Regional caucus laments slow progress towards gender quality

Regional Women’s Parliamentary Caucus of the Parliamentary Forum has said although some strides have been made towards gender equality and women empowerment in the region, many challenges remain and progress is slow.

CHAIRPERSON of the RWPC Ms Regina Esparon of Seychelles, said this when she addressed the 54th Plenary Assembly Session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum when it got underway in Port Louis in Mauritius under the theme “The Role of Parliaments in Promoting Coordination for Enhanced Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery Planning in the SADC Region”.

Much needs to be done, she said, in many spheres, including education, employment, finance, business and politics to achieve gender equality.

“Investing in educating and training girls has clear and concrete social and economic benefits,” she said. She added that various policy interventions must be put in place to tackle gender imbalances.

“We must improve conditions for young women to engage in all spheres of economic activity while we also tackle violence against women and girls, child care options, legal and financial norms.” Ms Esparon stressed the need to deal with traditional perceptions on the role of women in societies across the SADC region. She said the theme of the plenary was appropriate given that Southern Africa is among the most vulnerable regions in the world to frequent and catastrophic disasters.

“It is encouraging to note that SADC adopted the Gender-Responsive Disaster Risk

Reduction Strategic Plan and Plan of Action (2020-2030). In so doing, SADC recognised that the severity of the impacts of extreme and non-extreme weather and climate events depend to a large extent, on the exposure to these events and the levels of vulnerability,” Ms Esparon said.

She rallied for regional efforts to improve capacity for gender-responsive risk reduction, as these are of critical importance.

Further, she noted that the SADC Gender-Responsive Disaster Risk Reduction Strategic Plan and Plan of Action is a critical statement that must be kept in the forefront of deliberations.

“It recognises that a regional approach is justifiable because disasters do not necessarily respect territorial boundaries,” she said, adding that action at national level was also key.

“We must galvanise our efforts to collect information about these disasters and disseminate it among multiple stakeholders and strengthen coordination mechanisms between institutional and legislative frameworks.”

Several countries in SADC have already subscribed to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030), which aims to provide a new perspective to disaster management.

While Disaster Risk Reduction and Preparedness Plans (DRRPPs) are implemented by the Executive, parliaments are considered as vital agents of socio-economic change to enact legislation, exercise oversight and represent communities on disaster risk management strategies.

According to the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), “every dollar spent in reducing risks can save 15 in post-disaster recovery costs”.

“Every dollar invested in making infrastructure disaster-resilient saves four that would otherwise have to be spent rebuilding,” says the UNDRR.

Accordingly, parliaments are at a vantage point with regards to monitoring measures for Disaster Risk Reduction, especially since the various constitutional functions of the legislator empower them to hold Governments to account on progress made regarding investments in DRRPP.