Tanzania Situational Analysis

Situational Analysis On Women In Political Participation (WPP) In Tanzania

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Acknowledgements Table Of Contents

First and foremost, the Women in Political Participation (WPP) Program Team wishes to thank the resource partners (IDEA & Sweden Sverige) and implementing partners WLSA, Padare, Gender Link, FEMNET and IFAN for their support and cooperation during this exercise. Secondly, we highly appreciate FAWE Regional Leadership Team led by ED, Martha Muhwezi, and DED, Teresa Omondi, for their policy support and technical backstopping during this study. Secondly, we equally acknowledge the technical, administrative and logistical support provided by WPP coordination team at FAWE Regional Secretariat, during the entire exercise. To this end special commendation go to Racheal Ouko (Programme Officer WPP), Lilian Bett, Joan Too, Rose Atieno. We also wish to thank Kelvin Omwansa, Michael Onguss, Elsie Moraa, Emily Buyaki, Juliet Kimotho, Julie Khamati, (FAWE Regional Secretariat) and Terry Otieno (FAWE Kenya) for effective participation in the review as study participants. At the three levels, FAWE teams played their roles very well to ensure timely and successful completion of this work.

We also note that the assignment was undertaken during very extra ordinary moments in human history with restrictions, limited contacts and working from home due to COVID 19 pandemic but most respondents braved these challenges and pressing work demands to give insights and experiences which informed the success of this exercise. Consequently, we are indebted to the various categories of respondents from Tanzania including parliamentarians, officials of independent institutions, NGOs/CSOs, political leaders and activists among other respondents whom the consultants spoke to seeking their perspective on the situation of WPP in their respective countries. We thank them most sincerely for their invaluable contributions. Finally, we wish to thank the research team from the Centre for Research and Innovations in East Africa (CRI-EA) led by Andiwo Obondoh (as Team Leader), with support from Odhiambo Ochieng’ (Research Associate) and Irene Tindi (Research Associate).

Executive Summary

IV

Chapter One :Review Context 1

1.1 Project Background

1 1.2 Purpose, Objectives, and Questions 2

2 1.3 Review Audience and Stakeholders across Tanzania 2 1.4 Review Methodology

3 1.4.1 Review Techniques or Data Collection Methods

3 1.4.2 Data Analysis............................................................................................. 4 1.4.3 Sampling Procedures

4 1.4.4 Validation of Draft Report 5 1.5 Study Limitations/Risks and Mitigation Measures

Chapter Two : Review Results on Status and Trends 8 2.1 Regional Overview - Africa

8 2.2 The Situation in Tanzania 10

Chapter Three : Review Results on the Role of Policy and Normative Frameworks in Promoting WPP in Africa 14 3.1 Domestication of ACDEG and Maputo Protocol

14 3.2 Compliance, Legislative and Policy Actions in Response to ACDEG

16 3.3 Emerging Opportunities through the

20 Implementation of ACDEG

Chapter Four : Review Results on Constraints and Barriers to Strengthening WPP 22

4.1 Introduction and Regional Overview 22

4.2 Socio-Cultural Barriers .................................................................................. 23 4.3 Economic and Financial Barriers .................................................................... 25

4.4 Barriers Related to Tools, Capacities & Resources ......................................... 26 4.5 Electoral Violence and Political Barriers ....................................................... 27 4.6 Legislative and Legal Barriers ........................................................................ 31 4.7 Summary of Barriers and Challenges in Tanzania .......................................... 31

Chapter Five: Review Results on Commendable Efforts and Success Stories 36

5.1 Global and Regional Picture .......................................................................... 36 5.2 Progress in Sub Saharan Africa ..................................................................... 37 5.3 Some Good Stories from Tanzania 39

Chapter Six : Review Results on Benefits, Strategies and Tools for Women in Political Leadership and Decision Making 44

6.1 Benefits of Women’s Political Participation 44 6.2 Strategies Undertaken by Different Actors in Tanzania .................................. 47 6.3 Cross-cutting Strategies for Promoting Women Political ............................. 49 Participation 49 6.4 Available Tools and Resources for Promoting WPP ....................................... 49

Chapter Seven : Conclusions for Learning and Adaptation 52

7.1 Conclusions ................................................................................... 52

7.1.1 General and Overarching ................................................................ 52 7.1.2 Conclusions for Tanzania ............................................................... 54 7.2 Lessons and Opportunities for Strengthening WPP ......................... 54 7.3 Learning and Adaptation for WPP 55

7.4 Project SWOT from the Lens of WPP Team at FAWE ....................... 56 7.5 Key Research and Learning Questions for WPP .............................. 56 7.6 Sustaining WPP Efforts and Results 57

Chapter Eight : Targeted and Actionable Recommendations 60

8.1 Recommendations for AU, ECOSOCC & RECs ................................. 60 8.2 Recommendations for Governments/Parliaments 61 8.4 Recommendations for Political Parties and Actors ........................ 63 8.5 Recommendations for Elections Management ............................... 64 Bodies (IEBC & NEC) 64 8.6 Recommendations for the Judiciary and ....................................... 64 Independent State Institutions............................................................... 64 8.7 Recommendations for Media and FBOs 65 8.8 Recommendations for Women Leaders .......................................... 66 in Leadership/ Political Positions ......................................................... 66 8.8 Recommendations for WPP Project and Partner CSOs ................. 66

Selected List of References 69 Annexes 70

Acronyms

AAIK: Action Aid International Kenya

ACDEG: African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance

ACHPR: African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights

ACTIL: African Centre for Transformative and Inclusive Leadership

AG: Attorney General

AU: African Union

CAR: Central African Republic

CCM: Chama Cha Mapinduzi

CCT: Christian Council of Tanzania

CEDAW: Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women

CHRAGG: Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance

CJPC: Catholic Justice and Peace Commission

CSOs: Civil Society Organizations

CSW: Commission on the Status of Women

EAC: East African Community

FAWE: Forum for African Women Educationalists

FBOs: Faith Based Organisations

FES: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung

FGDs: Focus Group Discussions

GDP: Gross Domestic Product

ICCPR: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

IDEA: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance

IED: Institute for Education in Democracy

IPU: Inter-Parliamentary Union

KIIs Key Informants Interviews

MP: Member of Parliament

NDI: National Democratic Institute

NGOs: Non-Governmental Organisations

PIL: Public Interest Litigation

SADC: South African Development Community

SDGs: Sustainable Development Goals

SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

ToR: Terms of Reference

UDHR: Universal Declaration on Human Rights

UN: United Nations

USA: United States of America

WPP: Women in Political Participation

DRC: Democratic Republic of Congo

Executive Summary

Ms. Martha R.L. Muhwezi

Executive Director FAWE Africa

In partnership with The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), FAWE is implementing the Women in Political Participation (WPP) program for a period of 3 years. The project aims to increase the political participation and representation of women in Africa in line with the Maputo Protocol of 2003, Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA), and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The project is being implemented in 8 African countries namely Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eswatini, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The project comes against the backdrop of continued underrepresentation of women in political spaces and decision making in both political and public spheres irrespective of the numerous efforts to enhance participation of women in politics in most African countries.

This situational analysis’ overall objective was to conduct an assessment of women political participation in Tanzania, identify obstacles faced by women in their quest for participation and make recommendations for reforms and remedial action. The assessment team reviewed the audience and stakeholders across Tanzania, including selected female parliamentarians, independent institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), women political activists and selected women political leaders at national/subnational levels) and the FAWE WPP team at the regional office, Tanzania chapter. Working closely with the WPP team at FAWE, the review team from CRI-EA used a mixed methods approach combining different techniques for both secondary and primary data collection. Critical analysis of secondary sources of information comprising a comprehensive review of relevant literature and project documents was done to provide a rich contextual background for the study. Methods for primary data collection entailed in-depth interviews with different stakeholders including Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). The interviews were guided by interview schedules and checklists, crafted to ensure collection of relevant information.

The section in which we discuss results and findings is divided into four different components looking at status/ trends, role of policy/normative frameworks, constraints/ threats, efforts/success stories and benefits which accrue from women participation in politics and governance. Highlights of some of the significant findings are summarized here under. From the analysis, we conclude that despite a celebratory rise in women representation in political offices and top echelons of public service around Africa, women are still under-represented as voters, as well as in leading positions, whether in elected office, the civil service, the private sector or academia. This occurs despite their proven abilities as leaders and agents of change, and their right to participate equally in democratic governance.

According to the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU), only 23.6 per cent of parliamentarians in Africa are women, with Rwanda, Namibia, and South Africa having the highest proportion of women in parliament at 61.3 per cent, 46.2 per cent, and 42.4 per cent, respectively (IPU, 2018). Women’s representation in executive or ministerial positions is even lower than in parliaments, where women held 19.7 per cent of ministerial posts in 2017 (IPU, 2017). The IPU reports have not singled out Tanzania as the focus of the reports was on performers. This negatively affects women’s ability to influence national decision-making, including program design and resource allocation. Despite notable progress, the marginalization of women and persistent inequalities are among the challenges that continue to limit the full realization of democracy (Mindzie et al., 2014). Barriers and threats to WPP are classified into five different broad categories – socio-cultural, economic/financial, institutional, political, electoral violence and legislative/legal.

In Tanzania, the government has adopted gender equality as well as women and girl’s empowerment as one of its key strategies in ensuring attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals through the National Plans of Action and other gender responsive laws. Tanzanian law provides for “special seats,” with 30 per cent reserved for women appointed by political parties, based on proportional representation. The Constitution of Tanzania stipulates that Women members must not make up less than 30% in the National Assembly.

The special seats for women are distributed among the political parties in proportion to the number of seats awarded to them in parliament (Constitution, Articles 66 (1: b) and 78 (1)). Other legal frameworks highlighting reforms on gender equity is the PPPA, Section 6(5) on gender and social inclusion and the Presidential, Parliamentarians and Councillors Electoral Code of Conduct for the year 2020. In Tanzania, like the rest of Africa, strategies to increase women’s participation in politics have been advanced through advocacy, special measures like affirmative action, conventions, protocols domesticating regional/ international agreements for gender mainstreaming, but they are yet to prove effective in achieving gender parity in the highest government rankings (Chalaby 2017).

At the regional level, we note that Africa has built up an extensive body of instruments and policies to push forward the women’s rights agenda at the continental, regional, and national levels. These instruments include the Maputo Protocol, Beijing Platform of Action, SDG Africa Working Group, the End of the African Women’s Decade, the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA), the Southern African Development Community’s Protocol on Gender and Development, and the East African Community’s Gender Equality and Development Act.

The adoption of these policy pronouncements set the agenda for AU member states and other stakeholders to work towards promoting gender parity in democratic governance processes. However, regardless of the expanded normative commitments by African states, women’s political rights continue to be undermined by inadequate implementation, institutional barriers, discriminatory social norms, as well as by violence and intimidation (Bofu-Tawamba, 2015). Enhancing women’s political empowerment is dependent on a complex interplay of sociocultural, economic, and political factors. Both the Maputo Protocol and ACDEG rightly recognize the interconnected nature of rights – putting economic, social, and political rights side by side. As noted in United Nations SDGs, women’s equal participation with men in power and decision-making is part of their fundamental right to participate in political life, and at the core of gender equality and women’s empowerment. Full and equal participation of both women and men in political decision-making provides a balance that more accurately reflects the composition of society, and may as such enhance the legitimacy of political processes by making them more democratic and responsive to the concerns and perspectives of all segments of society. These are pointers to some of the benefits which can accrue from increased women political participation.

From the discussions and analysis during this study, some conclusions have emerged for the attention of the WPP program team as well as key lessons drawn from this study. These findings can be used to inform and guide review and strengthening of WPP program are summarized and discussed in section seven on Conclusions for Learning & Adaptation. We argue that all partners implementing Women in Political Participation program will be expected to adopt an adaptive programming approach which will allow learning and adaptation throughout implementation and work with all the key actors to generate, document and share key learnings periodically. In order for WPP to find solutions to some of the challenges highlighted in this report, use the lessons to inform interventions or sharpen approaches, WPP team should consider making regular follow ups to continuously assess relevance and effectiveness of WPP approaches. Different ways of sustaining program efforts & results are discussed with specific focus on socio-political & economic considerations, as well as program design, strategies and partnership dimensions.

The report ends with targeted and actionable recommendations spelt out for seven different actors namely; AU, ECOSOCC & RECs; Governments/Parliaments; Political Parties & Actors; Elections Management Bodies; Independent State Institutions; Media & FBOs and WPP Program Partners. Both conclusions and recommendations are disaggregated by country. Five different tools used for data collection have been annexed to this report at the end.

Chapter One : Review Context

1.1 Project Background

FAWE is a membership-based Pan-African non-governmental organization, led by African women working for equality and equity in education across the continent. FAWE works in 33 countries in Africa promoting gender equity and equality in education by fostering positive policies, practices and attitudes towards girls’ education. FAWE’s work influences government policies, builds public awareness, demonstrates best educational practice through effective models and encourages the adoption of these models by governments and education institutions. FAWE also advocates for the participation of women in decision making positions in the community and elimination of gender discrimination.

In partnership with The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), FAWE is implementing the Women in Political Participation (WPP) project for a period of 3 years. The project aims to increase the political participation and representation of women in Africa in line with the Maputo Protocol of 2003, various associated sub-regional protocols and standards, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The project will be implemented in 8 African countries namely Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eswatini, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The project comes against the backdrop of continued underrepresentation of women in political spaces and decision making in both political and public spheres irrespective of the numerous efforts to enhance

participation of women in politics in most African countries. This therefore occasions the need to change the narrative, raise and sustain the awareness in order to change prevailing attitudes, examine obstacles to and proposals for reform and change, empower identified champions of change, and share comparative evidence that could propel action. The situational analysis therefore identifies obstacles faced by women to allow for a clear and precise identification of types of challenges presented by different stakeholders in the quest for increased participation in different geographical and political contexts in Kenya and Tanzania. The study outputs such as analysis/discussions, conclusions and recommendations will assist WPP team with better targeting of project interventions.

FAWE staff pose with Kenyan women leaders and aspiring leaders at the launch of the Intergenerational Mentorship Programme on March 8th 2021. Photo credit: FAWE RS

1.2 Purpose, Objectives, and Questions 2

The overall objective of this assignment was to conduct a situational analysis on women political participation in Tanzania and develop country specific papers to inform implementation of the WPP project. Specifically:

i. Research and situational analyses to highlight contemporary issues of relevance to women’s political participation in Africa;

ii. Knowledge generated from the research and analyses to provide various categories of women actors with fresh evidence and perspectives for advancing the cause of participation in decision-making;

iii. Women’s Political Participation and the strategic use of research evidence to add to efforts at building a fairer society that places prime value on their role and contribution

To respond to the above research objectives, the team sought to answer the following questions:

i. What are some of the key contemporary issues affecting and are relevant to women’s political participation in Tanzania?

ii. What available/new data & evidence can we generate to guide/inform women political participation?

iii. How can strategic use of data and evidence for decision making improve women’s role and place in politics?

iv. Are there any new/fresh perspectives we can provide to various categories of women actors for advancing the cause of participation in decision-making in Tanzania?

v. How can improved women’s political participation support building of a fairer society that places prime value on women’s role and contribution?

vi. How can policy briefs and media articles on the status of women in political participation in Tanzania be used for advocacy purposes?

1.3 Review Audience and Stakeholders across Tanzania

The following are the review audience and stakeholders:

Parliament: Parliament as a law making body is a key citadel in originating and maintaining the legal regime upon which women participation in politics is anchored. It is therefore a key stakeholder in ensuring gender parity in politics and public space in Tanzania. We therefore targeted include selected Tanzania female parliamentarians.

Independent Institutions: Independent institutions are key bodies in promoting and protecting the rights of women participation in politics . In this category, only one such institution was interviewed i.e. Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) in Tanzania;

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs): CSOs particularly women’s rights organizations, have consistently played a pivotal role in expanding the space for women in politics and representation. The following organisations were contacted and responded to the key informant interview schedule (KII Asante Africa Foundation, East Africa Community Secretariat and Women Pastoral Council.

Women Political Activists: Selected Women Political Leaders (National, County and Sub County); Women Political Leaders (Regions, Districts and Divisions) were contacted. The opinion of the following categories of leadership were sought; Party leaders, Female Members of Parliaments & County Assemblies; and Regional leadership in Tanzania.

FAWE Regional Secretariat: FAWE RS is working closely with its national chapter in Tanzania in the implementation of the project. The two chapters also served as contacts for country specific coordination and support during the study. The program also works with other national chapters and partners in Botswana, DRC, Zimbabwe, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal and Eswatini. FAWE has had an unrivalled history at the forefront of campaigns on the political, socio-economic and cultural rights of women in Africa. The consultants therefore sought the views of the regional leadership, WPP team and FAWE coordinators in Tanzania.

1.4 Review Methodology

Working closely with WPP team at FAWE, the review team from CRI used a mixed methods approach combining different techniques for both secondary and primary data collection. Critical analysis of secondary sources of information comprising a comprehensive review of relevant literature and project documents was done to provide a rich contextual background of the project. Methods for primary data entailed interviews with different stakeholders including Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). The interviews were conducted through use of interview schedules, FGD guides or checklist of issues crafted to ensure collection of relevant information.

1.4.1 Review Techniques or Data Collection Methods

Purposive sampling was used to identify the appropriate respondents in Tanzania, particularly in getting data from the target groups. KIIs and FGDs were conducted with persons considered strategic in terms of their participation in and appreciation of the WPP project. As such, the KIIs targeted both internal and external stakeholders. The following data collection methods were employed in this assessment;

The table below contains a complete breakdown of the review techniques we used for this exercise. It is important to note that the review adopted a purely qualitative approach.

Table I: Review Techniques

Technique/Step Focus Tools/means

1. Literature review & document analysis

Assessed state/ level of women participation in politics in Tanzania, successes, constraints, threats and opportunities for strengthening women participation.

Desk review informed by a document analysis guide.

Note: The relevant project documents e.g. project proposal and related reports were analysed for insights & perspectives.

2. Key Informant Interviews (KIIs)

Conducted targeted interviews with selected stakeholders for key informant interviews at county/ district, sub-national and national levels.

Zoom, Skype or phone calls. Persons who were considered knowledgeable about women’s rights were interviewed for insights on these areas.

3. Online reviews

Analysis of previous attempts or efforts in promoting women participation in politics.

Links, websites, podcasts, blogs and online reports.

4. Focused group discussions with selected experts and WPP team

Review, discuss and make recommendations on what needs to be done. These will also serve as spaces for experience sharing and lesson learning

Zoom, Google Meet or Skype;

Note I: Persons who were considered strategic to WPP were also approached for their insights regarding the macro level of issues within the project.

Note II: Discussions were held with staff to explore key questions on project design and implementation. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) were also explored.

5. Data analysis

6. Reflections with WPP team at FAWE

Data coding, interpretation and analyses CRI team plus analytical tools

These will take the form of validation meetings to build consensus with WPP at FAWE and relevant partners or stakeholders.

Zoom, Google Meet, Skype

7. Reporting Inception, draft and final reports CRI team

1.4.2 Data Analysis

The consultants read through each of the FGD and KII transcripts to identify both the expected themes as well as emergent/unexpected themes. Two analytical approaches were triangulated: systematic code-through-content analysis and ethnographic summary. First, simple descriptive statistics such as frequency counts and percentages were used to display level of consensus/dissent as well as response patterns across the focus groups and individual participants. Secondly, descriptive data helped situate emergent themes in a more meaningful context thus validating any inferences made about the level of consensus. Thirdly, analysis provided an ethnographic summary through use of direct quotes illustrative of key themes selected from the transcripts and woven together with an accompanying narrative explanation. Selected stories of change are included to augment the collected data.

1.4.3 Sampling Procedures

Purposive sampling was used to identify the appropriate respondents, particularly in getting data from the target groups. KIIs and FGDs were conducted with persons considered strategic in terms of their participation in and appreciation of the WPP program. As such, the KIIs targeted both internal and external stakeholders.

Table II: Respondents contacted during KIIs/FGDs

Category/Institutions

Tanzania Responses

Parliament Selected Tanzania Parliamentarians - 1

Independent Institutions CHRAGG; EAC - 2

NGOs/CSOs

IINGOs/NGOs: AAF, Women Pastoral Council.

FBOs: BAKWATA;

- 2 - 1

Political Activists Women Political Leaders - 2

County or local government Party officials - 2

FAWE FAWE Tanzania -1

1.4.4 Validation of Draft Report

Importantly, the findings of the study were synthesized and compiled into a draft report that was shared with FAWE team for review and later discussed in a validation workshop held on 9th and 11th March 2021 in Nairobi. The feedback from both reviews was incorporated to improve/ strengthen the final report.

1.5 Study Limitations/Risks and Mitigation Measures

The research team took all reasonable measures to mitigate any potential risks to the delivery of the required outputs of this consultancy on time and strove to meet the expected quality standards. The consultants assumed that the risks to the success of the review ranged between low and medium. They principally concerned the ability of the team to gain access to target population. Given that we engaged through participatory approaches and with involvement of project managers and implementers at FAWE, most risks were mitigated. The team was also able to tap into CRI networks and partners across Tanzania for good stakeholder engagement and additional reference materials including videos from FIDA and CMD, as well as recent reports from Oxfam and Tanzania’s Policy Forum. In the outlay below we outline the limitations/risks, their impact and how they were mitigated.

Limitations/Risks Focus Tools/means

Limitations/Risks Focus Tools/means

Risk 1:

Collecting data from stakeholders in Tanzania was quite challenging owing to new and heightened political and legal restrictions requiring clearance before engaging citizens in this kind of research.

High: Because the political environment was so hostile and implications tougher, actors were reluctant to offer information or present themselves to be interviewed.

We explored and relied on both FAWE, AIHD and CRI networks and personal contacts. The research team used their connections & relationships with some stakeholders in mobilization and convincing participants to freely engage and share information.

The hostile political environment in Tanzania greatly affected rate return as most invited participants did not respond.

Risk 4: Feedback and approval times .

Feedback and approval of Drafts by FAWE team may take longer than predicted

Medium: Our experience is that multiple stakeholders can be difficult to mobilise quickly for feedback.

Because of delays in receiving filled questionnaires back for those who opted for self-administration and delayed interviews we sought a month’s extension,, which helped us conclude the interviews and report writing. Though we had these delays, we ensured we were not so off the timeliness for submission of required reports.

Risk 2:

Reports and documents for desk research may not be readily available

Low: Our previous experience shows that sometimes there could be slow or poor response.

We solicited documents and data as early as possible, indicating clearly the types of documents and data required, and worked with WPP team at FAWE for proactive followup as necessary. As a result we got all the necessary documents. We also used our own contacts to get additional and more materials as mentioned above.

Risk 5: COVID19 Restrictions.

The study was conducted at a time of soaring numbers of COVID 19 cases.

Medium: This therefore underscored the need to observe physical distancing, prompting most of the interviews to be conducted virtually for both Kenya and Tanzania.

Further, some of the target respondents (especially elected women leaders) were not readily available for direct online interviews as a result the data collection took slightly longer than anticipated since the consultants had to make use of mailed questionnaires to reach as many respondents as possible. Unfortunately most of the mailed questionnaires were not returned.

Risk 3:

CSO/NSA interviews senior staff and partners may not be available during chosen period/times.

Medium: Our experience is that senior actors have many other commitments and may not be available when needed.

We identified and contacted potential interviewees early enough to find suitable times for consultations, which allowed enough flexibility to accommodate existing commitments and schedules of senior partners or stakeholders.

Chapter Two :

Review Results on Status and Trends

2.1 Regional Overview - Africa

According to UN Women, women’s leadership and political participation are restricted around the world as well as in Africa, leading to under-representation of women as voters/candidates, as well as in leading positions, whether in elected office, the civil service, the private sector or academia. This occurs despite their proven abilities as leaders and agents of change, and their right to participate equally in democratic governance. Gender equality advocates had further reason to celebrate when Catherine Samba-Panza was sworn in on 23 January 2014 as interim president of the Central African Republic (CAR), making her the fourth African female head of state. The first was Ruth Perry, who headed the Liberian transitional government for about a year from September 1996. The third was former president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia who was elected into office in 2006, while the fourth was Malawi’s first female president, Joyce Banda in 2012. Regrettably, Ms. Banda, the second woman to be seated as president, became the first to be unseated when she lost the elections, in what some say was a retaking of power by loyalists of the late President Bingu wa Mutharika (www.africa.unwomen.org).

Despite the numerous challenges, Africa has witnessed a celebratory rise in women’s political participation as assessed by Kingsley Ighobor in the Africa Renewal Journal of April 2015. “One of the most fascinating developments in African politics has been the increase in women’s political participation since the mid-1990s,” writes Aili Mari Tripp, a professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the USA. Besides the four female heads of state (mentioned above), Ms. Tripp bases her upbeat assessment on the increasing number of women parliamentarians on the continent. Indeed, with 64% of seats held by women, Rwanda has the highest number of women parliamentarians in the world. Senegal, Seychelles and South Africa have more than 40% each, and Mozambique, Angola, Tanzania and Uganda are not far off, with women occupying over 35% of all parliamentary seats. Considering that women hold only 19% of the seats in the USA congress and 20% in the senate, Ms. Tripp maintains that Africa has every right to be proud. What she did not capture in her exciting analysis is that in USA and Europe women hold top positions beyond parliament, in ministries, military and other top government departments, which is not the case in most African countries .

As countries strive to implement Sustainable Development Goal 5, “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls,” governments must also strive to embed gender parity in constitutions and legal frameworks. They must realize full compliance with the law, eliminate all forms of violence against women and ensure that girls receive a quality education. However, a survey on women’s participation in politics in 34 African countries by Afrobarometer, a research group that measures public perceptions of socioeconomic and political issues in Africa, notes that while countries such as Rwanda and South Africa may have numerically significant women parliamentary representation, some of the world’s worst performers are also on the continent. For example, women have only 6.2% representation in Swaziland, 6.7% in Nigeria and 8.4% in Benin . Nevertheless, the good news is that a vast majority of Africans (72%) agree that women should have the same chance of being elected to political office as men (Afrobarometer 2019). The problem, again, is that this majority opinion on gender equality does not exist in some parts of the continent. While 74% of respondents in East Africa believe in women’s equality and 73% in Southern Africa, only 50% in North Africa agree that women should have the same rights as men.

In fact, women’s leadership was rejected by 53% of respondents in Sudan and by 50% in Egypt . There are many reasons why women’s participation in politics is the key to good governance. Experts say women are key to the new breed of politicians who will offer Africa the opportunity to advance democracy in the continent. It is interesting that the four female African leaders assumed office during crises or transitions. Ms. Sirleaf was elected after a 13-year devastating civil war; Ms. Banda, who had been vice president, took over after President Bingu wa Mutharika died in office; and Ms. Samba-Panza was sworn in amid rebellion and sectarian violence in the CAR and Ms. Perry headed the interim government following ceasefire negotiations that ended almost two decades of war (UN Women 2019).

Ironically not everyone believes women leaders are remarkably different from their male counterparts. Countries in Africa where women are leaders have not always been beacons of good governance, some observers say. But the reasons for this are deep-rooted and may be beyond the leadership capabilities of such female leaders. Satang Nabanech, a women’s rights advocate and attorney from the Gambia, lists several social, cultural and economic barriers that inhibit women’s ability to make significant changes in politics. Ms. Nabanech cites patriarchal politics, or a belief that men must naturally make decisions and that the place for a woman is the home. In addition, most women often lack skills, education and experience to survive in politics, Ms. Nabanech says, having been denied opportunities to go to school over the years. She also underscores the cost of politics, stressing that politics is expensive and many women lack the financial wherewithal to succeed in it. “It is difficult for women to participate in political life when their major concern is survival and they have no choice but to spend much of their time trying to fulfil the basic needs of families.” Violence in African politics is yet another factor which may also discourage participation. Generally, women feel “a sense of vulnerability to political intimidation and violence,” notes the Afrobarometer survey . In Guinea, for instance, 64% of women say they are very concerned about political intimidation.

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan speaks during the inauguration of the Morocco–Mwenge highway in Dar es Salaam, on December 02, 2021. Photo credit: Ericky Boniphace(Shutterstock)

2.2 The Situation in Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a low-income country of 54.2 million people with women constituting 27.7 million (51.9%) and men 26.5 million (48.9%) (Tanzania Bureau of Statistics, 2017). The government has adopted gender equality as well as women and girl’s empowerment as one of its key strategies in ensuring attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals through the National Plans of Action and other gender responsive laws. Despite the demographics of women being higher than the men and all affirmative efforts by the government, women involvement in politics is low. Women access political decision making positions through the First Past The Post (FPTP) electoral system, women special seats, ten presidential appointments and based on the position one becomes an Attorney General or Speaker. Tanzania, has a unicameral parliament with the use of voluntary party quotas and legislated quotas for the single/lower house and at the sub-national level. 145 of 393 (37%) seats in the Bunge/National Assembly are held by women (IDEA, 2020). The efforts to promote women in leadership is at a slow pace in many of the top political leadership positions. For example, since proclaiming its independence from British rule in 1961, by 2015 no women in Tanzania had occupied a top-level leadership position, such as that of president or vice-president, prime minister, chief minister or attorney general. The first ever woman to become Vice-President was Her Excellency, the Hon. Samia Suluhu Hassan, after the general elections in 2015. In the same 2015 general elections, 5 women were running mates to presidential candidates representing five political parties namely Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), Chama cha Sauti ya Umma (SAU). Civic United Front (CUF), Democratic Party (DP) and United for Multiparty Democracy (UMD). Out of 1,250 candidates in total only 238 women (19%), won seats in Parliament (National Electoral Commission, 2015). The Tanzanian Parliament, as a major decision-making body, has 37.18 percent of women parliamentarians. 30 percent of these representatives come from

special seats arrangement and 7 per cent are constituencybased elected members of parliament) (National Parliament, 2019). At the local government level, elected women councilors occupy up to 240 seats equivalent to 5.2 percent of the 3946 elected councilors countrywide (Karate Mbashiru, 2018).

In February 2020, Tanzania Policy Forum in collaboration with the British Council hosted a breakfast debate to unveil the study on the women special seats in Tanzania entitled “Towards 2020 General Elections: Reflecting on Women Special Seats in Tanzania”. The Forum is a Tanzanian network of civil society organizations working to influence policy processes that improve the lives of wananchi (local people). Participants during this forum made notable observations as part of the discussions around women participation in elections and the relevance of special seats to women in Tanzania some of which we highlight below.

According to Dr. Suma Kaare (Gender & Political Science Specialist), limiting the women’s special seats would be diverting attention to the main point of the reason for existence. “The main reason is for the women to amplify the voices of those few and marginalized individuals whose voices otherwise wouldn’t be heard’’. Commenting on the relevance and impact of special seats she made the following observation; “In the Council where actually majority of us connect with Government, Women Special Seats are not allowed to have leadership positions within the council. The negative gender norms that are there are still prohibiting women” ~ Dr. Suma Kare, Gender Specialist – Political Science

“Despite the efforts to increase female parliamentary candidates, there has been a challenge for women to contest for electoral positions which hinders further numerical increase in the number of candidates that have been voted for by the people. The National Electoral Commission (NEC) should put in place proper guidelines on how to secure candidates to eliminate bewilderment. Hence the improvement of women special seats and its implementation should be aligned and geared to accelerate realization of its objectives” Dr. Victoria Lihiru, Lecturer Open University of Tanzania, February 2020

It is instructive to note that the Constitution of Tanzania stipulates women members must not make up less than 30% in the National Assembly. The special seats for women are distributed among the political parties in proportion to the number of seats awarded to them in parliament . In Tanzania, the country’s 31 administrative units/mikoa are key to the realisation of gender parity in governance. The number of women running for elected office remains low despite these progressive provisions. According to UN Women, more than 12,000 candidates contested for different elective offices from the district level up to the presidency in the 2015 elections. Of those candidates, approximately 1,000 were women, representing about 8% of total candidates running for elected office. This is fairly low considering Tanzania’s constitutionally mandated 30% gender quota in parliament. The table 1 below shows the number of male and female that were nominated to contest for President, Vice President, Members of Parliament and Councillors.

6. https://www.policyforum-tz.org/reforming-and-restructuring-women-special-seats-towards-2020-general-elections-stakeholders-debate

7. Constitution of Tanzania, Articles 66 (1: b) and 78 (1)

Position for Nomination

Male Female Total

President 13 86.6% 2 13.3% 15

Vice President 10 66.6% 5 33.3% 15

Member of Parliament 964 76.7% 293 23.3% 1257

Councillor 8562 92.7% 669 7.2% 9231

TOTAL 9548 90.7% 960 9.2% 10518

Source: Policy forum breakfast debate on the Special Seats held in October, 2020.

The just concluded national elections of 2020, witnessed women participating as candidates in various elective posts. Fifteen presidential candidates were nominated for the 2020 elections, of whom two were women. A total of 1,257 candidates were nominated for seats in the National Assembly, 293 of these candidates were women. Finally, 9,231 candidates were nominated for local authorities, of whom 669 candidates were women (EISA, 2020).

The 2020 election of Tanzania was conducted in the month of October amidst the World Pandemic caused by COVID-19. The election was the sixth to be held since the introduction of the multipartyism in 1992 and was the first ever fully funded election by Tanzania’s’ government. The key political actors in the October 2020 elections include the National Election Commission, The Registrar of Political Parties and the 19 registered political parties. The political environment in Tanzania has undergone pertinent changes since the 2015 elections. Political parties were not allowed to campaign until 2020. The freedom of expression through mainstream media and social media was curtailed. Operations of NGOs and Civic Organizations were curtailed and activities controlled by government authorities. Some human rights groups had their operations suspended from the country.

The elections of 2020 were characterized with repression of Opposition Parties, Media and Non-Governmental Organizations by Tanzania’s forces. Political party activities and public gatherings were limited extremely by the police force and opposition party members were arbitrarily arrested and briefly detained. Media gagging and ban of other media outlets limited access to public information and freedom of expression. The government imposed new restrictions on the media and on freedom of expression

online. Major organizations that have historically coordinated election monitoring and conducted civic education in Tanzania were missing in the approved list of organizations by NEC. Out of the 19 registered political parties, only 5 have presence in Parliament, namely the ruling party CCM, Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema), the Civic United Front (CUF), ACT-Wazalendo and NCCR-Mageuzi. Fifteen presidential candidates were nominated for the 2020 elections, of whom two were women. A total of 1,257 candidates were nominated for seats in the National Assembly, 293 of these candidates were women. Finally, 9,231 candidates were nominated for local authorities, of whom 669 candidates were women (EISA, 2020). 50.3 percent of the registered voters were women. Out of the 15 presidential candidates two were women and none of them made it to the top. President John Pombe Magufuli of the ruling CCM party won the elections attaining 84 percent of the total vote counted..

Contrary to the landslide win, the opposition parties challenged the results of the elections claiming they were fraudulent and made demands for repeat elections. Five (5) women vied for the vice president position leading to the overall winner for the VP position being held by a woman. The results of parliamentary and local government are yet to be made public. The NEC is yet to post the results on its website (https://www.nec.go.tz/). Parliament of Tanzania consists of 37 percent of women members of parliament of which 30 percent make up the special seats and 7 percent are elected at constituency level. These figures led to a deficit of 13 percent, as the Special Seats only had 19 Women in 2020. The team led by Hon. Halima Mdee were denounced by their party on grounds that they were neither presented nor proposed by the party. The party chairperson denied publicly that the women in Parliament

exist to achieve parity with men in the National Assembly. The deficit is also evident at local level. The elected women councillors constitute only 240 seats out of the total 4000 councillors. This presents about 5 percent disparity of women to men in the local government.

The political parties have established women’s wings to support in affirmative action through special seats. Umoja Wa Wanawake Tanzania (UWT) is the women wing for the ruling party CCM. They held their grassroots and national elections in August 2020 in Dodoma. This was in preparation for the main elections held in October 2020. The main opposition party CHADEMA Women Wing (BAWACHA) Baraza la Wanawake Chadema had 19 women leaders to be nominated for the special seats. However, the party leadership denounced these women leaders including one elected leader claiming they had not proposed, presented or endorsed the 19 women for the special seats. Despite the party denouncing the women leaders, the speaker of the National Assembly swore them in as Members of Parliament on Special Seats in November 2020. The ACT Wazalendo Women Wing was established in 2015 in accordance with the party’s constitution and is blooming slowly. Critics argue that the women’s wings lack the power to influence party policies and leadership. They are seen as a source to only mobilize women during elections and creating room for women to be party supporters.

Though there is no known or established mechanism for supporting women in special seats to progress into or transition to regular elective positions (e.g. constituency seats), women leaders and party officials went out of their way to mobilise and lobby women to come out in their numbers to contest and present themselves for 2020 elections. An example of such campaigns is evidenced in the statement below made by Bi. Hawa Subira during the stakeholders’ forum (ibid) of February 2020.

“It has come a time for women to come out in great numbers to contest for various positions of leadership and not to wait for the nomination for special seats. Tanzania mainland has signed international treaties on gender equity at 50:50 and Zanzibar has signed for 40:60. We have not yet achieved the 50 percent threshold, but passing through the women wing of Tanzania, this year 2020 we will ensure we achieve the target because we have the numbers of women in Mainland and Zanzibar. We are to contest for various leadership positions so that we attain the threshold of 50 percent for Mainland and 40 percent for Zanzibar. We are ready to work guided by the Constitution and the electoral code” ~ Hawa Subira, Makamu Mwenyekiti Bawacha Bara.

Chapter Three :

Review Results on the Role of Policy and Normative Frameworks in Promoting WPP in Africa

3.1 Domestication of ACDEG and Maputo Protocol

Global normative frameworks such as the 1979 CEDAW paved the way for the development of legal frameworks that clearly articulate, elaborate, and advocate for the protection of women’s political rights by African states (Mukumu, 2015). Many argued that these global treaties do not effectively address issues particular to African women (Musa, 2007), and thus called for frameworks situated within the African context that expand the purview of women’s rights (Tadesse, 2015). In this regard, Africa has built up an extensive body of instruments and policies to push forward the women’s rights agenda at the continental, regional, and national levels. At the continental and regional ones, various policy decisions aimed at advancing women’s participation in decision-making structures have been adopted – including the Maputo Protocol, the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA), the Southern African Development Community’s Protocol on Gender and Development, and the East African Community’s Gender Equality and Development Act. The adoption of these policy pronouncements set the agenda for AU member states and other stakeholders to work towards promoting gender parity in democratic governance processes. However, regardless of the expanded normative commitments by African states, women’s political rights continue to be undermined by inadequate implementation, institutional barriers, discriminatory social norms, as well as by violence and intimidation (Bofu-Tawamba, 2015). These rights violations across Africa are indicative of the disconnect between policy and practice.

State parties are further called on to “recognize the crucial role of women in development and strengthening of democracy” (Article 29.1). In isolation, this could be seen as indicative of an instrumental rather than a rights-based approach. One could further question what recognition entails, and what good it would do in terms of advancing the rights of women. This is addressed, in part, by subsequent clauses. In Article 29.2, ACDEG stipulates that, beyond recognition, an enabling environment and “necessary conditions of full and active participation of women in decisionmaking processes and structures at all levels” must be created “as a fundamental element in the promotion and exercise of a democratic nature.” The Charter does not specify what these conditions are, and leaves much room for interpretation. However, the fact that the Charter allows for flexibility rather than rigidity becomes important considering the highly diverse contexts in which this clause would be put into practice (Hannum, 2016). Furthermore, if this clause is viewed alongside accepted normative standards on women’s rights, then these “necessary conditions” can be interpreted as encompassing “affirmative action, enabling national legislation and other measures” – as specified in Article 9 of the Maputo Protocol. There is thus a need for these two instruments to be read collectively. With regard to the electoral process, state parties are urged to “take all possible measures to encourage the full and active participation of women and ensure gender parity in representation at all levels, including legislatures” (Article 29.3). In this regard, countries including Algeria and Rwanda have a practice of reserving a percentage of parliamentary seats for women, while others such as Guinea, Lesotho, and Mauritania have set quotas for women on candidate lists . It is significant to note that ACDEG calls not for 30 per cent representation or even more ambiguous, increased representation, but for parity and – like the Maputo Protocol (Article 9, 1b) – specifies that gender parity must be attained at all levels.

and Governance 9. Abdulmelik & Belay (2019): Advancing Women’s Political Rights in Africa

...“necessary conditions” can be interpreted as encompassing “affirmative action, enabling national legislation and other measures”...

3.2 Compliance, Legislative and Policy Actions in Response to ACDEG

Since 2007, when ACDEG was adopted, Africa has made significant strides towards opening up spaces for women. Several AU member states have put in place national laws and policies, as well as institutions such as ministries, commissions, and directorates that are responsible for advancing gender equality. These laws and policies include: constitutional reforms/amendments; the introduction of quota systems, gender equality, and women-friendly acts; and affirmative action measures. Illustrative of this are Burkina Faso’s (Ayeni, 2016) and Niger’s constitutional provisions reserving a certain number of parliamentary seats for women, and political parties in Namibia and South Africa that have adopted internal rules to ensure a certain percentage of women can vie for office (Bush, 2011; MEWC, 2016). Facilitated by these policy initiatives, the continent has made substantial progress towards the increased participation of women in decision-making structures. The number of women taking up key positions as prime ministers, vice presidents, house speakers, chief justices, and cabinet ministers has gone up incrementally (Belay, 2017). Several women now head powerful ministerial portfolios, such as finance in Nigeria and defence in Kenya & South Africa among others (Osei-Afful, 2014). Even more importantly perhaps, the number of women in parliament has increased significantly. Although this is but one of the markers of women in decision-making positions, it is one of the most common indicators thereof – and the easiest on which to find data.

Tables V and VI below detail the percentage of women in parliament in 2007, when, as noted, ACDEG was adopted; 2012 when it came into force; and in 2019, marking twelve years since its adoption. The two tables distinguish between those who are party to ACDEG and those who are not.

While it is difficult to note any consistent trends from the tables with regards to women’s parliamentary representation among the fifty-five African member states, some aspects are nevertheless noteworthy. Only five of the twelve African countries that have surpassed the goal of over 30 per cent representation in parliament have ratified ACDEG. Furthermore, 13 of the 34 countries that have ratified ACDEG have fewer than 15 per cent female participation in their parliaments. In addition, even though approximately two-thirds of the countries who have ratified ACDEG have seen a considerable increase in their share of women parliamentarians in the course of the twelve years since ACDEG’s adoption, the remaining thirteen have witnessed a decline or stagnation therein. Out of the twenty-one countries that have not ratified ACDEG, on the other hand, seventeen have seen an increase in the number of women parliamentarians, while three have shown a decrease.

Moreover, while seven (33.3 per cent) have reached 30 per cent women’s representation, six (28.5 per cent) have less than 15 per cent of their parliamentary seats occupied by females. Looking at these figures, it is difficult to assess ACDEG’s precise impact on the representation and participation of women in African political life. This is for many reasons, including the inability to relate the gains made so far solely to the Charter. Moreover, it would be highly desirable to consider indicators other than parliamentary seats – including the existence/ absence of women-friendly legislation/ measures implemented by state parties. This indicates the need for further interrogation of the matter in question, in order to better ascertain the relationship between the current political landscape for African women on the one hand and ACDEG and the instruments that preceded it – most importantly the Maputo Protocol – on the other.

Of the 34 countries that have ratified ACDEG have fewer than 15% female participation in their parliaments.

Of the 34 countries have reached more than 30% women representation in their parliaments.

Of the 34 countries have less than 15% women representation in their parliaments.

Table IV: Women’s Parliamentary Representation in ACDEG State Parties

Country Date Deposited ACDEG

Average percentage of women in parliament 2007

Average Percentage of women in parliament 2012

Average percentage of women in parliament 2019

Quota system in place?

Algeria 10/01/2017 7.7 31.6 25.8 Yes

Benin 11/07/2012 10.8 8.4 7.2 No

Burkina Faso 06/07/2010 15.3 15.7 13.4 Yes

Cameroon 16/01/2012 13.9 13.9 31.1 Yes

CAR 06/03/2019 10.5 12.5 8.6 N/A

Chad 13/10/2011 5.2 14.9 14.9 No

Comoros 06/01/2017 3.0 3.0 6.1 Yes

Cote D’Ivoire 28/11/2013 8.9 10.4 11.0 Yes

Djibouti 22/01/2013 13.8 13.8 26.2 Yes

Ethiopia 06/01/2009 21.9 27.8 38.8 Yes

Gambia 04/02/2019 9.4 7.50 10.3 N/A

Ghana 19/10/2010 10.9 N/A 13.1 No

Guinea 11/07/2011 19.3 N/A 22.8 Yes

Guinea Bissau 04/01/2012 14.0 14.0 13.7 No

Lesotho 09/07/2010 23.5 26.7 23.3 Yes

Liberia 07/03/2017 12.5 11.0 12.3 No

Madagascar 13/04/2017 7.9 17.5 19.2 No

Malawi 24/10/2012 13.0 22.3 16.7 Yes

Mali 02/09/2013 10.2 10.2 8.8 Yes

Mauritania 28/07/2008 22.1 22.1 20.3 Yes

Mozambique 09/05/2018 34.8 39.20 39.6 No

Namibia 30/08/2016 26.9 24.4 46.2 Yes

Niger 08/11/2011 12.4 13.3 17.0 Yes

Nigeria 09/01/2012 7.0 6.7 5.6 No

Rwanda 14/07/2010 48.8 56.3 61.3 Yes

Saharawi Republic 27/01/2014 N/A N/A N/A No

Sao Tome and Principe 27/06/2019 7.3 18.20 14.5 N/A

Seychelles 28/09/2016 23.5 43.8 21.2 No

Sierra Leone 08/12/2009 13.2 12.4 12.3 No

South Africa 24/01/2011 33.0 42.3 42.7 Yes

South Sudan 13/04/2015 N/A 26.5 28.5 Yes

Sudan 16/09/2013 18.1 24.6 27.7 Yes

Togo 20/03/2012 11.1 11.1 16.5 Yes

Zambia 08/07/2011 15.2 11.5 18.0 No

Table V: Women’s Parliamentary Representation in African Countries that have not Ratified ACDEG Country

Average percentage of women in parliament 2007

Average percentage of women in parliament 2012

Average percentage of women in parliament 2019

Quota system in place?

Angola 15.0 38.20 30.0 Yes

Botswana 11.1 7.90 9.5 No

Burundi 30.5 30.50 36.4 Yes

Cape Verde 15.3 20.8 23.6 Yes Congo 8.5 7.30 11.3 N/A DRC 8.4 25.0 10.3 Yes

Egypt 2.0 N/A 14.9 Yes

Equatorial Guinea 18.0 10.0 20.0 No Eritrea 22.0 22.0 22.0 Yes Eswatini 10.8 13.6 7.2 Yes Gabon 12.5 15.8 17.9 N/A Kenya 7.3 9.80 21.8 Yes Libya 7.7 N/A 16.0 Yes Mauritius 17.1 18.8 11.6 No Morocco 10.8 17.00 20.5 Yes

Senegal 19.2 22.70 41.8 Yes Somalia 7.8 6.80 24.4 Yes Tanzania 30.4 36.00 36.9 Yes Tunisia 22.8 26.70 35.9 Yes Uganda 29.8 35.00 34.9 Yes Zimbabwe 16.7 15.00 31.9 Yes

Note: It is important to note that both Kenya and Tanzania had not ratified ACDEG according to IPU Report of 2019. This provides ground for WPP team to lobby both governments to reconsider and ratify the protocol.

Source: IPU: Inter-Parliamentary Union Reports (2007, 2012, 2019) as quoted by Abdulmelik & Belay in Africa Spectrum Journal of 2019.

Source: IPU Inter-Parliamentary Union Report (2007, 2012, and 2019) as quoted by Abdulmelik & Belay in Africa Spectrum Journal of 2019.

3.3 Emerging Opportunities through the

Implementation of ACDEG

Despite numerous provisions pertaining to the political rights of women throughout ACDEG, the lack of implementation of these commitments renders them moot. Article 44 thus calls on state parties to make true to their commitments by ensuring the harmonization and conformity of national laws and regulations with the Charter, thereby promoting political will and popularizing ACDEG (Article 44.1). It further calls on the African Union Commission to develop benchmarks to assess compliance, as well as promote “the creation of favourable conditions for democratic governance” (Article 44.2). These benchmarks are yet to be developed. Regional Economic Communities (RECs) are tasked, meanwhile, with the implementation and monitoring of the Charter, as well as enhancing buy-in to it – via the “massive participation of stakeholders, particularly civil society organizations, in the process” (Article 44.2). The only consequences of non-compliance specifically outlined in ACDEG include suspension, sanctioning, and trial in court. However these measures are limited to perpetrators rather than state parties, and are confined to unconstitutional changes of government – as outlined in Article 25. This essentially means that there are no sanctions for noncompliance with the numerous issue areas that ACDEG covers, and for possible violations or inactions on the part of the state party (Saungweme, 2007).

Following the November 2016 APDH versus Cote D’Ivoire ruling of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, however, there is now a precedent for taking cases to the court on the basis of violations of the provisions of the Charter (ACHPR Judgment, 2016). In the case of Cote D’Ivoire, it was possible for a non-governmental entity (APDH) to take the state to court due to the state’s

declaration of Article 34(6) – which enables individuals and NGOs direct access to the courts (Ayeni, 2016). While there are only eight member states who have signed on to this declaration, this remains an entry point for women’s rights activists and organizations to find legal recourse –considering that AU organs or other member states can also take a case to court for any unsettled grievances within the precincts of this accord. Similarly, the ACDEG state reporting process also provides an opportune entry point to monitor and evaluate the level of compliance with the gender provisions of the Charter. The current AGA “Rules of Procedure,” to which the Guidelines for State Reporting are an annex, provide a good basis for this. They give the African Governance Platform as well as the Secretariat a specific mandate to ensure the robust engagement and participation of the citizenry – particularly women, youth, and civil society – in its various initiatives and programs (Rules 4d, 7g, Rules of Procedure of African Governance Platform, 2016). This work has begun, evidenced by the development of youth and women engagement strategies and the subsequent programming that emerged from both.

In addition to the Rules of Procedure, the Guidelines for State reporting provide further guidance and opportunities for women to engage throughout the process – from compiling the report, to its review, to even providing technical support following that review. For example, the Guidelines insist that state parties must put in place a multi-stakeholder national institutional framework, which will coordinate monitoring, reporting, and follow up on the implementation of recommendations that emerge from the process. While the Guidelines do not explicitly state the necessity of including women’s rights organizations,

they do stress the inclusion of non-state actors – with a view to ensuring an inclusive, participatory, and diverse make-up to the group (Guidelines III/9, Guidelines for State Parties Reports under African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (Annex 1 to Rules of Procedure, 2016). The Guidelines go further, asserting that the report must comprise information on the involvement and participation of women’s groups and minorities in compiling it (Guidelines VI/A/13(f)). This gives impetus to their involvement in the consultation process.

Moreover, the initial report – mandatory for state parties reporting for the first time – should provide baseline data on the operating environment of non-state actors and regulatory frameworks in place; relevant instruments that have been ratified by the state party; and the status of reporting for that particular instrument. Noteworthy is the fact that the Maputo Protocol is included in the list of instruments to be reported on (Guidelines VI/A/13(c)). Furthermore, state parties are obliged to detail measures 156 Africa Spectrum 54(2) undertaken in line with the Charter – including providing disaggregated data and statistics on various areas including the political participation of women (Guidelines VI/B/ 14(e)). These measures facilitate the provision of gendered data from the state party, enabling an assessment of their compliance with ACDEG’s gender provisions. Indeed, the Togo State Report listed the women’s rights organizations that were part of its consultation process, had specific paragraphs pertaining to both women’s rights normative frameworks as well as policies in place, and identified the status of equity and gender equality in Togo.

Furthermore, gender-disaggregated data was used throughout the report (Togo Report 2017). Women, women’s rights organizations, and constituencies all have further opportunity to engage through interaction with the AGA Platform once the report has been submitted. Part of the process includes the convening of a pre-session for African non-state actors from the state party under review (Guidelines X/26). Working with other accredited civil society organizations (members of the ECOSOCC), FAWE WPP team can lead this process for Kenya and Tanzania, if and when the countries submit their reports, but in the meantime should push for the two governments to rise to the occasion and make their submissions. The fact that the guidelines specify that these African nonstate actors must be members of the AU’s Economic,

Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) is indeed limiting; however, it still provides a window of opportunity for those women’s rights organizations that are members of ECOSOCC to participate in the process, and can consult extensively as they do so. For those who are not, other possibilities to engage nevertheless still exist – including via a dialogue with the state party under review that can include “representatives of any relevant stakeholders,” who may be invited to “make oral and/or submit written statements” (Guidelines X/27).

The guidelines also make provisions for the AGA Platform to engage further with “relevant stakeholders” following the review of the state report and the dialogue for “continued collaboration and if need be for technical support” (Guidelines XI/34). Many of the provisions that allow for the engagement of civil society and more specifically women’s rights organizations in the state reporting process are indeed at the discretion of both state parties and AGA Platform members. Nevertheless, the provisions that exist currently in both the Rules of Procedure and its annex provide a good grounding for the meaningful engagement of women and women’s rights groups vis-a`-vis holding states accountable throughout the entire state reporting and review process. Considering that, as noted, only one state report has been received thus far, and no state report has yet been reviewed, this assertion can only be tested in future with empirical analysis – as it becomes available.

...It further calls on the African Union Commission to develop benchmarks to assess compliance, as well as promote “the creation of favourable conditions for democratic governance”...

Chapter Four : Review Results on Constraints and Barriers to Strengthening WPP

4.1 Introduction and Regional Overview

According to UN Women two main obstacles prevent women from participating fully in political life. These are structural barriers, whereby discriminatory laws and institutions still limit women’s ability to run for office, and capacity gaps, which occur when women are less likely than men to have the education, contacts and resources needed to become effective leaders. Enhancing women’s political empowerment is dependent on a complex interplay of sociocultural, economic, and political factors. Indeed, ACDEG lays emphasis on the universality, interdependence, and indivisibility of human rights (Article 6) and makes provision for free and compulsory basic education and literacy for all – especially girls and women (Articles 43.1 and 43.2). State parties must ensure that measures to enhance women’s socio-economic status are part and parcel of efforts towards increased political participation. The introduction of day-care facilities in parliament, equal pay for work of equal value, and progressive policies that ensure women’s access, control, and ownership of resources are cases in point. Article 13 of the Maputo Protocol lends credence to this assertion in mandating states to “adopt and enforce legislative and other measures to guarantee women equal opportunities.” Complementary to this, Article 8 of ACDEG calls on state parties to “adopt legislative and administrative measures to guarantee the rights of women.” Both the Maputo Protocol and ACDEG rightly recognize the interconnected nature of rights – putting economic, social, and political rights side by side. Furthermore, by explicitly including a provision on literacy and education, there seems to be a recognition that failing to tackle these issues would by default marginalize women from electoral processes (Hassim, 2003).

Sustainable and all-around developments of a society cannot be brought about without the full and unreserved participation of both women and men in the development process, and such a balanced development should also call for the elimination of all forms of discrimination, and the protection against all forms of violence against women. Since 1985 both Kenya & Tanzania have been implementing CEDAW (Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women) which is an international agreement where countries have agreed to end all forms of discrimination against women. The Convention provides the basis for realizing equality between women and men through ensuring women’s equal access to, and equal opportunities in, political and public life – including the right to vote and to stand for election -- as well as education, health and employment.

4.2 Socio-Cultural Barriers

In most communities in Tanzania like the rest of Eastern Africa, men and women substantially occupy different positions, most of which were culturally determined. In majority of the cases, due to skewed relations of power, women occupied and continue to occupy subordinate positions irrespective of developments made to date. Because cultures have their own organized systems which determine how members of that particular culture behave towards each other and towards their environment, they

have the potential of empowering or dis-empowering men and women. There’s need to research and promote the aspects of the various cultures that promote women’s political participation and leadership. Religion has been singled out as the biggest culprit and beneficiary of women’s failure in political space. The power of religion in hindering women from acquiring leadership positions can be seen through cultural domination, bigotry and selfishness.

church leaders in women’s empowerment programs’, Onesmus Kipuyo, Senior Lecturer, University of Dodoma and Gender Consultant.

Students from Daystar University, Kenya pose for a photo at the launch of the Intergenerational Mentorship Programme

Photo Credits: FAWE RS

‘‘For example, in the Catholic Church and Islam, women cannot be priests and imams. The structure of most of the religious institutions is firmly grounded to undermine women’s leadership. The majority of women have been brainwashed to rather pray and seek leadership roles through prayers instead of giving them the platform to vie for leadership positions. To mitigate this, more women of faith can redefine leadership in their places of worship and provide valuable role models for young church leaders and pressure from within their faith practices to change discrimination against women. This can be done by including

Democractic Institute’s (NDI) Dickson Omondi, the National Democractic Institute’s (NDI) Regional Director for Eastern & Southern Africa concurs on the role of religion in undermining women participation leadership, saying; ‘‘Religion is often misinterpreted and misused to subjugate women and deny them leadership positions in the community. To mitigate this, we need regularly highlight success stories of women leadership roles in religious contexts’’. On his part, Eric Mukoya, Executive Director for Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) in East Africa (December 2020), underscores the need for cultural reintegration and calls for opening of more spaces for women leadership in religious institutions. He observes, “There is need for cultural reintegration to infuse new

thought processes and the need for religious institutions to adopt more progressive narrative, by first opening their institutional hierarchy to women leadership”.

According to evidence in Figure I below, cultural norms & stereotypes about women, religious beliefs about women and women’s own perception about lack of safety/ respect for women in political spheres were isolated as three most significant socio-cultural barriers to women political participation in Kenya and Tanznaia, with all tallied at 67%. These were followed by discriminatory or sexist working culture in government, private sector and civil society at 44%.

”

‘‘There are many religious institutions in Tanzania who do not accept women in leadership position such as church elders and pastors/priests eg African Inland Church (AIC), Roman Catholic Church, Free Pentecostal Church of Tanzania (FPCT) etc. The justification is that women are weaker vessels. This is peppered with traditional beliefs which stereotype women’’.

In order to remedy this situation, Zelote recommends that all religious leaders in Tanzania need to undergo some intensive training in gender mainstreaming, social inclusion and shared leadership.’

Commenting on additional challenges or obstacles women face in representation and political participation in East Africa, Dr. James Jowi of the East African Community Secretariat and Board Chair of Sustainable Rural Initiatives (SRI) outlined the following; - violence especially during campaigns, difficulties in mobilizing adequate funds for successful campaigns, societal/cultural stereotypes on women and leadership - insinuating (in some societies) that political leadership should be a preserve for men, inadequate media coverage, derogatory remarks on women during campaigns, family constraints ( women have more responsibilities at family level that constrain their participation in politics). At times the husband and other family members have to approve their participation while for the men it might not require as much.

4.3 Economic and Financial Barriers

Cultural norms and stereotypes about women in society

Religious beliefs/ interpretation about women in society

Discriminatory or sexist working culture in Government/ Parliament/Subnational legislature

Women’s perception of the lack of safety and respect for women in the political sphere.

In the process of triangulating these findings, some of them were aptly corroborated by some study participants like in the case of Zelote Loilang’akaki, Manager of Strategic Partnerships at Asante Africa Foundation (AAF), who maintained that;

There is provision for public funding for the day-today functioning of political parties, but not for campaign financing. Only political parties with at least one seat in the national parliament are eligible for public funding. The criterion used for distribution of public funds is perceived as favouring the ruling party with a majority in the national parliament. The newly enacted law Elections Expenses Act of 2010 regulates election expenses and controls the use of funds and illegal practices, establishes penalties for breaches of the law, and restricts foreign funding for election expenses (NIMD/IDEA, 2012). Preliminary findings of a recent study by the Institute for Statskundskab on campaign financing in Tanzania and Uganda indicate that the size of campaign financing has increased over the two last election cycles in both countries. They also show that the financing patterns for candidates from the ruling and the opposition parties differ and that individual candidates get relatively limited financial assistance from the party. This is likely to have a significant impact on the formulation of the donation-influence processes and their outcomes.

The Tanzania Gender Networking Programme has chronicled how women’s limited access to resources affects their political choices. Women in Tanzania have had a much greater success rate with intra-party elections for reserved seats than with constituency seats. Some party leaders have the view that their parties should not invest its limited resources into women candidates or lend women candidates additional support since they can simply fill special seats (IRI, 2016). In the 2000 parliamentary elections, 12 women won constituency seats; 37 gained the reserved seats. In 2010- 2015 parliamentary elections, 21 women won constituency seats and 102 gained reserved seats (IRI, 2016). Interviews with women from opposition parties (as captured in the above reports) suggested their biggest obstacle was campaign financing. Many candidates could barely afford campaign materials. Transport was a major issue in rural areas, where the population is dispersed. Some candidates opted for doorto-door campaigning, which proved to be time-intensive and limited in impact (Ballantine, 2018).

4.4 Barriers Related to Tools, Capacities & Resources

Reflecting on barriers related to tools, capacities and resources respondents ranked solidarity among women or failure by women to support fellow women leaders (89%) as the first major obstacle or threat to women political participation, as portrayed in figure II below. This was followed by education & literacy among women (78%), financial resources at (67%), and capacity strengthening tools (manuals, guidelines as well as access to reliable information on gender issues (both at 44%).

Figure II: Barriers Related to Tools, Capacities and Resources

Women backing or being in solidarity with each other i.e. Solidarity among women

Education and literacy among women Financial resources and financial skills among women

(manuals and guidelines) on gender equality and women’s political participation

Reliable information/ research on gender equality issues, including a lack of sexdisaggregated data

4.5 Electoral Violence and Political Barriers

There are several barriers affecting women participation in politics in Tanzania. These include and are not limited to the nomination fees, how the electoral system is structured, compliance of political parties in implementing gender and social inclusion, observation of the special seats guidelines by National Electoral Commission (NEC) and local government guidelines prohibiting special seats councillors to participate in various committees and to take on higher positions. The female candidates pay full nomination fees and yet they are challenged in resource mobilization. The electoral system does not give equal opportunities for women to enter into politics. According to the IPU and International IDEA,

A recent survey by Oxfam released in October 2020 corroborates and confirms this finding. Two-thirds of the surveyed respondents in this study (i.e. both male and female) agreed with the statement that ‘women make better leaders than men and should be elected rather than men.’ Approximately 7 in every 10 surveyed female respondents agreed with the statement. Despite the affirmation from both men and women, most women are still not elected, implying that the negative perceptions and social norms are stronger than the assertion exhibited in the agreement with the statement. Majority of the surveyed respondents - across both genders - supported the election of women for the various elective positions including; Member of County Assembly (MCA), Member of Parliament (MP), Governor, and the Presidency. Of the political positions, the presidential seat had the lowest proportion of those who confirmed that they would elect a woman. This can be attributed to the negative views that people hold against women’s leadership capabilities (especially for higher offices), which in turn influence their judgment on the ballot.

10. Survey on evidence-based research & analysis to understand the perceptions, norms and systems influencing formal voting patterns and its impact on women’s participation in political leadership

women, youth, and other minority groups are generally three to four times more successful to be elected in PR electoral systems than in First Past the Post (FPTP) system. The Political Party Amendment Act (PPAA) should be amended or PPAA Regulations should include the threshold for measuring compliance and accountability of political parties in implementing gender and social inclusion provisions. They should also require data to be disaggregated based on sex in political parties’ registers. Either the amendment or the regulations should further contain rewards, penalties and carry effective monitoring mechanisms to effect compliance by political parties and enforcement by the Registrar of Political Parties. NEC needs to interrogate the objectives of the special seats and establish uniform guidelines to govern being in special seats, term limits and the transition process. At a lower level, there are local government authorities’ guidelines and practices that prohibit special seats councillors to be members of local governments’ ethics and finance committees. Even in those committees where special seats women can be members, such as the Committees on HIV/ AIDS, Social Services, and Planning, the women holders of special seats are not allowed to chair such committees. Also, there are local government guidelines depriving special seats councillors from being mayors, deputy mayors, and chairpersons of districts, municipalities and city councils.

Participants make a presentation at the WPP situational analysis and policy brief validation meeting held in March 2021

Photo credits: FAWE RS/Emily Buyaki

In some wards, special seats councillors are not allowed to chair the Ward Development Committee (WDC) meetings even in the circumstances where an elected councillors, are for any reason absent. In these wards, it is better for a village or street chairperson to act as a WDC chair than a special seat councillor (Victoria Lihiru, 2020).

In implementing CEDAW and the Beijing Platform of Action, Tanzania for example came up with a constitutional requirement that women members must not make up less than 30% of the National Assembly. The special seats for women are distributed among the political parties in proportion to the number of seats awarded to them in parliament (Constitution, Articles 66 (1: b) and 78 (1)). Out a total membership of 350 in the National Assembly, 102 are reserved for women, 239 members are elected in single member constituencies, 7 are appointed by the President, 5 represent Zanzibar (2 of whom are women) and 1 mandate belongs to the attorney general: ‘Every Political Party which contests Parliamentary elections may propose and submit to the Commission names of eligible women candidates for nomination as Members of Parliament for Women Special Seats’ (Elections Regulations 2010, Article 86A (2)). So far, the Tanzania parliament has a total of 126 Women which is 36% of parliament.

The existence of women’s political organizations, such as the Umoja wa Wanawake Tanzania (UWT) affiliated to the ruling party, has provided a strong vehicle and voice for women to access political decision-making structures as well as mobilization of women to participate in politics. Other structures which are in place to facilitate the empowerment of women in decision making positions include women’s groups and associations and community-based groups at grassroots level, that provide a breeding ground of future leaders. Juggling domestic responsibilities and political campaigns thus becomes an impediment, constraint and a threat to WPP since political campaigns often takes place in circumstances that are always inconvenient for women, who are less able to stay out late at bars and leave children at home. From the KIIs conducted, it is notable that the women candidates who have the backing from family members i.e. their spouses, parents, in-laws or siblings are able to successfully run for political office since they could rely on family for childcare, donations, campaign activities, and to stand-in for the candidate at events and meetings. As maintained by one of the respondents below during the interviews, women in politics face rampant online, psychosocial and physical abuse.

‘‘Female politicians who, in the face of these challenges and barriers, excel in winning office continue living under the danger and experience of online mob lynching and physical abuse. Women are intimidated by abuse and bullying in gender-specific forms, mostly by their male counterparts, and allegations

strategies of addressing some of these challenges ’’, Asimwe Khadija Ngoitiko, Political Activist & Associate at Tanzania Women Political Caucus

Political parties however remain the key gateway for women’s successful participation in politics in Tanzania. Party backing is the most important factor for female candidates, while the lack of support – or worse, a party’s active exclusion, discrimination, or hostility –can ruin a woman’s campaign. Many of the women who were elected reported having received support from their parties in the form of discounted nomination fees, funding for campaigns, equal treatment with men, and the application of constitutional provisions that promoted women’s inclusion, especially during the nomination process. Being the ‘demand’ side of the model of political recruitment lies, political parties in Kenya and Tanzania often form a barrier to women’s entry into politics especially in instances where women are not selected as candidates by political parties as often as men. Pointedly, the parties hardly do enough to ensure women run for political office leading to a major reason for women’s

underrepresentation in politics. The domination of party leadership by the male folk and patriarchal tendencies of party leaders more often than not tend to lead to under-selection of women candidates especially in elective positions that are not ring-fenced through affirmative interventions. The persistence of women’s underrepresentation in political parties and legislatures has led many countries, including Tanzania, to introduce quotas and other positive measures as the best way to overcome the barriers to women’s recruitment.

Women’s own perception and confidence in their own capabilities was raised during the interviews as one of the major issues that will require redress if we have to promote respect for women in the political spheres and increase their participation in political leadership. One of the key informants (Zelote of AAF) had this to say;

made by women politicians are openly ignored or mocked. Not only are women who vie for political seats targeted, but their women supporters are also targeted based on their ethnic backgrounds. Most of them are threatened or abused, both physically and sexually, to deter them from supporting women leaders. Bringing to justice offenders who harass women is a measure that’ll go a long way to discourage these harassments. Engaging community-based leaders, national government, and NGO’s in the fight against discriminating women, providing civic education to locals and motivating more women to participate in various electoral positions should be considered as some of the most viable

4.6 Legislative and Legal Barriers

‘‘In Tanzania there is awareness in many institutions, who intentionally include considerable number of women in parliament and national offices. This empowers women to have the capacity to compete for Government positions right from the grassroots level. The political culture in Tanzania therefore does encourage women to participate in politics, however women tend to lack confidence in themselves. To mitigate this, mentorship programmes to build the self-esteem for women particularly those aspiring for political leadership’’, Zelote Loilang’akaki, Manager of Strategic Partnerships at Asante Africa Foundation (AAF)

Special Seats have suffered some negative public perception, for instance selection criteria of women are in question by various stakeholders. The women are seen to be representing the interest of their political parties that sponsored them to parliament and not of their constituency. As a result, The Women Parliamentary Group (TWG) is seeing this as an attack to their members. The constitution and manifestos of the political parties have provisions on affirmative action and gender mainstreaming. However, all the 18 political parties are led by men. The system is patriarchal and not in favor of the women. It is perceived that men stand better chances being elected than women and they do attract more goodwill and resources to manage their campaigns compared to the women. The selection of women leaders in the political parties is also not seen to be on merit. This gives the impression that the nominated women leaders may not be the best fit for the job in terms of qualification. Women MPs on Special seats are discriminated against by the parliamentary rules. Unlike the male counterparts, the women MPs on special seats are denied the Constituency Development Fund that puts them at a disadvantage at their constituency because they are not able to engage in development activities. Special seats MPs are also excluded from the District Council’s Finance Committee. These obstacles make it difficult for the women to win a constituency seat during an election.

In the same policy forum of February 2020 (ibid), women leaders raised issues around and questioned the relevance of the special seats for women.

One of the main challenges to women’s participation in politics has to do with legal frameworks. Most political party constitutions, manifestos and other governing instruments do not support women’s participation in practice. Since independence (1961), de jure equality has been enshrined in the 1977 constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania. However, in practice, the legal rights of women have been constrained due to the application of multiple statutory, customary and religious laws and the challenges women face in access to justice. Several amendments have been made to address the various gaps, including those in the currently proposed constitution (2014). Refer to Articles 12 and 13 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania. Articles 25 and 47 of the second draft constitution (inaugurated on 30 December 2013).

The constitutional amendment of 2004 which expanded the discrimination criteria to include sex, particularly the Law of Contract Act, Cap. 345 R.E. 2002 also introduced affirmative action that guaranteed women 30 per cent of the seats in Parliament and 33.3 per cent of the seats in local Government councils in line with the SADC Declaration of 1997. Legal provisions that prohibit

discrimination based on the ground of gender are Sections 28 and 33 of the Person with Disabilities Act (2010); Section 5 of the Law of the Child Act (2009); and Sections 28-34 of the HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Act (No. 28 of 2008). Other laws with provisions prohibiting discrimination are the Elections Act (1985); Section of the Land laws (1999); Section of the Village Land Act (1999); and the Mortgage and Financing Act. The final draft of the proposed new 2014 constitution has expanded the scope of its definition of discrimination in expressly prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of, inter alia, gender. Thus, it clearly defines both direct and indirect discrimination in accordance with Article 1 of CEDAW. Furthermore, as per the SADC gender and development protocol the proposed constitution provides for 50-50 political representation in Parliament. It also proposes that there shall be a male and female contestant in every constituency for the election of members of Parliament. To ensure that equality and non-discrimination between men and women is realized in all spheres of life, the proposed constitution proposes to incorporate specific rights for women, children, the youth, the elderly and persons with disabilities (Tanzania Country Gender Profile, October 2016 p.110)

4.7 Summary of Barriers and

Challenges in Tanzania

A summary of responses received from various respondents’ shades more light on the reasons for persistent gender disparities in women political participation in Tanzania. This is against the backdrop that there exists affirmative action for women through special seats that is aligned to the guidelines of CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) among other protocols/instruments. The respondents also suggest solutions that would serve to increase participation of women in politics.

Table VI

Women Special Seat, Member of Parliament

Asked to comment on the extent to which the following pose challenges or obstacles for policy makers and practitioners to increase women in political participation and representation in Tanzania, participants who responded as key informants identified the following 13 barriers to Women in Political Participation. They went further to make recommendations or suggest solutions against each isolated barrier as detailed out below.

“We need to see improvement in how effective are the women’s special seats” ~ Hon. Riziki Shahari, Former

‘Let us judge women on special seats by the value of their contribution not to the standards of our biased expectations’’ – Dr. Suma Kaare, Gender Specialist – Political Science.

Barrier #1: Cultural norms and stereotypes about women in society

Issues & Comments

a. There are still challenges in particular from different tribes which undermine women position in society.

b. They have stereotypes against women leadership for example the society is believing that women are suppose only to stay at home and cook.

c. Most cultures believe political leadership is a preserve for men.

d. Do not respect authority of women

Suggested Solutions & Actions

a. Awareness creation and civic education on women capacity and importance.

b. Promoting women leadership.

c. Supporting women leaders.

d. Showcasing successful women leaders as role models.

e. Cultural transformation through sensitization and advocacy.

Barrier #2: Religious beliefs/interpretation about women in society

a. There are many religious denominations which do not accept women in leadership positions such as church elders and pastors e.g African Inland Church (AIC), Free Pentecostal Church Tanzania (FPCT) etc. This has implications on women’s participation on political leadership.

b. Women are viewed as the weaker vessels. Some faiths believe in the doctrine that women were created to serve men i.e. below the men.

c. Suppression of women by men through religious and traditional doctrines.

a. Gender empowerment programmes for the religious leaders.

b. Churches to change their regulations and access women to leadership positions

c. Churches to acknowledge key role of women even in different faiths and use this to advance the place of women in leadership.

d. Enlightenment and awareness that such doctrines have been overtaken by time.

Barrier #3: Discriminatory or sexist working culture in Government/Parliament/Sub-national legislature

Barriers #4: Women’s perception of the lack of safety and respect for women in the political sphere.

a. Violence and derogatory remarks on women associated with political campaigns.

b. Creating fear and other barriers on women candidates.

c. The women themselves are not supportive to their fellow women in the political sphere

d. Women tend to lack confidence on themselves.

e. Society in general (both men and women) take time to believe women in politics can deliver.

a. Strict measures and penalties to curb political violence.

b. Relevant government agencies to enforce regulations for conducting campaigns to enhance participation of women.

c. Create enabling environment/ even ground for all.

d. Promote women support groups.

e. Empowerment programmes for women in political leadership to increase their selfesteem level and change the mindsets.

Barrier #5: Institutional challenges to political parties promoting women in their ranks

a. The Political Parties Amendment Act of 2019 gives guidelines on how political parties should a. express gender equality and social inclusion in different aspects like making of their policies and selection of their leaders.

b. Tanzania has a policy on special seats given to women in parliament to promote women’s participation.

c. Poor policies and regulation frameworks that favor men & to a great extent, there is still gender inequality.

d. Non-adherence to the 2/3 rule and lack of policies for affirmative action.

e. Non conformity to policies especially those that enhance rights of women.

a. Align political party policies to approved policies/legislations that support women.

b. Develop and implement policies and laws that support women participation in politics.

c. Develop ways to ensure enforcement of regulations. Plan more trainings to ensure gender equality.

d. Empower the civil society to avoid aggressive approach but utilize collaboration and women advocates to promote a conducive environment.

e. Advocate for more female participation in politics as women need to compete at all levels.

f. Parties must create environments supportive of women.

a. High positions in working areas Government/ Parliament/Sub-national legislature are given to men

b. Discriminatory gender roles in most communities. –

c. Low representation of women in key positions

a. Women need to be aggressive competitors in securing key positions.

b. Awareness creation.

c. Adherence to constitutional provisions and gender policies such as the 2/3rd gender rule.

d. Regular audit of government departments to assess conformity with policies.

e. Appoint women to key positions that they deserve and also to act as role models to younger ones.

f. The women special seats is dependent on the number of votes the political party gets.

g. The law has been supportive, but enforcement of the law has been weak. Gaps in the law need to be filled.

h. National Electoral Commission (NEC) should put in place proper policies on how to secure parliamentary candidates.

i. Political parties are trying to promote women but there is a long way to go.

j. Few political parties have women in top ranks.

k. Out of 16 presidential candidates only one was a women and very few women contested for other elective positions.

g. Awareness creation to the society on involvement of women in politics.

h. Develop laws that create more spaces for women in political party leadership, educate the public on such laws and enforce all relevant laws.

i. NECs to come up with favourable policies and educate the women parliamentary candidates on the same.

j. Parties to promote affairs of women in their ranks and accord women higher positions in party ranks.

Barrier #6: Enabling environment for civil society working on women issues

a. Several CSOs working on women issues.

b. Excessive Government controls and curtailing the voices of CSOs actors.

a. Empower civil society to avoid aggressive approach and be collaborative or use women to advocate for better environment.

b. Need for enabling policies and laws that provides an enabling working environment for CSOs.

Barrier #7: Gender blind institutions (governments, parliaments, political parties) and processes (elections, judicial appointments)

a. Tanzania has special seats for women, this has increased the number of women in leadership. anzania unlike other surrounding countries intentionally include women in their institutions. For instance, the President is a woman. There are also a considerable number of women in parliament and national offices.

b. To this regard, many organizations are gender blind and this is one of the main barriers.

a. Empower women to have the capacity to compete for government positions from grassroots to national level.

b. Develop and implement pro-women policies in institutions.

c. However, the question goes far beyond the women being appointed or selected to various positions to having the power to compete accordingly and deliver on issues affecting women.

Barrier #10: Financial resources and financial skills among women

a. Most women do not have financial resources and financial skills.

b. A lot of resources is needed especially during the campaign, networking, strategic thinking and planning. It requires financial skills to secure and manage the funds.

Barrier #11: Education and literacy among women

a. There is limited training on political issues among women.

b. There are more women whose education and literacy rate is lower compared to men.

a. Education on resource mobilization, financial management, and strategic planning to be provided for women in politics.

Barrier #8: Biased media coverage of women

a. Media coverage needs financial capabilities which most women do not have.

b. Limited coverage of women.

c. Poor branding.

Barrier #9: Women backing or being in solidarity with

a. There is minimum solidarity among women.

b. Women haven’t been supporting each other.

c. Not many caucuses of women.

d. Structural barriers that women face are numerous and should be broken.

each

a. Women needs to be equipped with financial muscles.

b. More airtime for women politicians in the media for improved communication and engagement with media.

c. Women politicians to enhance their branding

other i.e. solidarity among women

a. Encourage solidarity among women.

b. Create/ strengthen platforms through which women can support each other.

c. Enhanced awareness amongst women.

d. Develop strong and viable women networks.

e. Link with strong pro-women organizations locally and internationally.

a. Specific training on political leadership.

b. Society needs to invest in the education and literacy of women.

Barrier #12: Related to Tools (manuals and guidelines) on gender equality and women’s political participation

a. Restructuring of women special seats based on CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) guidelines might not be effective.

b. Some manuals may be available but not accessible to most women - not usually easily available and most members of the public are not aware of them.

c. Guidelines on special seats in the parliament exist but they are limiting in coverage.

a. CEDAW guidelines should be realigned and repurposed. Monitoring and evaluation frameworks put in place to superintend women participation.

b. Efforts should not be on development but also the accessibility of guideline and manual.

c. The guideline needs to go beyond special seats in the parliament.

d. Publicity materials need to be made accessible for enhanced awareness.

Barrier #13: Reliable information/research on gender equality issues, including a lack of sex-disaggregated data

a. Some of these may be available, might not be adequate, and have not been well disseminated.

b. To a great extent, especially data which could be used for advocacy to rectify or change some of the laws and policies to ensure gender equity in leadership.

a. More research on electoral politics and women leadership.

b. Dissemination of research outcomes on women leadership.

c. Awareness creation and advocacy on women leadership and politics.

Chapter Five: Review Results on Commendable Efforts and Success Stories

5.1 Global and Regional Picture

Worldwide, efforts to enhance women’s political participation have shown remarkable progress in the past two decades. At the UN Beijing conference on women in 1995, delegates called on governments to have women represent 30% of their governments. To achieve the Beijing target, some African governments have used different types of quotas to increase women’s participation in government. For example, Burkina Faso and Uganda have constitutional provisions reserving a certain number of parliamentary seats for women; Kenya has special seats for women representatives in parliament, while political parties in South Africa and Mozambique have adopted internal rules to ensure a certain percentage of women can vie for office. Some pundits, however, attack quotas as ineffective. The pros and cons of quotas seem more like a debate over the means to an end, but there seems to be very little dispute on the end itself. There is less of an argument over the desirability of having more women in politics. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, former chairperson of the African Union (AU), once said that although the gap between men and women in political participation remains wide, “in 46 countries across the world, women account for more than a quarter of all members of parliament, and she was proud to add that 14 of these countries are in Africa”.

Writing in Africa Renewal Journal of April-July 2019, Zipporah Musau contends that in the fight for gender equality, women around the world have advanced in small and large ways, yet for women in Africa, progress is measured in micro steps, and the struggle has a long way to go. The good news however is that women’s representation in political decision making has been on the rise globally. The not-so-good news is that the increase has been stubbornly slow, barely 1% in 2018 compared with the previous year. In 2018 the number of women ministers worldwide reached an alltime high at 20.7% (812 out of 3922).

Among the top African countries with a high percentage of women in ministerial positions are Rwanda (51.9%), South Africa (48.6%), Ethiopia (47.6%), Seychelles (45.5%), Uganda (36.7%) and Mali (34.4%). The lowest percentage in Africa was in Morocco (5.6%), which has only one female minister in a cabinet of 18. Other countries with fewer than 10% women ministers include Nigeria (8%), Mauritius (8.7%) and Sudan (9.5%). Notably, Rwanda, the world leader in the number of women in parliament, saw a slight reduction in their number, from 64% in 2017 to 61.3% in 2018. Other African countries with high percentages of women MPs include Namibia (46.2%), South Africa (42.7%) and Senegal (41.8%), according to the report . Countries achieving the 30% benchmark appear to have adopted a form of affirmative action. For example, Rwanda has constitutional provisions reserving 30% of seats for women in its bicameral legislature while South Africa’s Municipal Structures Act of 1998 requires political parties to “ensure that 50% of the candidates on the party list are women” and that “women must be equitably represented in a ward committee.” Although there is no penalty for noncompliance in South Africa, the country’s ruling African National Congress voluntarily allocates 50% of parliamentary seats to women (UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) Report 2019).

11. Zipporah Musau (July 2019): Africa Women in Politics: Miles to go before Parity is achieved, in the Africa Renewal Journal;

12. Report by the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the UN headquarters in New York in March 2019

5.2 Progress in Sub Saharan Africa

In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of women seated in parliament grew in 2018, with a regional average share at 23.7%, according to the just-released 2019 edition of the biennial Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Map of Women in Politics . The IPU, made up of more than 170 national parliaments from around the world, tracks the number of women elected to parliaments globally every year and produces an analysis that helps to monitor progress, setbacks and trends. Djibouti, which in the year 2000 had zero women in parliament, saw the most dramatic gains globally among lower and single chambers. The share of women in parliament rose in 2018 from 10.8% to 26.2% (a 15.4-point increase), a total of 15 women, states the report, which was launched during the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the UN headquarters in New York in March 2019. Looking at these trends around women’s political participation, Africa could well be on the right track despite the numerous challenges.

It is equally instructive to note that women’s empowerment advocates in Africa are making their voices heard, with the full backing of international organizations such as the UN and the AU. Ethiopia on its part saw the largest increase in

13.

Inter-Parliamentary

women’s political representation in the executive branch, from 10% women ministers in 2017 to 47.6% in 2019. On ministerial positions, the report highlights another striking gain—more women in Africa are now in charge of portfolios traditionally held by men than in 2017. There are 30% more women ministers of defense, 52.9% more women ministers of finance, and 13.6% more women ministers of foreign affairs. The usual practice is to appoint women to “soft issue” portfolios, such as social security, gender, children and family affairs. “We still have a steep road ahead, but the growing proportion of women ministers is encouraging, especially where we see a rise in the number of countries with gender-balanced ministerial cabinets,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Women Executive Director, at the launch of the report.

According to the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU), only 23.6 per cent of parliamentarians in Africa are women, with Rwanda, Namibia, and South Africa having the highest proportion of women in parliament at 61.3 per cent, 46.2 per cent, and 42.4 per cent, respectively (IPU, 2018). Women’s representation in executive or ministerial positions is even lower than in parliaments, where women

Union (IPU) Report 2019 as quoted in the Africa Renewal Journal of April-July 2019

Left to right) H.E Adelina Mwau, Deputy Governor Makueni County; H.E Dr. Yulita Mitei, Deputy Governor Nandi County; H.E Majala Mlaghui, Deputy Governor Taita Taveta County and H.E The Late Susan Kikwai (Kericho County) - Kenya.

Photo credits: FAWE RS

held 19.7 per cent of ministerial posts in 2017 (IPU, 2017). This negatively affects women’s ability to influence national decision-making, including programme design and resource allocation. Despite notable progress, the marginalization of women and persistent inequalities are among the challenges that continue to limit the full realization of democracy (Mindzie et al., 2014). Available data shows that African women remain grossly underrepresented in formal political structures and processes (Iwilade, 2011).

In response to some of the outstanding challenges, UN Women is already working to support regional genderresponsive measures to promote women’s leadership and participation in politics, government, business and civil society and to influence regional and national legal frameworks and policies to increase women’s leadership and political participation. The aim of the Leadership Programme is to develop a strong group of transformative women and male leaders and to strengthen national and regional institutional capacities to promote gender equality, women empowerment and leadership. UN Women, in partnership with Kenya’s Kenyatta University, has established the Africa Center for Transformative and

Inclusive Leadership (ACTIL). Through the Center, UN Women will provide leadership training, mentoring and coaching to leaders in politics, business, government and civil society.

Through the Elections Resource Unit of the Center, a platform will be created to provide policy, networking and technical advice and support for serving aspiring women political leaders. The Unit will feature a platform for documenting and generating new knowledge on what works for women politicians, and on intelligence on nurturing gender responsive and transformational political systems. The role of national and regional gender machineries as change agents will be enhanced to strategically influence policies and practices across sectors. The programme will also strengthen the African Queens and Women Cultural Leaders’ Network to address cultural practices that discriminate against women. Alliance building and an institutional approach will help to ensure commitment, sustainability and impact. There is no better opportunity for benchmarking in WPP by FAWE than this space and platform already functional under the auspices of UN Women.

5.3 Some Good Stories from Tanzania

Increase in the number of women seated in parliament grew in 2018, within the Sub Sahara region to

23.7% SHARE

participation of women in

can

“I am a seasoned politician having been in politics for the last 16 years. This is the first time ever, I witnessed campaign meetings attended by so many women and that was not the case in the past. When I asked them why they were not engaged in the past they responded by saying they were told women place is at home and not in the towns where those engaging in politics are” ~ Hon. Halima James Mdee- Chairperson CHADEMA Women Wing, December 1st 2020

Historically, women have always been active in politics in Tanzania. The likes of late Bibi Titi Mohamed and the late Sophia Kawawa were active participants in the struggle for independencHowever, after independence there was no representation of women in the cabinet of the government led by the late President Julius Nyerere. This led both Late Bibi Titi and Late Sophia to demand for inclusion of women in top leadership in the cabinet. The response they received made them realize that it was the beginning of the institutionalization of discriminatory political practices at high levels of decision making. The struggle for women inclusion would bear fruit later on. Hon. Anna Abdallah, the current Chairperson of the Tanzania Women Parliamentary Group (TWPG), was the immediate beneficiary of this early challenge on women’s place in the political arena.

The

politics has been steadily advancing through the various phases of Tanzania’s political history as

attested by the Chair of CHADEMA women league.

FAWE Africa Executive Director Ms. Martha Muhwezi gives the keynote speech at the launch of the WPP Intergenerational Mentorship Programme on March 8th 2021.

Photo credits: FAWE RS

Hon. Abdallah became a full Cabinet Minister in the 1960s and has since remained active in politics and concerned with gender equality ever since. The efforts by Late Binti Titi and Kawawa paved the foundation towards future policy and legal frameworks intervention on women participation in politics. Cultural barriers and perceptions by the political parties that female candidates were more likely to lose election and by the constituent members that a female candidate would not make an effective representative and/or legislator are some key reasons for the slow pace of women’s accession to Parliament. The first woman to ever land a constituent seat was in 1985. 22 Women became MPS in that year as a result of the special seats bringing the total of women MPs to 23 against the 239 Male MPs. In 1993, women parliamentarians constituted themselves into the Tanzania Women Parliamentary Group, an association of all women parliamentarians in Tanzania.

Registered as a non-governmental organization, Tanzania Women Parliamentary Group is a non-partisan group operating both within and outside Parliament. The membership is derived from current sitting women parliamentarians (elected; nominated by the President; and special seats). TWPG’s membership makes up 36% of the parliamentary membership. The objective is to build the capacity of women Members of Parliament for effectiveness as legislators. Its membership is drawn across political parties present in Parliament and these include the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA), Civic United Front (CUF) and NCCR-Mageuzi. In the 2000 parliamentary elections, 12 women won constituency seats and 37 gained the reserved seats. In 2010, women won 26 constituency seats and another 102 special seats out of 357 MPs (36 %). In 2015 parliamentary elections, 26 women won constituency seats and 113 gained reserved seats. The data on the election results of the just concluded 2020 elections is yet to be published on the website of the Tanzania National Electoral Commission.

Tanzania operates as a democracy with a multiparty system that was abolished in 1965 and re-introduced in 1992. Since its reintroduction six general elections have been conducted 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020. Tanzania is governed by a Constitution enacted in 1977. The Tanzanian legislature has four types of MPs: constituency MPs , reserved-seat MPs, MPs elected by the Zanzibar House of Representatives, MPs nominated

by the president (10 seats), and the attorney general as an ex-officio member, (Parliament of Tanzania 2015b). The parliament of 2015 consisted of 264 constituency MPs, 113 reserved-seat MPs, five MPs from the Zanzibar House of Representatives, ten MPs nominated by the president, and the attorney general. Tanzania introduced gender quota commonly known as ‘Special Seats’ in 1985 to address the gender gap in parliament. Article 66 (1) (b) and 78 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania of 1977, and Section 86A of the National Elections Act, Cap. 343, underscores that there shall be Women Special Seats which shall not be less than 30% in the National Assembly. Pursuant to the Government decision, the percentage of Women Special Seats was increased from 30% to 40% (Tanzania National Electoral Commission).

As already pointed outed in section 4 above, Tanzanian law provides for “special seats,” with 30 per cent reserved for women appointed by political parties, based on proportional representation. The Constitution of Tanzania stipulates women members must not make up less than 30% in the National Assembly. The special seats for women are distributed among the political parties in proportion to the number of seats awarded to them in parliament. (Constitution, Articles 66 (1: b) and 78 (1)). The Electoral Law states that the National Assembly consists of 350 members. Of these, 102 are reserved for women, 239 members are elected in single member constituencies, 7 are appointed by the President, 5 represent Zanzibar (2 of whom are women) and 1 mandate belongs to the attorney general: ‘Every Political Party which contests Parliamentary elections may propose and submit to the Commission names of eligible women candidates for nomination as Members of Parliament for Women Special Seats’ (Elections Regulations 2010, Article 86A (2)). The 2010 manifesto of the leading political party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) stipulates in Section 204 that the party set out to attain 50-percent women representation in all elective bodies by 2015 (CCM Manifesto 2005:127).

Special seats for women were adopted in 1985 to increase the number of women in parliament. The idea of special seats was to ensure that the voices of special categories of citizens were heard in Parliament. The goal was not to create a balance, but to incorporate these voices, which otherwise would have been at a disadvantage in the normal electoral process. Each of the registered political parties in Tanzania has its own women’s wing.

How active and engaged these women’s wings are varies from party to party, especially among the smaller parties that lack the same organizational structure and breadth as the major parties. The women’s wings are engaged in campaign efforts to rally behind parliamentary aspirants and they are heavily involved in the selection process for the women special seats in the National Assembly (IRI, 2016). Tanzania has therefore met the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC’s) and the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action target of 30 per cent women’s parliamentary representation (Yoon, 2011, p. 84).

The total number of the parliamentary women special seats is 113. Pursuant to Article 78 (1) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, of 1977, each Political Party which was involved in the General Election, and obtained at least 5% of all valid parliamentary votes (about 780,226 votes), qualifies to submit names for women to be nominated for special seats to the Commission. In 2015 elections, only three political parties met the threshold. Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) had 66 seats (58%) followed by Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) with 37 seats (33%) and Civic United Front (CUF) with 10 seats (9%). This was a total of 113 special seats (45.7 percent) out of the 247 seats for Parliament.

In 2010 there were 102 special seats (41.29 percent), 2005 had 97 special seats (39.27 percent). The year 2000 and 1995 had 63 (25.5 percent) and 47 (19.02 percent) respectively (Yoon, 2013). It is evident that there is an

increase of women participation in politics through the special seat’s mechanism. With a 45.7 percent threshold in 2010 elections, Tanzania is on its way to meet the 50-50 Sustainable Development on gender parity. The lobbying efforts of Umoja wa Wanawake wa Tanzania (UWT), female parliamentarians and women’s non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as well as the country’s commitments to international gender equality conventions (e.g. the Beijing Platform for Action, the Maputo Protocol of 2003 and the Southern African Development Community Protocol on Gender and Development of 2008) have contributed to the gradual increase in the number of special seats (Mosha & Johnson 2004: 35).

Efforts to increase the gender quota from 30 percent to 50 percent is a major milestone in improving gender parity in political participation. Currently the quota stands at 40 percent. The legal environment is supporting women participation in politics in Tanzania. There are various national policies and legal frameworks such as the Constitution of 1977, the National Elections Act Cap.343, National Gender Development Policy (2005), Women and Gender Development (2000), Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination (CEDAW), Maputo Protocal, SADC and Beijing platform for action. Women have taken up top leadership roles. The current Speaker of the National Assembly is a woman and she also heads two standing committees. There are four other women parliamentarians heading four of the 17 standing committees. See more details in the table below.

Table VIII: Trends in Parliamentary Leadership through Elections (1995-2015)

Ellection Year

Number of Parliamentary Seats Female Constituencies MPs (total constituenct seats) Special Seat MPs Total women* (percentage)

1995 275 8(232) 37 47(17.09)

2000 295 12(231) 48 63(21.36)

2005 323 17(232) 75 97(30.03)

2010 357 21(239) 102 128(35.85)

2015 393 25(264) 113 142(36.13)

Sources: Yoon (2013: 144); Tanzania National Electoral Commission (2016).

In Tanzania, the groups that are lobbying for affirmative action such as TWGP, UWT and other civil society organizations are trying to seek ways to meet the 50/50 threshold agreed by the SADC Heads of State in the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development in 2008 and the African Union Gender Policy on the 50/50 Gender Parity Principle. One sure way is through maintaining the already existing affirmative action. Efforts to employ alternative avenues for the women to seek direct elective posts is in consideration. Though an uphill task, the journey to 50/50 gender parity is gradual. The table below illustrates women’s representation in Parliament since independence, by year and number. Through affirmative action women’s representation in Parliament has increased over the years.

Table VIII: TThe Trend of Women’s entry into Parliament between 1961 and 201

Year

Women Members of Parliament % total seats

Constituencies Women’s Seats Total Total

2015 26 113 139 357 38.93 ~ 39 2010 26 102 128 357 35.85~36 2005 17 75 92 307 29.97 2000 12 48 60 279 21.51 1995 8 37 45 269 16.73 1990 2 19 21 242 8.68 1985 1 22 23 239 9.62 1980 0 6 6 167 3.59 1975 0 13 13 207 6.28 1970 0 9 9 194 4.64 1965 0 6 6 183 3.28 1961 0 6 6 73 7.59

Source: Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania 2017

Chapter Six :

Review Results on Benefits, Strategies and Tools for Women in Political Leadership and Decision Making

6.1 Benefits of

Women’s

Political Participation

As noted in United Nations SDGs, women’s equal participation with men in power and decision-making is part of their fundamental right to participate in political life, and at the core of gender equality and women’s empowerment. Strategies to increase women’s participation in politics have been advanced through conventions, protocols and international agreements for gender mainstreaming, but they are yet to prove effective in achieving gender parity in the highest government rankings (Chalaby 2017). Half of the world’s population are women, but today women only hold 23% of all seats in parliaments and senates globally (Radu 2018), implying that women continue to be disproportionately underrepresented in governance and at all levels of decision-making. Full and equal participation of both women and men in political decision-making provides a balance that more accurately reflects the composition of society, and may as such enhance the legitimacy of political processes by making them more democratic and responsive to the concerns and perspectives of all segments of society. Other benefits include:

Milestone to gender equality: Girls and women have a right to engage in civil society, vote in elections, be elected to government office, serve on boards, and make their voices heard in any process that will ultimately affect them, their families, and their communities. Investing in girls’ and women’s right to political participation is a necessary step to achieving global gender equality and democratic governance .

Collaborative & inclusive leadership: Active participation of women in politics bring collaborative and inclusive leadership styles into a political environment that has more frequently been characterised by division and oneupmanship, which are approaches that by their very nature deprioritise the well-being of communities and thoughtful, informed debate. There is value in women involvement in political leadership since they reshape the nature of politics in a manner that bring to the fore issues and problems previously perceived as ‘non-priorities,’ such as gender-based violence, reproductive health, healthcare, welfare and education. Therefore more women leaders seem to make for more equal and caring societies.

Diversity of experiences & skills: The physical presence of greater numbers of women in Parliament has meant that the voices for gender equality have grown stronger. Firstly, the synergy effects have resulted in a diversity of experiences and skills which in turn led to greater efficiency. Secondly, the Women’s Parliamentary Caucuses have become stronger links to civil society, especially when advocating for the enactment of gender-sensitive laws. Thirdly, TWPG as an organization enables access to parliamentarians through the organization of seminars, workshops and other forums to dialogue on different

issues relating to women, children, special interest groups and other social and economic development issues. Fourthly, the increased numbers of women in Parliament are translating into positions of leadership (Angellah Kariuki, 2012). Women provide a different perspective to leadership based on their experiences due to gendered roles. These experiences are useful in informing policies and ensuring inclusion of all members of the society. Their approach to problem solving and working with others also promotes greater cohesion and support for public policies and decisions.

Evidence of democratization: Two studies by Yoon (2011; 2013) look at the impact of special seats on women’s political participation and democratization in Tanzania, with the 2013 study concluding that the increase in the number of female members of parliament (MPs) through the system has positively influenced the country’s transition towards democracy, by broadening parliamentary discourse and contributing to the enactment of laws for women. According to Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka, former Minister and Deputy President in South Africa, more women in politics leads to more inclusive decisions and can change people’s image of what a leader looks like.

People-centred issues with a focus on women & children: Available evidence show that sustainable human development – whether reducing child and maternal mortality; improving access to education for women and girls; combating HIV, TB, malaria and other diseases; or improving the environment – works much better in societies that are more equal. Gender equality commissions and women’s cross-party caucuses in Parliament have often helped to promote gender equality. Not only can they promote public policy that effectively responds to women’s demands and interests, but they can also have a positive effect on the consolidation and progress of women’s political leadership.

14. Womendeliver.org/investments in political and financial capabilities of women

Non-violent approach to problems: Women in positions of authority tend to: resolve national crises without resorting to violence, advocate for social issues that benefit all, and allocate budgets to health and education. Paving the way for more women in the political, business, and civic arena is an investment in more just, equitable, and peaceful societies.

Better placed to fight gender discrimination: When female policy makers have influence, they positively impact the lives and well-being of women, girls, and society in general. One important factor that restricts the rights of women in parts of Africa is the entrenched nature of gender discrimination in social institutions. By social institutions we mean norms, traditions and codes of conduct that are rooted in culture, religion and customs. These institutions can be long-lasting and difficult to remove, yet it is their removal that will create more egalitarian societies in which women may have the freedom and resources to reach their full potential. Policy makers are key actors who can implement and enforce laws against any form of gender discrimination. Female policy makers are in better positions to understand the hurdles associated with gender discrimination in social institutions and may be better able to fight against them.

Promotes inclusivity & active participation: It enhances inclusivity and contribute to more inclusive, sensitive, equitable, and democratic engagement and governance in civil society and political parties. Changes the perception of women on leadership capabilities and historical narratives of women being bystanders in the political processes. It involves women in decision making, legislation, policy making and budgeting that should be sensitive to women’s needs.

Source of inspiration for girls & young women: Study participants observed that challenges facing women are special and thus need their representation. They also noted that women in top leadership positions serve as a great source of inspiration to girls and young women who are aspiring for top leadership positions. For example Tanzania’s President has become an icon for many. First of all she is knowledgeable, experienced and stable in leadership. She brings in some balance by always directing the current leadership to observe the rule of law and adhere to the existing constitution.

Other benefits: Women constitute almost more than half the population thus need to be represented by one of their own. Challenges facing women are special and thus need their representation. To change the historical narrative of women being bystanders in the political processes. It involves women in decision making, legislation, policy making and budgeting that should be sensitive to women’s needs.

6.2 Strategies Undertaken by Different Actors in Tanzania

Table IX

Asked to provide examples of different strategies or initiatives they know of that key actors have taken in Tanzania that have positively impacted on promoting women’s participation and representation, respondents had the following observations to make:

Actor #1: Government

i. Promotion of women in/to various positions like minister and regional/district commissioners.

ii. Promoting women solidarity & participation in politics. iii. Nomination of more women to Government offices.

Comment 1: More effort is needed.

Actor #2: Parliament

i. Reserving electoral positions for women through special seats..

ii. Including women in parliamentary committees.

iii. Enacting laws and rules that promote the participation of women in politics.

iv. Passing legislations and policies supportive of women rights and supporting their engagement in politics.

Comment 1: Special seats increased women in parliamentary positions. But the Women Special Seats are temporary in nature for the following reasons; - they lack monitoring frameworks to determine when they should stop; there are no timeframes on how long an individual woman can serve under special seats; No support for women in special seats to move to constituency seats..

Comment 2: Political Parties Amendment Act of 2019 gives guidelines on how political parties should embrace gender equality and social inclusion in different aspects like in making of their policies and selection of their leaders.

Actor #3: CSOs - NGOs/INGOs/FBOs

i. A number of NGOs have women as their National Directors and in other senior positions; for instance, TAHA Compassion, World Vision and MS TCDC are being led by women.

ii. Advocacy and awareness creation for more space for women politicians.

iii. Provide support including funding to women politicians and targeted civic education

iv. There are CSOs that recognize and value women leaders and give support to women candidates.

v. Increase number of women leaders in religious organizations.

Comment 1: More encouragement of women in senior levels should be done.

Comment 2: Women in leadership should also seek to motivate and inspire their fellow women to seek/compete for senior level leadership positions.

Actor #4: Political Parties

i. Equal opportunities for nomination of women.

ii. Reserving some elective positions for women.

iii. Nominating women to parliament.

iv. Assisting women candidates in campaigns.

Comment 1: At least ACT Wazalendo (political party) approved a woman as presidential candidate in 2015. And also in 2020, there was another party which had a woman as presidential candidate.

Comment 2: Main parties such as CCM should do the same and others as well

Actor #5: Media

v. Enhanced media coverage for female politicians

vi. Enhancing profiles of women politicians by having their adequate participation in media events.

vii. Participation in panels to discuss political and societal issues.

Comment 1: Women from the media have found their way into political positions.

Below are key highlights of some of the responses from Tanzania, when study participants were asked to cite examples of success stories that demonstrate how actors have overcome barriers to women political participation and representation at national and local levels.

i. Having a woman vice president is a source of great pride to the world.

ii. Some CSOs have established scholarship programs for girls.

iii. Most civil society organizations which are woman led, are setting good examples

i. Some CSOs organize community dialogue sessions and some speakers are women.

ii. Some CSOs have developed and implemented gender policies.

6.3 Cross-cutting Strategies for Promoting Women Political Participation

When prodded on which strategies should the local & national governments, as well as CSOs (NGOs/ INGOs/ FBOs) apply to effectively promote political participation of women and increase representation in Kenya & Tanzania, respondents shared the following:

i. Form leadership clubs for women at local level.

ii. Develop women coaching and mentorship programs to assist women gain political knowledge and skills required.

iii. Provide scholarships to support women to study political science.

iv. Capacity build women leaders in debate, public speaking and presentation.

v. Extend the special seat affirmative action to political parties, other government institutions, private and public offices.

vi. Awareness creation about women’s roles in leadership.

vii. Lobbying men parliamentarians to support gender mainstreaming through motions or bills and avoid any double speak in terms of their view on women in leadership.

i. Promote policies and enact laws to increase the participation of women in politics.

ii. Develop and showcase successful women leaders as role models.

iii. Develop (mentor/train) leadership skills in young women/girls.

iv. Address negative cultural practices and stereotypes targeting women.

v. Respect and implement gender-based policies and rights of women.

vi. Access women politicians to funding to facilitate their campaigns.

vii. Ensure a level playing field devoid of challenges/ security issues/violence on women.

viii. Promote awareness programs that contribute to changing community attitudes towards women leadership.

6.4 Available Tools and Resources for Promoting WPP

Many civil society organizations and state led initiatives work to help women acquire the tools necessary to participate successfully in all aspects of the political process. They engage women as leaders, activists and informed citizens in legislatures, political parties and civil society. These programs create an environment where women can advocate on matters of policy, run for political office, be elected, govern effectively and participate meaningfully in every facet of civic and political life . Some of them have produced documents which outline practical recommendations for political parties to broaden their appeal by addressing women’s roles as voters, candidates, party activists and elected officials. For instance NDI has in the past partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Women, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance to establish the International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOW Politics) website , which is an online workspace that addresses the needs of elected officials, candidates, political party leaders and members, researchers and practitioners interested in advancing women In the past three decades,

NDI has trained tens of thousands of women to run for political office and supported the efforts of more than 2,000 women’s organizations. Yet even qualified women face institutional barriers, particularly in parliamentary systems. In order to be elected they must first be nominated and placed on a party list, a process normally dominated by their male counterparts. To help political parties further women’s participation within their ranks, NDI partnered with the UNDP to produce Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties: A Good Practices Guide to Promote Women’s Political Participation . This guide, based on 20 case studies, provide concrete steps that political parties can take to advance women in political life. Organized around the electoral cycle, it offers strategies to use at different times of the cycle and across various party roles to increase women’s political involvement. Beyond candidate training, NDI employs a wide range of strategies to increase women’s participation in all aspects of the political process, using its convening power to bring together diverse groups and perspectives.

Other civil society groups and INGOs like Oxfam are working with activists from civil society to help inform women of their civic rights and to motivate them to participate in political processes while providing training on advocacy and coalition building. Oxfam is implementing Women in Political Leadership (WIPL) programme to empower women to gain power over their lives, as well as realizing their economic lives. The WIPL programme seeks to increase women’s political representation, and thus influence decision making processes. While others like NDI, KAF & FES have programs assisting political parties to develop and implement policies that support the equitable inclusion of women in meaningful positions. These steps might include a training on leadership or campaign skills; or work with elected and government officials to strengthen legislatures, amplify women’s policy priorities, and improve responsiveness at the local level. One of the most celebrated resources was released by NDI on Democracy and the Challenge of Change: A Guide to Increasing Women’s Political Participation, a guide to help democracy practitioners develop and carry out effective programs to bring more women into government and politics . The guide, which focuses on citizen participation, elections, political parties and governance,

presents the case for increasing women’s participation and provides information on best practices and strategies to help realize that goal. The handbook also offers case studies, checklists and additional reading for each of the areas highlighted, as well as a general list of factors or approaches to consider when designing a program.

In a region where many women continue to struggle to have their voices heard, some are finding technology to be an effective tool for circumventing some of the challenges women face that inhibit their full participation in governance. Women in many parts of Kenya are marginalized, and in some communities, are even forbidden from engaging in political processes. Technological tools, such as SMS, provide a more discreet and secure mechanism for women from rural and patriarchal societies to voice their concerns and engage in county issues. In an effort to solicit more citizen input than traditional town-hall meetings allowed, International Republican Institute (IRI) launched an SMS platform in which citizens text a code to receive a short survey on a particular issue being debated by the local government .

Asked to share their opinion on which tools, strategies and resources would be most helpful to support work and efforts to promote women’s political participation in Kenya & Tanzania, the participants rated affirmative action the highest at 34.8%, followed by civic education & civic engagement at 26.1%, as shown in figure IV below. The other factors mentioned as important are education/capacity building and financial suport at 21.7 and 17.4 respectively.

In your opinion which tools and resources would be helpful to support your work and efforts to promote women’s political participation in Tanzania? In response to this question, participants during in-depth interviews and focus group discussions outlined the following tools and resources for actors to consider in building capacity of women in political leadership.

i. Awareness creation at all levels – at home targeting parents and in schools for girls to aspire for leadership position

ii. Awareness to community members to change traditional customs that hinder women participation in leadership positions.

iii. Professional skills in resource mobilization

iv. Special skills in networking and conducting campaign v. More & direct funding

i. More forums for advocacy and socio-political dialogues

ii. Support to undertake civic education

iii. Mentoring programs for girls and young women iv. To allow and support independent candidates to vie in elections

v. More investment in education of girls and women

http://www.ndi.org/node/18346

http://www.ndi.org/files/Democracy and the Challenge of Change.pdf 19. IRI (2015): Survey Report Increasing Women’s Political Participation in Kenya Using Technology

Deputy Governor Taita Taveta County, Kenya mentors Daystar University student at the launch of the WPP Intergenerational Mentoship Programme

Photo credits: FAWE RS

Chapter Seven : Conclusions for Learning and Adaptation

7.1 Conclusions

From the discussions and analysis during this study, some of the conclusions which have emerged for the attention of WPP team include but are not limited to the following:

7.1.1 General and Overarching

a. The level of development in a society and women’s political representation correlates in the sense that more developed countries tend to have more women representatives. This means that societal modernisation and cultural change courtesy of economic development encourages democratisation in a society, the consequential entry of women into politics due to advancement in education, overtime reduction of stereotypes and cultural barriers against women’s participation in politics.

b. A great paradigm shift in political and social institutions, mainly religious organizations & political parties will aid women participation in politics and to ensure that ‘politics allows for care’. Everything including political meetings and political institutions like parliaments must take steps to accommodate for women’s caring responsibilities to provide a gender balance in care and domestic duties i.e. provision of crèches and spaces for breastfeeding, flexibility in timings to enable women split their times at home and in the political terrain meetings and networks;

c. There is dire need for substantive representation of women in decision-making positions in Africa, especially in the formulation of GEWE related policies and the mainstreaming of gender into existing policies, as well as plans and programs aimed at explicitly advancing the gender equality agenda of the SDGs across the continent.

d. Substantive presence of women is also needed as key decision-makers in policy formulation, aimed at achieving gender equality in development, sustainable peace, and good governance within African sub-regions. CSOs, Parliament, relevant government ministries, independent institutions, the judiciary, electoral management bodies and the Attorney General (AG) are some of the actors whose active collaboration will augment significant advancement of women in politics.

e. There is further need to proactively & visibly engage women’s organizations in political and decision-making processes at all levels for them to not only champion transformations from within but also lobby for reforms and advice on best strategies for empowerment of women and strengthening women leadership.

f. Women’s participation and representation in political and decision-making bodies in Africa should not only be a numerical enhancement of presence, but their empowerment for political leadership and accountability at all levels should be considered fundamental.

g. At national levels, state actors must be obligated to establish legal frameworks for attainment of GEWE related policies and goals. Non-state contexts such as trade unions, political parties, interest groups, professional associations, and the businesses/private sector should also be involved in policy formulation and decision-making processes.

h. There should also be an evolution or strengthening of trans-national women social movements and engagement with GEWE processes. In this case WPP team at FAWE should champion and support a robust movement which brings together women’s organizations and like-minded civil societies across EAC.

i. In addition to political decision-making, there is great need for women to influence policies and strategies geared toward women’s increased access to economic opportunities, assets and instruments (e.g. tenders, business calls, loans, grants and financial securities) in private and public sectors for enhanced economic power which should subsequently lead to their improved capacity for effective participation in elective politics.

7.1.2 Conclusions for Tanzania

a. Tanzania on the other hand has grown on leaps and bounds to realise more women participating in politics. Since 2004, there has been a significant increase of women in decision making bodies. This progress is attributable to a firm legal framework on women representation that is anchored in the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania. For instance Tanzania Constitution Article 78 (1) read together with Article 66 (i) (b) provides that “Political parties which took part in the general elections and obtained at least 5 % of the total valid votes for parliamentary election shall propose to the National Electoral Commission the names of women on the basis of the proportion of votes obtained by each party in the parliamentary election …” Each political party submits a list of names for women candidates to the National Electoral Commission and the said Commission is required to adhere to it after consultation with the party concerned, for the purposes of filling any MP vacancy of this category should one occur during the life of Parliament. Affirmative action is provided for in Article 66 (1) (b) of the Constitution which adds that the total number of women MPs should not be less than 30 % of all the Members of Parliament in accordance with Article 78 on the basis of the proportion of votes referred to above. Thus, in addition to any constituency seats women may win in constituencies, further 30 % reserved seats (special seats) are guaranteed under the constitution.

a. Favourable legal regimes are therefore necessary for ensuring gender parity in Kenya and Tanzania. This will be achievable through multi-sectoral partnerships that brings on board both state and non-state actors to ensure a sustainable realisation of active women participation in politics and governance at national and sub-national levels.

iv. Working in civil society organisations or working within the community are important in honing and developing the skills, building constituencies and encouraging women to enter politics (Cornwall and Goetz, 2005; ODI, 2015). This is because the issues dealt with at a local community level are seen as being more closely linked to women’s experiences and expertise and the barriers to women leadership at this level is very minimal (in terms of networking and campaign financing) than at the national level.

v. As witnessed in Rwanda, every level of political leadership tends to be engendered in the sense that women are more likely to become cabinet ministers or leaders at executive levels of power when there are more women elected or nominated into leadership

7.3 Learning and Adaptation for WPP

WPP and its implementing partners will be expected to adopt an adaptive programming approach which will allow learning and adaptation throughout implementation. WPP should work with all the key actors to generate, document and share key learnings during the quarterly/biannual (twice a year) or annual stakeholders’ reflections/review meetings where the stakeholders will reflect on the changing political landscape and national contexts and adapt as necessary. In order to find solutions to some of the challenges highlighted in this report, use the lessons to inform interventions or sharpen approaches, WPP team should consider making regular follow ups to continuously assess relevance and effectiveness of WPP approaches by:

1. Tracking fidelity of implementation by monitoring work plan implementation status to establish the extent to which activities are implemented as scheduled and as designed.

2. Assessing potential for sustainability e.g. extent to which WPP interventions or results are being embedded in political parties as well as government structures and systems.

7.2 Lessons and Opportunities for Strengthening WPP

Some key lessons drawn from this study and which can be used to inform and guide review and strengthening of WPP program include:

3. Ensuring they can check for ‘WPP project effect’ on improving WPP in the 2 countries as there will be a need for a structured annual assessment of achievements/challenges and to measure progress.

4. Identifying women champions across the two countries and follow the up case studies to build up stories of change which will be documented every year the for the duration of the programme (3 years)

5. Continuing to document emerging lessons from implementation with focus on what is working & why? What is not working & why?

i. Women political leadership has reshaped the frameworks of politics and international relations since women leaders tend to not only prioritise policy that benefits women such as on equal rights and violence against women & girls, but also policies which benefit the most vulnerable in society through healthcare, education and welfare initiatives. Women leaders thus seem to make for more equal and caring societies.

ii. In societies with high cultural barriers to women leadership (like Kenya & Tanzania), quotas or positive discrimination measures (affirmative action) can help to get more women into politics. This then means that progressively having more women in politics may then occasion the change in social attitudes for more acceptance of women leaders. Johnson et al. (2003) and Burnet (2011) points to the cases in Uganda and Rwanda where women are viewed with more respect and have become more prominent in the public sphere since the quotas have been introduced;

iii. The effective use of mass and social media to advance the course of women in political leadership can enhance the image of women politicians, promote their ideas and reach, educate and mobilise those who are more difficult to reach. The media should therefore ensure that they give fair and equal coverage to male and female candidates and not advance cultural stereotypes that have been barriers to women leadership over the years.

6. Assessing how local partners are learning from WPP interventions and how these lessons are being applied to improve spaces for women through advocacy and policy influence. In quarter reports, the team will need to capture notes on or seek to address the following questions; - have they adapted any approaches or activities from what they have learnt? Has that worked or is further adaptation needed?

Figure IV: Learning and adoption approach

7.4 Project SWOT from the Lens of WPP Team at FAWE

Though the rate of return or responses to this aspect of the assessment was not adequate, we summarised the few forms which came back as follows. This encompasses personal views held by part of WPP team at FAWE about how they see/assess their capacity and readiness to deliver this project.

Strengths

• Access to relevant decision makers and existing stakeholders and various CSO networks;

• Availability of adequate human and material resources;

• Availability of technical expertise and skills within the organization;

• Wide experience and comprehensive information about gender mainstreaming and integration;

• Technology advancement to administer questionnaire online through Skype, Zoom, Monkey Survey or phone calls.

Opportunities

• Good communication with project stakeholders;

• Enabling environment for FAWEK and civil society working on women issues;

• Democratization and establishment of more political parties;

• Supportive state regulations;

• Developing links and collaborations with other NGOs.

• The BBI process in Kenya

• Post-election activities in Tanzania and pre-election period in Kenya e.g. civic & voter education by IEBC

Weakness

• Limited funds to facilitate project implementation;

• Lack of some relevant contacts to reach the target audience and stakeholders;

• Unavailability of key documents for desk research;

• Senior staff and partners may not be available for country consultations;

• Difficulty in mobilizing stakeholders for feedback and approval;

• Persistent traditional perceptions of women as inferior to men

Threats

• Multiple stakeholders can be difficult to mobilize quickly for feedback since they are engaged in many other activities;

• Gender blind institutions and processes including governments, parliaments, political parties, elections and judicial appointments;

• Biased media coverage of projects targeting women;

• Political and legal restrictions requiring clearance before engaging citizens in any kind of research;

• Hostile social and political environment.

7.5 Key Research and Learning Questions for WPP

Though this report addresses all the questions, WPP should consider seeking new information in response to these on annual basis through annual assessments and political economy analysis, given the dynamic nature of politics and political processes. Generation of new data & evidence will serve to inform programme approaches and strategies.

What are some of the key contemporary issues affecting and relevant to women’s political participation in Kenya & Tanzania

How can strategic use of data and evidence for decision making improve women’s role and place in politics?

Are there any new/fresh perspectives we can provide to various categories of women actors for advancing the cause of participation in decision-making in Kenya & Tanzania;

How can improved Women Political Participation support building of a fairer society that places prime value on women’s role and contribution.

What available/new data & evidence can we generate to guide/inform women political participation?

7.6 Sustaining WPP Efforts and Results

a) Socio-political and economic sustainability dimensions

Socio-cultural respect

Social Sustainability

Stakeholder & Community participation

WPP being a socially acceptable programme should be built on an understanding of local traditions, priorities and core values across the 2 countries. WPP and its implementing partners should push political parties and relevant government agencies to show regularly how they are applying proactive measures meant to address all forms of structural and systemic discrimination and inequality against women within the organizations;

WPP should seek to facilitate processes which foster empowerment and ownership by women leaders, key stakeholders and community members through direct participation in project and political decision-making on issues affecting women and their communities.

Political cohesion

WPP should seek to increase the alignment of its interventions with host country priorities and coordinate its efforts with national authorities in Kenya & Tanzania so as to increase buy-in, ownership and efficient delivery of necessary reforms;

Economic Sustainability

WPP team should work on inbuilt sustainability mechanisms to ensure that additional/sufficient local resources and capacity exist to continue key aspects of the project in the absence of outside resources, particular after the 3 funded years;

Gender & conflict sensitivity analysis

Gender responsiveness

WPP approaches and activities should be designed to ensure gender and social inclusion, through-out design and implementation. WPP team and its implementing partners will be expected to demonstrate in-depth understanding of how gender inequalities may exacerbate social and political exclusion within political parties and relevant state agencies and how gender intersects with other social cleavages (e.g. ethnicity, religion, class, age, geographic location) during elections and other political processes;

Conflict sensitive programming

WPP should seek to adopt the ‘Do no harm approach’ and support local capacities for conflict resolution and management within political parties in favour of women. There should be constant and careful analysis of different types of conflicts likely to affect the program either positively or negatively. WPP team will be required to critically examine how WPP interventions interacts with different conflicts and subsequently adopt context appropriate conflict sensitive approaches to navigate problematic issues during implementation.

b) Program design, knowledge transfer and results dimensions

Knowledge transfer Mentorship & coaching

Technical support

WPP team, partners and experts are expected to mentor political activists, leaders and candidates for various posts. This mentorship approach is expected to ensure that these mentees not only improve their capabilities but also take up new roles in promoting active women participation in their parties and other agencies of interest.

WPP is expected to work with experienced partners and experts, working closely with local political institutions to run/facilitate different training initiatives and provide technical support aimed at building capacity through transfer of skills/knowledge, sharing of experiences and new ways of working to these local partners. This is a practice which will no doubt equip them to continue supporting WPP even after the program ends.

c) Partnership dimensions

Focus on design & results

Sustainable program design

WPP core sustainability agenda should be inbuilt in its program design. Retooling and reskilling staff and partners to apply innovative techniques in promoting WPP and ensure that more women get more involved in the political process. Additionally, working through women’s organizations and country-based experts will ensure that core principles and approaches of WPP will continue to be applied after funding ends. This implies that WPP should start its interventions with the end in mind – what will happen after the program ends.

Sustaining interventions & results:

WPP partnership approach

Since WPP interventions and activities are going to be led by local within FAWE and other partners, it is guaranteed that the innovations or new practices meant to improve WPP will continue beyond the project period.

Political engagements

WPP should have high levels of commitment to working directly with women leaders, women organisations and political institutions as primary partners, which is in itself a sustainability strategy.

Political cohesion

WPP should seek to increase the alignment of its interventions with host country priorities and coordinate its efforts with national authorities in Kenya & Tanzania so as to increase buy-in, ownership and efficient delivery of necessary reforms;

Economic Sustainability

Policy, technical & resource partnerships

Working with others to deliver WPP objectives

WPP program will identify and work with both implementing & mobilising partners for effective delivery of the interventions across the two countries. These provide linkages with local structures and partners, create synergies with political systems, harmonizing WPP efforts with other relevant initiatives and strengthening engagement with partners for sustainability.

Economic Sustainability

Policy partnerships

WPP will work very closely with relevant government agencies and political parties to generate requisite political goodwill and assurance of support and addition to jointly pursuing necessary reforms.

Technical partnerships

Resource partnerships

WPP to work with universities, research institutes, think tanks and other potential learning partners.

WPP should reach out and seek alternative funding sources from local/ national, regional and international agencies.

Chapter Eight :

Targeted and Actionable

Recommendations

8.1 Recommendations for AU, ECOSOCC & RECs

a. Promotion & protection of women’s rights: In the final analysis ACDEG provides numerous opportunities for promotion and protection of women’s political rights – particularly when seen in conjunction with the plethora of other women’s rights instruments in existence in Africa and globally. The provisions within the Charter reiterate the necessity of women’s participation, representation, and leadership in African governance and decisionmaking spaces. Coupled with its state reporting process, ACDEG creates a solid basis from which to push for the meaningful rather than tokenistic engagement of women and women’s rights groups vis-a`-vis ensuring accountability regarding the numerous provisions that speak to women and girls.

b. Full implementation of relevant ACDEG provisions: AU member states must undertake practical steps to implement ACDEG and other AU shared values and instruments that speak to women’s empowerment. These steps must be holistic, taking into account the interconnected and interrelated nature of rights across social, political, and economic spheres. Furthermore, creating impactful change will require state actors to address the structural barriers to women’s political participation and harmonize these shared values with norms and practices at the national as well as local levels. The steps should be reported on periodically, to facilitate monitoring and sharing of comparable lessons.

c. Provide technical support to member states: Apex continental and regional bodies – namely, AU and RECs – should play a central role in ensuring the effective implementation of ACDEG by providing technical support to member states; popularizing the Charter among member states, gender activists and civil society as well as women’s rights organizations; and rewarding reporting and compliance, to accelerate implementation and monitoring.

d. Create/strengthen spaces for structured engagement with CSOs: It is clear that the utility of the Charter for advocacy purposes has not been fully exploited. Women’s rights activists, practitioners, organizations, and gender advocates must be given space and supported to capitalise on the numerous and substantive provisions of ACDEG outlined in this report. Effective implementation of ACDEG’s provisions on women’s political rights require all relevant stakeholders to work together at multiple levels, to pool necessary resources, and to promote the universal ratification, domestication, and implementation of the Charter. Only then can the potential and promise of ACDEG be fully realized.

8.2 Recommendations for Governments/Parliaments

Cross-cutting Recommendations

a. Legislation that improves the legal and policy regime as an enabler to women political leadership: Governments and parliaments should ensure constant and progressive legislation that reduces the barriers to women’s entry into politics; As Kenya & Tanzania strive to implement Sustainable DG 5, “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls,” the governments must also strive to embed gender parity in constitutions and legal frameworks. They must realize full compliance with the regional and international normative human rights standards to eliminate all forms of violence against women, introduce funding opportunities to support women candidates at all levels and ensure that girls receive high quality education;

b. Governments should support, empower and engage women through awareness campaigns: Women need to be educated and be informed that political participation is not limited to election campaigns and mobilisation. They also need to know that for political participation to be inclusive there should be equal participation by both women and men;

c. Increased public funding for women in politics: Governments should provide more funds to independent female political politicians and also to political parties that have a considerable and accepted number of female political candidates. This will make political parties to involve more women for political office;

d. Governments should promote the economic emancipation of women: When women are economically emancipated, they will be able to make their decisions independently and this may pave way for them to enter politics without being restricted by their male counterparts (who may be breadwinners or husbands at home);

e. Other expectations from governments: Support women’s leadership in the workplace through greater inclusion in executive positions and on corporate boards. Eliminate structural and legal obstacles that hinder all girls’ and women’s participation in politics and decisionmaking, and hold those obstructing them accountable. Introduce temporary quota systems and gender-sensitive leadership pathways to help bring women into political spheres;

f. Combat online harassment of women: Online harassment and prejudice against women through technology immensely contribute to women shying away from participation in politics and representation. The government should therefore criminalise online gender-based violence;

g. Mentorship and Coaching programs: Create/ strengthen platforms through which women can support each other and develop strong/viable women networks. More mentorship programs be put in place to assist women gain more political knowledge and skills. Build linkages with strong prowomen organizations locally and internationally.

h. Monitoring and Evaluation frameworks: M & E structures to be put in place to monitor women participation and make the basis for informed decision making and strategic planning.

i. Resource Mobilization: Most women lack the financial muscle to compete with their male counterparts in planning for electoral processes such as campaigns, media engagement and marketing among others. Women need increased access to financial support. The women need capacity building on resource mobilization and financial planning and management.

8.3 Recommendations Specific to Tanzania

a. Women in local governance: Women’s participation in local governance is determined by incentives, access to information, power relations, knowledge of Kiswahili and women’s interest in local governance. There is therefore the need to reinforce and support women participation at the local levels;

b. Raise gender awareness through effective programmes of education and mass communication to transform the perception of girls, boys, men and women that places a disproportionate burden of household responsibility on girls and women. This responsibility limits their educational and economic opportunities, and advances the politics of exclusion. In this respect, it will be necessary to include programmes that target men and identify male champions of women’s social and political rights;

c. Implementation of gender-sensitive planning and budgetary processes in all ministries, regional and local authorities: According to the Women and Gender Development Policy (2000) and the National Strategy for Gender Development, the government should ensure that gender concerns are mainstreamed in all government policies, plans, strategies and programmes so as to address gender inequalities in Tanzania. This will ensure that adequate resources are directed toward closing gender gaps;

d. Strengthening the role of gender focal points in sectoral ministries and other government structures through actively involving women in decision making processes at all administrative levels will contribute to gender mainstreaming and enhanced women’s political participation from the grassroots level up to national representation;

e. Government to support research on the structural impediments to women’s effective participation in both public and private institutions, and document and disseminate best practices on promoting women’s leadership.

f. Gender Guidelines such as CEDAW on restructuring women special seats are not effective in its current application to oversee women participation. There is therefore , a need for realignment and repurposing of CEDAW guidelines to be effective. Align women special seats representation to national, regional and international treaties and legal frameworks for effectiveness.

g. Role of political parties in promoting gender equity and social inclusion: Political parties should promote gender equality and social inclusion by adhering to the guidelines provided for in the The Political Parties Amendment Act of 2019.

h. Political parties: should increase transparency in the nomination process of WSS and establish/strengthen internal dispute management mechanisms to address nomination disputes. Parties also need to strengthen party support to women candidates, particularly in terms of providing mentorship, skills training on campaign skills, media relations and fundraising, and financial and human resources. Parties should also recruit more female party agents and conduct more comprehensive training for party agents on their roles and responsibilities in the election observation process. Create a pathway for progression from Women on Special Seats to elected women at Constituency level.

i. National Electoral Commission: NEC should put in place proper guidelines and terms of references for selecting candidates for women special seats. NEC should also conduct civic education to those interested in vying for WSS to eliminate confusion and biasness. NEC to provide guidelines on term limits under special seats. NEC to partner with civil society and civic education groups to implement women-targeted voter education efforts in future elections to ensure equitable access to information among marginalized group. Renew efforts to ensure equitable access to information among marginalized groups. NEC should also renew efforts to ensure that accurate, gender-disaggregated data on voters, candidates and other electionrelated statistics are made available to the public.

j. Corruption and nepotism: Establish mechanisms and institutions that shall deal with the elimination of corruption and nepotism to the process of increasing the number of women participating in Parliament through the special seats.

k. Sensitization on cultural practices/norms and male dominated top leadership in political parties: Awareness creation to the male leaders on the role of special seats and their support for women leaders to increase the chances of acceptance of women leaders in future elections. Advocating for the male leaders to become gender champions. More awareness creation to the society on cultures and norms inhibiting women participation in leadership. Promote programs that influence positive cultures supporting women participation in leadership.

l. Government: To timely disburse the funds for electoral process to avoid delays in preparations and logistics. Governments should also promote more girl child to engage in formal education. Provide scholarships for women to study political science and other related leadership courses.

8.4 Recommendations for Political Parties and Actors

a. Fair political party rules: Political parties are key to stifling or advancing the cause of women leadership in Kenya and Tanzania. The parties should therefore ensure their party constitutions, nomination rules, other guidelines, and policies provides for specific affirmative action measures that increase women’s participation within their parties;

b. Women active roles in political parties: Political parties should also enable women to take active roles in the governing of the parties through measures such ensuring gender parity in the parties’ high level decision marking organs such as the governing body and the positions such as Chairperson and Secretary General;

c. Women access to justice within the parties: To ensure women are able to access justice within the parties, the political parties should ensure gender parity in their composition of dispute resolution bodies;

d. Political parties’ accountability for the safety of women leaders: The political parties must be made accountable for the safety of their women leaders. Further, the state must be accountable to ensure any women in the election process is protected by the law;

e. Political parties’ affirmative action measures: Parties ought to institute internal firm affirmative action measures that enables increased candidacy of women in elections. This may include purposive and deliberate nomination of women to run for elective seats in party strongholds and adopting quotas as a measure to enable a minimum number of women run for elective seats;

f. Train women candidates: Women candidates continue to face cyberspace bulling and harassment. Political parties should provide training for women candidates on media and social media use.

g. Women are still underrepresented in most political parties. There is a need to advocate for a policy that offers practical guidance on steps and actions for political parties to ensure the enforcement of the Constitutional principle on gender equality in politics and the role of power and decision-making at all levels, particularly the two-thirds rule on gender.’

8.5 Recommendations for Elections Management Bodies

(IEBC & NEC)

a. Reform or develop policies to promote women participation: Elections management bodies in Kenya and Tanzania holds a great deal of authority over the conduct of electoral processes and their inclusiveness. They therefore ought to review or develop policies to ensure the participation in elections by women;

b. Regulate & oversee party nominations: Elections management bodies in Kenya and Tanzania should exercise their authority to regulate and oversee all political party nominations, including developing regulations creating mandatory provisions stipulating the exact manner of supervision in order to ensure democratic nomination exercises that is fair to women;

c. Ensure compliance to electoral code of conduct: During electoral periods - be they general elections, byelections, or referenda -monitor strict compliance with the Electoral Code of Conduct. Where violations occur, elections management bodies in Kenya and Tanzania must impose sanctions as defined in the law on offending individuals and parties in order to curb the culture of impunity and violence against women;

d. Voter education & sensitization of women: Conduct timely voter education in all elections and ensure that the education programmes target women and other special interest groups.

8.6 Recommendations for the Judiciary and Independent State Institutions

a. Monitoring compliance at national level and ensuring implementation of relevant declarations e.g. i) establishing gender-balanced governmental bodies, committees, public administration and judiciary, through specific targets and a positive action policy; integrating women into elective positions in political parties; promoting and protecting women’s political rights; and reconciling work and family responsibilities for both men and women (Declaration, 1995a); and (ii) conducting leadership and gender awareness training; developing transparent criteria for decision-making positions; and creating a mentoring system (Declaration, 1995b).

b. Ensure that all political cases by women candidates and women activists are fairly considered and expeditiously dispensed with for women to get justice from the courts.

c. Orient all judicial officers, magistrates and judges on all relevant electoral laws, election regulations and codes of conduct.

8.7 Recommendations for Media and FBOs

a. Highlight gender issues: E-media shapes opinion in the public sphere due to its ability to reach millions in the shortest time possible. The media therefore have a social responsibility to boost the participation of women in the public sphere. It is therefore necessary that the media highlights gender issues that inform the public on the status of women in Kenya and Tanzania, their rights, their challenges, and their achievements;

b. Balanced reporting: A balanced reporting by the media on the issues that concern men and women will also go a long way in addressing the stereotyping mentality that has been visited on women by the patriarchal societies that Kenya and Tanzania are. The media should also amplify gender-responsiveness by portraying how current issues markedly or disproportionally affect women;

c. Advance the cause of women: Noting that women have had historical marginalization, there is a need to boost women leadership by offering them a fair advantage through positive profiling of women leaders. The media should be more sympathetic to the cause of women by emphasising the positive works of women, avoiding the repetition of negative stereotypes.

d. Religious institutions to proactively champion the cause of women leadership: There is need for religious institutions to adopt a more progressive narrative, by first opening their institutional hierarchy to women leadership;

e. Promote visibility and positive profiling of women, including female politicians and decision-makers in the media and houses of worship and create a safe and enabling political environment in which they may participate in public life, at all levels.

f. Promote increased media coverage: Illuminate existing and planned women empowerment and electoral assistance initiatives within EAC sub-region, with focus on those that include gender mainstreaming and/or gender-targeting components by governments, donors, NGOs and other actors. Highlight good practices, successful mechanisms, and effective strategies to achieve gender equality in political participation across East Africa. Women to get more airtime for their political activities. Women to participate in media debates and political programs.

g. Capacity building for targeted coverage: News anchors should be trained on gender sensitivity so that they can treat women using the same yardsticks as men when highlighting stories. Media should stop concentrating on those leaders already in the lime light and also focus on highlighting other women leaders to propel them to limelight and political positions. Media to share positive stories of women in leadership.

8.8 Recommendations for Women Leaders in Leadership/ Political Positions

a. Women leaders should support women leadership programmes to bring on board and train more women on leadership since political empowerment is not a oneoff process but takes a while before results are realized;

b. Women leaders should originate and support gender sensitive issues and prioritise health, education and other key development indicators. This way they remain highly responsive to the needs of their constituents;’

8.8 Recommendations for

c. Women leaders should form a broad-based network across party lines to advance the course of women leadership. They should see each other as comrades irrespective of their party affiliations;

d. Women leaders should see male leaders not as adversaries but colleagues to be lobbied to support the course of women leadership.

WPP

a. Refer to Chapter 7 on Conclusions for Learning & Adaptation: This section contains a lot of takeaways for WPP and practical suggestions which WPP team can consider to strengthen program design and strategies for delivery of results.

b. Advocacy and civic awareness: Active advocacy efforts and vigilance on electoral reforms on gender inclusion and lobbying for the passage and enactment of relevant laws to actualise WPP. Also ensure active monitoring of compliance with constitutional and other legislative women’s gains;

c. Training, coaching and mentorship: Provide a platform for training and mentorship for upcoming women politicians through periodic sharing of experiences and best practice especially by renowned women leaders in Kenya and Tanzania. The trainings to also include skills-building of women in preparation for leadership positions i.e. presentation and public speaking. Encourage women to participate in local meetings i.e. chief’s barazas and air their views in these fora. Invest in training programs for young people, women, and men on political systems, women’s right to participation, and their roles in decision-making.

Project and Partner CSOs

d. Institutionalise gender responsiveness and inclusion: Strengthen closer ties with duty bearers to undertake institutional strengthening programmes that ensure institutions’ abilities to be gender-responsive and inclusive and also enhance the capacity of women legislators to be gender-responsive in law-making, lobbying, and consensus building;

e. Public Interest Litigation (PIL): Maintain a consistent and active pursuit of actions and remedies against threats to or violation of the WPP gains through necessary measures, including PIL and advocacy;

f. Improved inter agency collaborations: It would be important for FAWE and other civil society members to improve on the collaborations among themselves and with the County Governments so as to better infuse women’s rights into policy processes at the sub national level of governance;

g. Intensify coherent advocacy efforts; There is need for more synergy and vibrant engagement amongst CSOs as a key element to assure harmony and consistency in implementation and advocacy for gender responsive policy and legal frameworks (as witnessed in the two third Gender Bill discourse);

h. Encourage more male participation on gender related assignments and issues at all levels as a way of leveraging gender on the national and sub national political agenda;

i. Work with community groups, religious and traditional leaders as champions for social transformation should be intensified and strengthened. Work hand in hand with religious leaders to address religious biases and stereotypes against women political participation that deter the meaningful participation of women in political leadership and democratic activities, such as voting. Promote community and sport programs that foster leadership skills for girls and women and promote gender equality;

j. Need for a standard monitoring framework: Kenya and Tanzania need a reliable framework to guide the implementation of the gains for women. Most of these gains risks remaining political rhetoric that hardly go beyond the pages of the constitution. Without a clear monitoring framework, it becomes difficult to implement the gains and even to hold institutions and individuals accountable in state institutions in cases of non-compliance;

k. Advocate for more women pathways to leadership: Advocate for the creation of political parties that have clear women pathways into leadership with timed affirmative actions that are tied to education and capacity building in several stages and structures. Further, consider an institutionalised gender responsive budgeting, social accountability of women oriented services etc;

l. Intensify engagement in the BBI process (Kenya): The BBI process is a constitutional moment that calls for vigilance and active engagement to consolidate the gains made by women on WPP and also advocate for more space for women in both appointive and elective positions in Kenya.

m. Fund grassroots organizations that build the capacity of girls and women to participate both individually and collectively in social, economic, political, and public life.

n. Support scale up & replication of success stories or best practices: Identify entry points for introducing, scaling up, or replicating local, national and/or regional gender equality initiatives in electoral assistance, public appointments and other forms of promotional measures, where possible through innovative programming solutions;

o. Work with political parties: Most political parties are like ‘boys clubs’ with minimal women participation. WPP project should therefore work with Political Parties and Party Women Leagues to effect affirmative action policies and strategies that would help increase women’s representation and participation in politics and party leadership’s rank and file. This will ensure that political parties put up a case for active and increased involvement and participation of women in political parties’ leadership;

p. Partner with actors such as Article 19 Eastern Africa and AMWIK to train women leaders on online safety measures: Online harassment of women is becoming a hindrance and a scare to women participation in politics. WPP should therefore partner with the mentioned actors to conduct personal security training for women leaders such as how to use encryption tools for secure communication on both online platforms and mobile phones. In addition, training should also focus on enabling women to understand the security implications of their actions and mitigate risks they may face on online platforms. Also work with other organisations and social networking companies such as Facebook who are now seeking partner organizations in Kenya, Tanzania and across the continent to inform their work and help to implement solutions to online harassment and attacks of women.

Selected List of References

q. Lobby for more funding and technical support for women in politics: It’s hard to afford the money to belong to a political party especially when you are young. It also takes more work to fundraise to support female political ambitions of female activists. There is therefore need to fund women in leadership programs and avoid only focusing on this area when it’s close to elections which makes things to be done in a rush which hinders attainment of tangible results. Donors should also support NGOs to design programs that would nurture more women to gain interest in political debates. Design a women in leadership program to help those interested in leadership roles and also encourage and prepare women to vote for women. There is a need to ensure women are required in leadership roles. Holding people accountable to reduce fear of participation by women and reducing GBV during electioneering period are key.

Abdulmelik & Belay (2019): Advancing Women’s Political Rights in Africa: The Promise and Potential of ACDEG, Africa Spectrum 2019, Vol. 54(2) 147–161

Ayeni VO (2016) Impact of African Charter and Maputo Protocol in Selected African States. Pretoria: Pretoria University Law Press

Belay T (2017) ACDEG: New Opportunities for Advancing Women’s Political Empowerment; African Governance Newsletter 4(1)

Glen PJ (2012) Institutionalizing Democracy in Africa: Comment on African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governanc. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Law Centre

Hassim S (2003) Representation, participation and democratic effectiveness. In: No Shortcuts to Power: African Women in Politics and Policy Making. London; New York:

Impacter.com/political empowerment of women in Africa (accessed on 17.01.2021)

Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) 2019 Report on Women in Politics Map (online)

Katare Mbashiru (2018), Tanzania Making Strides in Women Representation, available at https://tgnp. org/2018/03/05/tanzania-making-strides-in-womenrepresentation/, accessed on 11th March 2021

Kenya SDGs Forum (2020): Analysis of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Report, in Relation to SDG 5: Achieve Gender Equality and Empower All Women and Girls in Kenya and Constitution of Kenya, 2010

Kingsley Ighobor (April 2015): A celebratory Rise in Women’s Political Participation in Africa, an Arcticle in Africa Renewal of April 2015

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Oluwayotin Ilesanmi (Dec 2018): Women’s Visibility in Decision Making Processes in Africa, Article in the Frontiers of Sociology Magzine published by the Centre for Gender & Development Studies, Ekiti State Univeristy, Nigeria

United Republic of Tanzania Bunge (National Assembly), available at http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2337. htm, accessed on 11th November 2019.

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Zipporah Musau (July 2019): Africa Women in Politics: Miles to go before Parity is achieved, in the Africa Renewal Journal

Annexes

Annex I: KII/FGD Guide for Parliamentarians, Independent Institutions and Political Activists – Tanzania

Introduction and Purpose

In partnership with The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), FAWE is implementing the Women in Political Participation (WPP) project for a period of 3 years. The project aims to increase the political participation and representation of women in Africa in line with the Maputo Protocol of 2003, various associated sub-regional protocols and standards, and the SDGs. The project will be implemented in 8 African countries namely Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The project comes against the backdrop of continued underrepresentation of women in political spaces and decision making in both political and public spheres irrespective of the numerous efforts to enhance participation of women in politics in most African countries. It is in view of this that the Centre for Research and Innovations in East Africa (CRI-EA) has been commissioned by Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) to conduct a situational analysis on women political participation in Kenya and Tanzania to inform implementation of the WPP project.

The aim of this guide is to gather information from stakeholders’ to identify obstacles faced by women to allow for a clear and precise identification of the type of challenges presented at different stages in different geographical contexts in which the project activities will be undertaken. All participants’ comments will be treated with respect and confidentiality. Perspectives of the discussants will be used solely for the purpose of this situational analysis. Where it will be necessary to quote discussants on points raised by them, the consent of the participant will be sought first, or the quotes will be blinded (made anonymous). This process or discussion is estimated to take about one hour.

Your participation in this process is entirely voluntary and you reserve the right to respond to the questions to the extent of your ability.

Thank you for your participation!

Interview Questions

1. Comment on the extent to which the following pose challenges or obstacles for policy makers and practitioners to increase women in political participation and representation in Kenya.

Comments Solutions

Social-Cultural Barriers

Cultural norms and stereotypes about women in society

Name:

Position: E-mail: Telephone: Skype ID (if any):

Religious beliefs/interpretation about women in society

Discriminatory or sexist working culture in Government/ Parliament/Sub-national legislature

Women’s perception of the lack of safety and respect for women in the political sphere.

Institutional Barriers

Gender equality policies/ legal regulatory framework (constitution/election law) promoting women’s participation i.e. the 2/3 gender rule

Enabling environment for civil society working on women issues

Legal discrimination of women

Barriers related to Tools, Capacities and Resources

Gender blind institutions (governments, parliaments, political parties) and processes (elections, judicial appointments)

Education and literacy among women

Political parties promoting women in their ranks

Biased media coverage of women

Reliable

a. What are other additional challenges or obstacles do women face in representation and political participation in Kenya?

2. What are the other additional challenges or obstacles women face in representation and political participation in Kenya?

3. What are some of the benefits of promoting political participation of women in Kenya?

4. Which strategies should the County Governments/CSOs/ NGOs/ INGOs/ FBOs apply to effectively promote political participation of women and increase representation in Kenya?

5. Can you provide examples of different strategies or initiatives you know of that key actors have taken in Kenya that have positively impacted on promoting women’s participation and representation?

6. In your opinion which tools and resources would be helpful to support your work and efforts to promote women’s political participation in Kenya?

7. Examples of success stories that demonstrate how you overcame barriers to women political participation and representation at national and local levels?

Annex II: KII/FGD Guide for NGOs/CSOs/ Local (Regional) Governments – Tanzania

Introduction and Purpose

CSOs/NGOs/INGOs

Political Parties Religious Organisations

Media Others

In partnership with The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), FAWE is implementing the Women in Political Participation (WPP) project for a period of 3 years. The project aims to increase the political participation and representation of women in Africa in line with the Maputo Protocol of 2003, various associated sub-regional protocols and standards, and the SDGs. The project will be implemented in 8 African countries namely Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The project comes against the backdrop of continued underrepresentation of women in political spaces and decision making in both political and public spheres irrespective of the numerous efforts to enhance participation of women in politics in most African countries. It is in view of this that the Centre for Research and Innovations in East Africa (CRI-EA) has been commissioned by Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) to conduct a situational analysis

on women political participation in Kenya and Tanzania to inform implementation of the WPP project.

The aim of this guide is to gather information from stakeholders’ to identify obstacles faced by women to allow for a clear and precise identification of the type of challenges presented at different stages in different geographical contexts in which the project activities will be undertaken. All participants’ comments will be treated with respect and confidentiality and used solely for purposes of this study. Where it will be necessary to quote discussants on points raised by them, the consent of the participant will be sought first, or the quotes will be blinded (made anonymous). This process/discussion is estimated to take about one hour and your participation in this process is entirely voluntary, and you reserve the right to respond to the questions to the extent of your ability.

Thank you for your participation!

Interview Questions

1. Comment on the extent to which the following pose challenges or obstacles for policy makers and practitioners to increase women in political participation and representation in Tanzania.

Comments Solutions

Social-Cultural Barriers

Enabling

Legal discrimination of women

Cultural

norms and stereotypes about women in society

Religious beliefs/interpretation about women in society

Discriminatory or sexist working culture in Government/ Parliament/Sub-national legislature

Women’s perception of the lack of safety and respect for women in the political sphere.

Institutional Barriers

Gender equality policies/ legal regulatory framework (constitution/election law) promoting women’s participation i.e. the 2/3 gender rule

Gender blind institutions (governments, parliaments, political parties) and processes (elections, judicial appointments)

Political parties promoting women in their ranks

Biased media coverage of women

environment for civil society working on women issues

Barriers related to Tools, Capacities and Resources

Women backing or being in solidarity with each other i.e. Solidarity among women

Financial resources and financial skills among women

Education and literacy among women

Tools (manuals and guidelines) on gender equality and women’s political participation

Reliable information/research on gender equality issues, including a lack of sexdisaggregated data

b) What are the other additional challenges or obstacles women face in representation and political participation in Tanzania?

2. What are some of the benefits of promoting political participation of women in Tanzania i.e. Tanzania having a woman Vice President?

3. Which strategies should the Local (Regional) Governments/CSOs/ NGOs/ INGOs/ FBOs apply to effectively promote political participation of women and increase representation in Tanzania?

4. Can you provide examples of different strategies or initiatives you know of that key actors have taken in Tanzania that have positively impacted on promoting women’s participation and representation?

Annex III: SWOT Analysis Guide for WPP Team in FAWE

Target Persons: Project Staff @ FAWE – RO, Kenya & Tanzania.

External environment of the project; and the extent to which such will enable or affect realization of project objectives.

Rank the degree to which the factor either enabled or affected realization of project objectives on a scale of 1 -5. (1 = Least Effect; 5 = Great Effect).

Annex IV : FGD Guide for FAWE Team

Introduction and Purpose

The aim of this guide is to gather information from FAWE team and relevant stakeholders to identify obstacles faced by women to allow for a clear and precise identification of the type of challenges presented at different stages in different geographical contexts in which the project activities will be undertaken. All participants’ comments will be treated with respect and confidentiality and used solely for purposes of this study. This process/ discussion is estimated to take about 30 minutes to one hour and your participation in this process is entirely voluntary.

Thank you for creating time to participate

Interview Questions

1. Comment on the extent to which the following pose challenges or obstacles for policy makers and practitioners to increase women in political participation and representation in Kenya

a. Social-Cultural Barriers

b. Institutional Barriers

c. Barriers related to Tools, Capacities and Resources

2. What are the other additional challenges or obstacles women face in representation and political participation in Kenya?

3. What are some of the benefits of promoting political participation of women in Kenya?

4. Which strategies should the County Governments/CSOs/ NGOs/ INGOs/ FBOs apply to effectively promote political participation of women and increase representation in Kenya?

5. Can you provide examples of different strategies or initiatives you know of that key actors have taken in Kenya that have positively impacted on promoting women’s participation and representation?

Government Parliament

CSOs/NGOs/INGOs

Political Parties Media

Parliament

FAWE House, Chania Avenue, off Wood Avenue, Kilimani P.O. Box 21394 - Ngong Road, Nairobi 00505, Kenya.

Tel: (254-020) 3873131/ 3873359 Fax: (254-020) 3874150

Email: fawe@fawe.org www.fawe.org