Make Every Woman Count
women in politics. The Government of Liberia’s 2014 Amended Election Law, for example, mandates all political parties to ensure no less than 30% of its members from each sex.959 Countries within the region, apart from Mali, have also implemented reforms to increase female representation in various institutions, all the while increasing budgets for gender, notably through national gender policies. A few countries also support women financially and through capacity-building to advance their political participation. For example, in Nigeria, the Women’s Trust Fund was set up in 2011 to provide support to female politicians in their election campaigns.960 Togo has set up an academy to help train and strengthen the skills of young future female leaders who wish to enter the political arena.961 Since 2010, women have occupied more positions of power throughout the region. In 2019 in Togo, for the first time in the country’s history, a female politician was elected president of the National Assembly.962 Moreover, thanks to Senegal’s 2010 Parity Law, the country ranked 14th in the world for women’s representation in Parliament as of January 2020.963 Liberia and Sierra Leone also stand out in this respect. Liberia elected Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as president – the first female head of State in the country and on the continent. Moreover, since then, Liberian women have held key positions in the Ministries of Finance, Foreign Affairs and Trade, which traditionally have been occupied by men.964 In Sierra Leone, women have been appointed as judges in the Supreme Court, High Court and Court of Appeals.965
5.3. Challenges and Gaps Gambia does not have a law establishing quotas, despite the 2010 Women’s Act asserting that the government shall ensure the full and equal participation of women.966 However, the draft Constitution of 2019 asserts that the State shall ensure a gender balance and fair representation of women on bodies established under or pursuant to the Constitution and any act of the National Assembly and on all other public bodies, including statutory bodies and state-owned enterprises. The draft Constitution also requires that the electoral system comply with the principle of fair representation of all genders in elective public bodies; that every political party shall promote gender equity in selecting candidates for elections; and that no more than two-thirds of the members of representative bodies in each local government authority shall be of the same gender. In addition, appointments to independent institutions and offices and the chairperson, and vice-chairperson where applicable, of an independent institution or office shall not be of the same gender.967 All countries have adopted a national gender plan or policy, notably to improve women’s representation in decisionmaking and to integrate a gender dimension in all strategies. In Gambia, gender and governance is one of the eight priority areas of the National Gender and Women Empowerment Policy, which aims at increasing and improving women’s participation in politics and decision-making positions at all levels, notably by providing information and leadership training.968 Furthermore, the Women’s Act establishes the National Women’s, which, among its functions, develops methods for integrating and implementing gender in all areas of government activity, and reviews proposals from ministries to ensure that gender perspectives are considered to achieve equal representation of men and women in all programmes of public institutions.969 In Benin, to implement the National Policy for the Promotion of Gender, gender focal points have been established in ministries and have been trained on gender budgeting.970 In Ghana, the National Gender Policy aims to promote social accountability networks at all tiers of government, particularly at the level of metropolitan municipal and district assemblies and across all citizen representation structures, where duty-bearers will be made to demonstrate their responsiveness to women’s inclusion and participation.971 In Cabo Verde, the InterMinisterial Commission for Gender Mainstreaming monitors the effective implementation of gender in public policies. It creates an institutional culture that is favourable to the use of a gendered approach in planning and the implementation of sectoral policies.972 In Burkina Faso, the Gender National Policy aims to strengthen women’s participation in decisionmaking and to hold organised regional workshops for women candidates on advocacy, leadership and campaigning.973 In Guinea, a Gender and Equity Department has been established in most ministries, responsible for monitoring the integration of gender in programmes and projects.974
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