Re-launching the 50/50 campaign

Re-launching the 50/50 campaign


Date: June 18, 2011
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While the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development advocates for 50% women’s representation in all areas of decision-making, local government elections held on 18 May in South Africa saw a decrease in the percentage of women elected.

The country dropped from 40% in the previous elections to 38%. This is 12 percentage points below the target of 50/50 by 2015, underscoring the importance of quotas to get women into decision-making positions.

Read here for more details about South Africa’s elections: SA misses the mark on gender parity in forthcoming elections;

Such decreases in women’s representation have led the Southern Africa Gender Protocol Alliance to call for a re-launch of the regional 50/50 campaign. Women In Politics Support Unit (WIPSU), regional leaders of the Alliance governance cluster, will convene a regional meeting in Harare at the end of June 2011 to launch a regional 50/50 campaign roadmap.

Women’s representation in SADC is as follows:

Country

% of women in cabinet

% of women at deputy ministerial level

% of women in Parliamentary level

% of women at rural provincial/councillor level

Angola

32%

22%

36%

4%

Botswana

7%

18%

DRC

11%

9%

8%

7%

Lesotho

32%

25%

52%

Madagascar

14%

5%

24%

Malawi

27%

30%

22%

Mauritius

11%

13%

17%

6%

Mozambique

28%

19%

39%

Namibia

23%

25%

31%

16%

Seychelles

28%

24%

South Africa

42%

39%

45%

38%

Swaziland

24%

21%

16%

Tanzania

27%

24%

31%

Zambia

19%

14%

15%

6%

Zimbabwe

20%

9%

24%

19%


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