30 years after Beijing: Slow but steady gender equality gains in East and Southern Africa

 

Policymakers and gender and statistics experts in East and Southern Africa have spotlighted the need to harmonize legal systems based on equality guarantees provided in the constitutions of countries in the sub-region, and the full implementation of all gender-related initiatives for the achievement of gender equality.

The experts convened in a policy discussion following submissions from 23 countries that have been published in a new report titled “Gender Equality Response Systems in East and Southern Africa: 30 years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.”

The policy discussion was aimed at unpacking the submissions, which detail countries’ progress and commitments towards gender equality, and reviewing trends and the policy actions to achieve equality in the context of the 30th anniversary of The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing−The Beijing Conference−a pivotal moment in the global history of women’s rights.

Since last year, in readiness for the 30th commemoration of the Beijing Conference, countries in the sub-region have submitted a total of 41 cross-cutting commitments towards gender equality. Some of the most prominent commitments include increasing opportunities for youth and adolescent girls, strong emphasis on law and policy reform, increased financing for gender equality, and improving the collection of gender data.

“The key is to make commitments that are visible, measurable, and responsive to the needs of all women and girls” said Ms. Anna Mutavati, Regional Director, UN Women for East and Southern Africa.

“Countries can move their Beijing+30 commitments forward by combining strong laws, adequate funding, institutional capacity, robust data, inclusive partnerships, youth focus, and accountability,” Ms. said Mutavati.

Considered the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing women’s rights, and the first global policy to include a specific focus on girls’ rights and address violence against girls, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) ushered in an era of law- and policymaking and programming on 12 critical areas of concern identified in the BPfA. These ranged from women and poverty, women and health, and violence against women (VAW) to women and the economy, women in power and decision-making, and women and the environment.

For example, in East and southern Africa, 20 countries have since developed and adopted legislation, policy, strategy and/or action plans against gender-based violence (GBV) and 10 have amended their penal codes and child protection laws or adopted a sexual offences law to criminalize GBV acts. To support girls’ education, 14 countries have adopted policies ensuring their continuation or re-entry to school after pregnancy and childbirth while 14 countries have developed, or are in the process of developing, national women, peace, and security action plans to help ensure that women are well represented in peacebuilding.

Since 1995, East and southern African countries have made commendable progress towards gender equality: the gender divide in primary education is minimal and girls’ enrollment rates in secondary and tertiary education has visibly increased; women’s representation in politics has been on the rise since the early 2000s with southern Africa displaying the highest proportion of women in single/lower houses on the continent (nearly one-third or 32%) and Rwanda with the highest proportion of women in parliament globally with 61% representation. Maternal mortality rates have dropped significantly; from 1990 to 2015, Sub-Saharan Africa had nearly halved the rate (a reduction of 45%).

Financial access for women has been on the rise with far more women independently opening bank accounts and accessing credit in most African countries. One in three ESA countries has adopted financial inclusion strategies. Another win is that child marriage is now illegal with a vast majority of ESA countries having legislated the minimum age for marriage as 18 or above and integrating action plans to eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM).

However, women here still grapple with poverty, violence, overrepresentation in informal work and underrepresentation in peacebuilding and climate governance, hindering progress towards gender equality.

“This link between poverty and gender inequality drives a vicious circle,” said Ms. Keiso Matashane-Marite, Chief, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Section (GEWES), at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

“If unchecked, it further impoverishes women’s families and communities and widens the gap in standards of living between women and men, added Ms. Matashane-Marite.

Even with the gains in public leadership, East and southern African women in decision-making continue to face expressions of stereotypes, discriminatory attitudes, and patriarchal structures, including in political parties. This impedes their meaningful and even safe participation. Lack of compliance with or poor implementation of legislated and even constitutional quotas, political violence against women, and non-inclusive electoral systems also lead to women being under-represented in public leadership.

“Although gender data is a powerful catalyst for advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment, inadequate resources and, in some cases, insufficient coordination among actors, leads to gaps,” said Ms. Isabella Schmidt, Regional Gender Statistics Advisor, UN Women for East and Southern Africa.

“This, limits evidence-based policymaking and planning, including gender-responsive budgeting,” emphasized Ms. Schmidt.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).