Zimbabwe’s NGO Bill: a blow to women’s participation in governance

Zimbabwe’s proposed Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Bill, that seeks to outlaw foreign as well as foreign-funded non-governmental organisations involved in governance and human rights from operating in the country, will wipe-out achievements made in promoting women?s rights and severely curtail women’s participation in governance.
Zimbabwe’s proposed Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Bill, that seeks to outlaw foreign as well as foreign-funded non-governmental organisations involved in governance and human rights from operating in the country, will wipe-out achievements made in promoting women’s rights and severely curtail women’s participation in governance.

It will also have far-reaching consequences for voters in Zimbabwe’s upcoming parliamentary elections.While the Bill will not apply  to NGOs whose mandate is strictly the operation of humanitarian activities, leading Zimbabwean NGOs participating in the Southern African Gender and Media Summit in Johannesburg say the Bill will adversely affect the participation of women in the democratic process. The Bill is expected to be tabled in parliament in October.

Affected organisations are growing increasingly concerned about the effect the closure of women’s NGOs, which play a pivotal role in the lives of ordinary Zimbabwean women, may have once the Bill becomes law. The Women in Politics Support Unit, the Federation of African Media Women, the Women Action Group, and the Zimbabwe Women Resource Centre, are some of the major organisations that will be severely affected by the anticipated law. NGOs providing support for women participating in (the) political process and fighting for their rights when violated, are to be severely curtailed,said Rashweat Mukundu, director of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa)-Zimbabwe.

The proposed law will curtail the ability of women to stand in elections because NGOs providing campaign financing for women vying for seats in parliament and local authorities may be outlawed, says Loveness Jambaya, research officer at the Media Monitoring Project-Zimbabwe.

Fewer women candidates will mean lower representation of  women in parliament and local authorities. Currently, of 150 members of parliament in Zimbabwe, 13 (or approximately 9 percent) are women, according to the Southern African Development Community.

Six of the female MPs belong to the ruling ZANU-PF and seven are members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Five ZANU-PF women hold ministerial positions in government. The proposed Bill has been gazetted about six months before Zimbabwe’s parliamentary elections, scheduled for March 2005. Important election functions, such as monitoring, voter education and monitoring of violence and abuses in the electoral process performed by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) will end once the law comes into effect. The Network survives with foreign funding.

What we are going to witness is an increase in abuses of human rights with impunity, and with nobody (raising their voices) against it,says Mukundu, whose organisation, Misa, is likely to be one of the casualties of the planned law. But the greatest casualties may be the women of Zimbabwe.

By immobilising watchdogs and agents of change in society, the Bill is going to create a tense environment that drives women away from participating in processes of governance and democracy as voters or as candidates, says the MMP’s Jambaya. If the Bill becomes law, particularly rural voters, the majority of whom are women, will not be able to make informed choices at the ballot. Broadcasting is state-controlled and the independent press does not reach the rural areas. Under the proposed law, foreign-funded NGOs providing civic education or those involved in human rights education, including the ZESN, will no longer be able to do so. Instead, particularly rural voters will have to contend with government-controlled voter education programmes that are tailored to maintain the political and economic status quo.

You do not expect voter education carried out by those in power to be fair and neutral in the way it is done. There is going to increased propaganda to make a certain group win,says Mukundu. The effects of the proposed law will be felt beyond elections and political violence.

It will also have far-reaching social and economic consequences for millions of Zimbabweans. Many of the NGOs offering support to and fighting for the rights of victims of gender-based violence may have to close. The same situation applies to NGOs providing HIV/AIDS services, including the running of voluntary counseling and testing centres.

The Zimbabwean government has so far ignored national and international calls, including from the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), to withdraw the Bill. An open letter to President Robert Mugabe, signed by Sidiki Kaba, president of FIDH and Eric Sottas, OMCT director, described the proposed law as imposing serious restrictions on the freedom of association and expression in Zimbabwe.

Gender and Media Summit

Ends