5.3. Challenges and Gaps B. CASE STUDIES ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 148

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

There has been considerable investment in the promotion of female representation in the political sphere throughout the region. However, some laws remain poorly implemented and enforced, as a result of socioeconomic factors. The economic recession, the Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks and political instability have affected allocations to gender from national budgets. Meanwhile, despite quotas, women may still not be elected and appointed to decision-making positions, where they remain a minority. For example, while the participation of women in Liberian politics has increased, traditional attitudes about gender roles persist, limiting women’s involvement in public office, particularly national assemblies and parliaments. The share of women parliamentarians in Liberia is still significantly small, at 12.3% in the lower or single house and 3.3% in the upper house as of January 2020.975

Moreover, despite efforts to train and build the capacity of women to assume decision-making positions and present themselves in elections, many women are still not aware of their right to participate or feel they lack the necessary skills to perform well in politics. This explains why political participation of women in some countries, such as Niger, remains limited.976 This is also observed in Nigeria, particularly in the north of the country, owing to cultural and religious barriers as well as other challenges, such as finance issues, corruption and political violence.977 During the 2015 presidential and senatorial elections, Nigeria made provisions to ensure women’s safety and participation. A toll-free hotline run by gender-sensitive operators was established to respond to any calls related to women’s constrained voting rights, with over 300 female monitors trained and deployed to various areas in the country.978

Regarding legislation on quotas in elections in Benin, the law reserves only 22% of seats at the National Assembly for women. It does not provide a quota for other collegial bodies of the political power, such as the municipal council or the village council. In Burkina Faso, one female deputy voted against the law on quotas, criticising the lack of binding sanctions.979 To date, Guinea-Bissau does not have reserved parliamentary seats for certain groups, an electoral quota for youth or an electoral quota for women.980

Furthermore, almost all parity laws do not require complete parity, and, except for in Cabo Verde, legislation does not encompass public companies and state-owned companies. While Côte d’Ivoire’s Constitution announces that the state encourages the promotion of women to positions of responsibility in public institutions and administrations as well as at the enterprise level, the legislation on quotas does not include specific provisions on such matters.

In terms of monitoring the implementation of national gender plans and policies, the establishment of monitoring bodies is a positive step; however, these lack sanctioning power. In Gambia, the Women’s Act entitles the National Women’s Council to monitor compliance with the Act but it does not contain a provision on sanctions in case of noncompliance. In Cabo Verde, the Gender Commission is an advisory and monitoring body deprived of sanctioning power, and its recommendations to the government are not binding.981

In Ghana, weak inter-institutional and multi-sectoral coordination of the national gender response and efforts, poor synergies in national strategies addressing gender equality, women and girls’ empowerment issues and non-alignment of sectoral policies, plans and programmes with the National Gender Policy limit the effective advancement of women.982

Generally speaking, cultural and traditional factors prevent women from fully participating in political life. For instance, in Ghana, the government-recognised National and Regional Houses of Chiefs have inducted no women as members. However, some regional chieftaincy bodies have recognised affiliated Queen Mothers and Female Chiefs.983