Mauritius say â € œ WE HAVE DONE ITâ € 

One of the key targets in the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development is 50% women in all areas of decision-making by 2015.Progress towards equal representation of women in political decision making over the last years has been slow and uneven. The results of the Local Government elections in Mauritius provides evidence of the work GL has produced derived outcome of increases in womenâ € ™s representation and their effective participation in local decision making.
The only way to achieve rapid increases in womenâ € ™s representation in the constituency system is the legislated quotas.
For women to make a difference, they must have access to decision making structures. Women bring with them new ideas and agendas and these make for more gender responsive governance. It is the democratic right of women to be equally represented in decision-making. Local Government comprises of 5 municipal council in urban areas and 7 district councils in the rural areas. L.Aâ € ™s are guided by the L.G Act 1989 and L.G Act of 2003. The GL research â € œ At the Coalface, Gender in Local Government in Southern Africaâ €  revealed the low representation of women in local government. It also showed that womenâ € ™s presence is necessary in local government for improving responsiveness and the quality of service delivery.
The only way to achieve rapid increases in womenâ € ™s representation in the constituency system is the legislated quotas.
Therefore GL devised strategies carried out its campaign to increase womenâ € ™s participation and participation in local government. The stages were the following:
â € ¢ In 2005, one day training workshop on the elections with leaders of the main political parties.
â € ¢ In 2009, training of 40 women from the Labour Party and the Mouvement Socialiste Militant ahead the 2010 elections. With 5.6% women in Parliament, Mauritius was the lowest in the SADC ranking of women in Parliament. The percentage increased to 19% in the 2010 General Elections.
â € ¢ In 2011 a series of training programmes on Media Literacy and Leadership skills for Women in Politics.
â € ¢ SADC village workshops where specific attention is given to article 13 on women representation in politics.
Meanwhile the Director GL Mauritius meets the Minister of Local Government to lobby for representation of more women in politics who is on the same wave length and promises to review the law. Awareness campaign is carried within the media through articles and interviews.
The New Local Government Bill 2011 which marked a revolutionary step in the history of Mauritius went to Parliament. Government amended the Constitution in to allow for a gender-neutral quota .The Local Government Act requires 30% of either sex to be candidates on all party lists. Thus Local Government December elections results clearly showed an increase from 6% to 26%.

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