Transform lives and allow men and women to join hands
CELEBRATING International Women’s Day globally last week, we remembered those of our own continent who have been victims of conflict, domestic violence and war.
We especially remembered the Chibok girls who have not yet been reunited with their loved ones. This year Nigeria again experienced abduction of schoolgirls, from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College in Dapchi – a stark reminder that women continue to bear the brunt as victims of conflict.
As Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Africa Region, we echo our 2018 International Women’s Day theme: “The Time is Now: Rural and Urban Activists Transforming Women’s Lives”. We must transform our societies so we use dialogue and mediation, not guns and machetes, to deal with conflict.
We must transform lives so we show we value the life of each of our citizens.
We need to transform lives so men and women can join hands towards building a non-sexist society. We need to transform lives so rural women who have struggled for so many years to access land for production can become landowners in their own right. We need to transform women’s lives by ensuring that they can access economic opportunities.
International Women’s Day came just days before Commonwealth Day tomorrow, with its theme “Towards a Common Future”. For women, building a common future must find expression in what nations of the Commonwealth do to implement already agreed gender parity protocols and instruments.
We can build a common future where men and women enjoy full human rights. We can build a common future when our national budgets take women’s needs into consideration in allocating resources for service delivery. We build a common future where gender parity becomes the norm in political party structures and election lists.
So we urge women to stand as candidates in forthcoming elections in Commonwealth countries, such as Botswana, Nigeria, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland. We call on political parties and communities to give women opportunities to be their public representatives.
In celebrating International Women’s Day, we hopefully reflected on progress we have made towards a better and equal society. We are encouraged by the contributions women parliamentarians have made to laws and the composition of the legislatures, to government and to the judiciary. This must inspire us to continue to strive for a society in which women occupy their rightful and full place in the public and private sectors of our countries.