AWD Report 2020
2.2.2. Policy and Institutional Reforms To further promote the inclusion of women, the National Assembly in Tanzania Mainland has created the National Assembly Strategy and Action Plan 2018–2021, which prioritises women in politics.820 As of 2020, women hold 22% of the positions.821 Uganda is further addressing the issue of women in the government through the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association’s Strategic Plan 2016–2021, which aims to increase women’s participation and leadership, as well as to lobby for a law to include 50/50 representation of men and women.822 The Uganda Vision 2040 also envisages equal political participation for women in the nation.823 In the past 25 years, the representation of Kenyan women in the lower and single houses of Parliament has increased by 18.8% and is now at 21.8%.824 Similarly, the representation of women in the Mauritius Parliament increased from 5.7% in 2000 to 18.8% in 2010.825 The share of Parliament seats taken by women in both Kenya and Mauritius is close to the worldwide average of 19.1%.826 In 2010, 11% of candidates standing in the Mauritius general election were female, and a woman was nominated as vice president of the republic.827
Figure 11 East Africa: Percentage of Women MPs (% of members of parliament, 2020)
In an effort to promote representation, the Government of Eritrea has mandated the National Union of Eritrean Women to act as the “women’s machinery.”828 These efforts have ensured the appointment of women to the positions of justice, health and
Rwanda 61.25%
Ethiopia 38.76%
Tanzania 36.72%
tourism ministers, putting the representation of women at 18% in the Cabinet. Women also account for 22.5% of community court judges in the country.829 The share of women appointed to judicial positions in Ethiopia has also increased, with women accounting for 30% of the federal judiciary at all tiers.830 In 2019, Ethiopia recorded
Uganda 34.86%
South Sudan 28.40%
Djibouti 26.15%
an exceptional improvement in terms of bringing women into higher decision-making positions. The prime minister allocated half of the 20 ministerial posts to women, appointed a female president for the country and assigned a prominent female human rights
Somalia 24.36%
Seychelles 24.24%
Eritrea 22.00%
lawyer the role of president of Ethiopia’s Supreme Court.831 These appointments built on progress made when the roles of deputy prime minister in 2014 and deputy speaker of the house in 2010– 2015 went to women.832 In 2017, Kenya also experienced a surge in
Kenya 21.78%
Mauritius 20.00%
Madagascar 17.88%
women’s representation, with women accounting for 27.8% of the Cabinet.833 This was coupled with the election of three women to the Senate for the first time, and increased participation of women in the National Assembly, at 30.9%.834 The inclusion of women in the Djiboutian Parliament is aimed primarily at bringing progress on
Comoros 16.67%
GBV and gender equality. To this end, the speaker of the house has No data available for Sudan, as the parliament was dissolved following the 2019 coup d'etat. Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union.
introduced a women’s parliamentary caucus and a gender caucus, both mandated to advance the adoption of targeted legislation.835
2.3. Challenges and Gaps To expand or add to constitutional reforms, the Sudanese National Election Act of 2008 states that 25% of women members must be elected through proportional representation from closed party lists.836 Meanwhile, in Tanzania, the National Assembly has 102 seats reserved for women out of 350, according to the Elections Regulations of 2010.837 Constitutional and legal reforms, enacted to include women in predominately male-occupied spaces, have been imperative to legal progress across various areas for women. For example, the impact of electing women to positions of decision-making in government is clear in Rwanda: much-needed reforms to inheritance and succession laws in 1999 came about thanks to the efforts of female parliamentarians.838 Meanwhile, in Uganda, the presence of women in the Parliament led to reforms increasing the
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