Tireless work, Invaluable Contributions: National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW) Leads the way to Equality and Empowerment

 

During the past week, the National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW) branch in Anseba, one of Eritrea’s six regions (locally called ‘zobas’), conducted its annual six-month activity assessment meeting. The NUEW, local government officials, and a range of stakeholders, reviewed the progress made on outlined plans, discussed various challenges encountered, and identified different lessons learned in the course of its work conducted over the past six months. Additionally, the meeting saw attendees spend some time laying out a series of tangible steps needing to be taken in order to successfully implement the year’s remaining programs and initiatives, as well as exploring different aspects of the country’s five-year strategic plan for gender equality and development.

President of the NUEW, Tekea Tesfamical, offered important comments highlighting how gender-related issues are extremely significant and have considerable bearing on different dimensions of society. She also went on to encourage individuals, communities, institutions, and partners to work together to consolidate gender equality and empowerment, as both a moral imperative and way to drive development. Also speaking at the event were Colonel Tesfatsion Girmay, Director General of Social Service and chairman of the regional committee overseeing women’s development, who called for continued efforts to strengthen women’s participation in all national development programs, and Ambassador Abdella Musa, Governor of Anseba, who outlined the array of measures being taken by the regional administration to strengthen women and girls’ empowerment.

As was reflected in the points raised during the recent meeting in Anseba, the NUEW is a key national organization and it is engaged in extremely important, valuable work. Using that as a useful starting basis, the following paragraphs briefly trace the organization’s long history of valiant struggle, while also shedding light on progress achieved with regard to gender equality and empowerment in the country – made possible through the organization’s tireless work and invaluable contributions.

Decades of work toward equality and empowerment

The NUEW was established in 1979 with the complete backing and firm support of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front. During the long struggle for freedom, it not only helped to organize and mobilize Eritrean women as a core and integral part of the formidable armed liberation forces, it also played a fundamental role in sensitizing Eritrean society to the importance of a range of gender-related issues and promoting gender equality in all its manifestations.

Scholars and historians have described in detail how, in both quantitative and qualitative terms, Eritrean women’s valiant contributions to the armed struggle were distinguished and largely unparalleled in the annals of the history of liberation movements worldwide. In addition to comprising approximately one-third of all the liberation forces, Eritrean women also fought heroically on the frontlines and held a variety of strategic and leading positions in the field. As well, despite the challenges of a devastating conflict, and the residual, lingering effects of discrimination, the NUEW played a key role in helping to drive a number of important sociocultural changes.

Following Eritrea’s achievement of independence, the NUEW continued in its important work, reconstituting itself as an autonomous non-governmental organization dedicated to improving the status of the nation’s women and girls. Broadly, the organization’s mission is to ensure that all Eritrean women and girls, regardless of status, region, background, or any other characteristic, are able to confidently stand for their rights and equally participate in all aspects of life and sectors of society.

Since independence, some of the main objectives of the NUEW have included, among others: ensuring gender equality and women’s rights in political, economic, social, cultural, and all other spheres; increasing women’s social awareness and knowledge; endeavouring for the active participation of Eritrean women in overall development programmes in such a way that they also benefit from their efforts; promoting peace and development; and strengthening the NUEW in order to make it more efficient and influential.

Over the course of its decades-long history, the NUEW has significantly grown, both with regard to its overall membership, as well as to the scope of its work and the impacts that it has been able to make on the ground. At present, it has thousands of members of all ages and backgrounds, dispersed across all the nation’s villages, communities, and regions. As well, there are numerous active branches and members in countries around the world. (Today, there are active branches of varying sizes in countries in Africa, Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Australia.) These not only promote gender-related issues and empowerment of women in their communities, they also support the work of NUEW in Eritrea in various ways, from donating resources and sharing experiences to participating in campaigns, raising awareness of pressing issues, and conducting workshops or training programs. In effect, although members in Eritrea and from around the world may be separated by thousands of miles, they remain united in their vision and efforts for a more equitable nation.

The NUEW has continued to take on a wide range of social projects over the years to promote gender equality and support the empowerment of women and girls. For instance, it has established several professional training centres, as part of its broader aim of capacity-building, and works closely with the Ministry of Education to raise female enrolments and eradicate illiteracy. As well, it has maintained a legal counseling department, which has helped to significantly increase women’s knowledge and understanding of legal issues and their rights (especially with regard to issues such as divorce, alimony, paternity, inheritance, and land ownership, among other issues), while also fighting residual stigma and discrimination. Furthermore, the NUEW has campaigned to improve women’s access to healthcare, promote their inherent rights and dignity, and also supported their socioeconomic empowerment through training programs, skills development, as well as financial loans.

Important gender-related progress – with NUEW playing an invaluable role

Eritrea has made important improvements and registered notable progress in relation to gender equality and empowerment over the years. These forward strides are rooted in a number of different factors, from high-level political commitment and prioritization to investment of time and resources, among others. Of course, they have also been achieved through the tireless efforts and valuable, multifaceted contributions by the NUEW.

To briefly recap some of the improvements, life expectancy has jumped from less than 50 in 1991 to about 68 years at present, while the percentage of women beneficiaries within the national micro-credit and saving scheme today is about 56 percent, as compared to only 16 percent in 1995. Furthermore, female involvement in small-scale businesses has grown, with women now holding about 48 percent of business licenses issued nationwide – again, a considerable improvement from past years. As well, women account for marginally over half – about 51 percent – of the country’s total formal labor force, constitute about 46 percent of all employees holding managerial positions, and make up 22 and 29 percent of all members of the National Assembly and Regional Assemblies, respectively. The government’s commitment to ensure equal access to health services, water, and sanitation is also contributing to an array of positive health outcomes for women and girls, while rates of harmful traditional practices (from child marriage to FGM/C) have been reduced significantly.

Alongside all of the above, land, both for housing and commercial and subsistence farming, is equally distributed with men, and women’s financial inclusion, in terms of access to bank loans and use of various financial services continues to trend in a positive direction. Within education, important progress has been made. Female literacy has increased steadily (youth female youth literacy is above 93 percent, almost equal with males), while across all levels, female enrolment continues to steadily grow and the historically huge gender gap is being progressively narrowed. Parity between girls and boys has been achieved within middle education and it is almost fully achieved in pre-primary and secondary education, while improvements continue to be registered at the primary level. Enrolment at the tertiary level among males and females has remained almost equal, a positive transformation compared to past decades.

As a result of different factors, including the leading role played by the NUEW, girls and women are tangibly contributing within all areas of society and in many diverse, important ways, ultimately playing a vital role in families, communities, the nation’s socio-economic improvement, and its general development. Not only should this be applauded by all, but firmly supported and encouraged.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.