Women should vote for each other - acting DPM
EZULWINI – “Please stand for elections, when they nominate you, I will be watching if women decline nomination.”
The above sentiments were shared by the Acting Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Pholile Shakantu, during the commemoration of the International Women’s Day, at the Happy Valley Hotel on Wednesday.
This year theme was: ‘DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’.
With this year being an election year, Shakantu encouraged women to vote for each other. She said; “I want to encourage women to take up their place in politics.”
According to Shakantu, women were nominated and for some reason, a number of them declined the nomination.
She said the commemoration of the International Women’s Day was meant for women and men to encourage each other to open the way for women to participate in all sectors of society. Shakantu said Their Majesties encouraged women to participate in politics. She said this was not only giving women a chance but also for women to stand up and be willing to take up office.
Capable
According to Shakantu, this attitude was encouraged because women were capable of becoming Members of Parliament (MPs), indvuna yenkhundla and bucopho.
“This is just not about attaching a title but it is important for women to understand that sacrifice was needed sometimes rather than having an 8am to 5pm job.”
The acting DPM said if more women occupied key decision making positions, their voices could be amplified. Shakantu said if women voted only males into Parliament, such would give rise to ridiculous laws. Likewise, she said if there were only two women voted to Parliament, against 57 other male MPs, the voices of the women would become a minority.
Following this year’s theme; “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality,” Shakantu stated that there was need to figure out how to best use innovation and technology to improve gender parity in all the key development areas.
This, she said was not just to give women a seat around the table and to improve global ranking, but the purpose should be to truly empower women to participate meaningfully in all key sectors and to have a voice in decision making.
“Diversity in the private sector, public sector, business and politics is important because it boosts the quality of decision making,” she said.
The acting DPM added that evidence was clear on the economic and developmental gains of all countries who had invested in the inclusion of women in all the integral spheres of development. She said digital technologies had created new spaces for interaction and enabled new ways to connect, share experiences, work and build communities.
Growth
These technologies, she said, continued to be influential and had the potential of enhancing growth, addressing the inequalities and expanding opportunities for the realisation of women’s rights globally.
Furthermore, Shakantu said, access to the internet and digital devices had become central to the empowerment of women and girls and in enabling them to realise and enjoy their rights.