clarion call to relentlessly pursue efforts aimed at empowering the women in Africa with a focus on political participation.

As a continent, we have major strides through a number of international and AU normative frameworks to improve the levels of women participation in political parties and in the public sphere as a whole. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 21, enshrines the right of everyone to take part in the government of his or her country. States are committed, under the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, to take concrete measures to ensure women’s equal access to and full participation in power structures and decision-making, and to increase women’s capacity to participate in decision-making and leadership.

The recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals in particular, Goal 5 is focused on gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls. It entails a commitment by States to promote mechanisms that give women a voice in politics and governance institutions. Most African States are also parties to the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which is often described as the International Bill of Rights for women.

Closer home, Aspiration 6 under Africa’s Agenda 2063, which is the vision of where we want to see our Continent in the next fifty years, urges African Heads of State and Government to ensure that women occupy 50% of elected public offices and half of the managerial positions in both the public and private sector by 2063. The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa equally guarantees the right of women to participate in political and decision-making processes. This overview of norms would be incomplete without a mention of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance that includes as one of its core principles the promotion of gender equality in public and private institutions.

Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

While African States have done relatively well in adopting regional norms and national constitutions and laws that seek to level the playing field for men and women, the greatest challenge remains in the practice. Historically, regardless of race, class or ethnicity, women have been consistently viewed as political outsiders and their entry into the political spheres as either short-termed or conditional upon their maternal social roles. However, it must be emphasised that women’s practical needs and strategic gender interests for women in the continent are not mutually exclusive. Rather, they are part of part of a continuum of women’s struggles for full citizenship.

A number of obstacles can be flagged that continue to hinder the full participation of African women in politics, political parties and the same remain true in other socio-economic spheres. High illiteracy levels, age-old stereotypes about what women can or cannot do, constraints of poverty, lack of time due to disproportionate family tasks and agricultural activities all contribute to excluding and/or discouraging women from taking on active roles in political parties or in political life in general.

Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

As a consequence of these obstacles, the few women entering the political sphere are extremely visible, and often criticized and vilified, particularly if they happen to be single, divorced etc. While Rwanda remains a leading example in the Continent and globally that full participation of women in politics and leadership in general is not a distant dream, for the majority of African States, much more work remains to be done to attain gender equality relative to participation of women in political parties. Political parties in most AU Member States are yet to embrace gender parity in practice. My emphasis here is on practice because there remains a disconnect between policy and practice, even where policies have been formulated to encourage greater participation of women.

What we have increasingly witnessed in many political parties across the Continent is the creation of women leagues. While this is welcomed as a step in the right direction, it also poses the danger of relegating these leagues as spaces for “women issues” and not allowing women interests and agendas to be become part of the mainstream proposals and programmes of these parties.
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I could go on and on. But today is not the day to lament but an occasion to jointly explore solutions. We are lucky to have Rwanda as a host during this conversation because Rwanda has moved beyond rhetoric and is walking the talk on the subject of women participation in politics and leadership as a whole. I conclude by reminding us that in addition to identifying problems and solutions in our deliberations today and tomorrow, it is critical that we muster the political will and commitment of governments to this course, as the government of Rwanda under the guidance of His Excellency President Kagame has ably done.

I thank you for your kind attention.