The aim of this analysis is to determine the extent to which the policy documents of political parties in 33 countries in Africa include commitments to promoting gender equality and the equal participation and representation of men and women in political leadership, elective positions of power and decision making. With a specific focus on political parties as the institutions of analysis from a gender perspective, this book presents the findings of the analysis on gender equality and women’s political participation and representation, as well as the measures that are specified in the constitutions, manifestos and strategies of political parties.
The purpose was to ascertain what is written in the political parties’ policy documents in terms of their commitments on gender equality and women’s political empowerment. As a baseline study, the focus was limited to the actual text of the political parties’ documents and did not investigate the impact of the identified commitments. Prior to undertaking an impact analysis of the defined political parties’ commitments on gender equality, it is important to establish the nature of the gender equality commitments contained in the political parties’ policy documents, as these ordinarily inform parties’ gender responsiveness.
The 33 countries included in the analysis are characterized by multi-party political systems in which regular elections take place as provided for in the national constitution or relevant electoral laws. The examples in this publication highlight texts on gender issues which have been identified across 214 political parties.
The main finding from the text analysis is that the 214 parties’ constitutions and manifestos contain varying expressions of commitment to promote gender equality and women’s political participation and representation. Such commitments are found in 58 (27 per cent) of the political parties’ constitutions and in 124 (58 per cent) of the political parties’ manifestos. The remaining 90 (42 per cent) parties’ documents make no mention of principles or commitments on gender equality either in the party constitution or manifesto.
Although political parties’ constitutions and manifestos contain general texts on commitments to gender equality, these documents do not necessarily outline measures required for ensuring the transformation of the commitments into effective actions and outcomes. Only 45 (21 per cent) of the 214 political parties specify actual targets for remedying women’s under-representation in internal decision-making structures and leadership positions as well as positions of power and decision making at all levels.
As the scope of the analysis was limited to the texts of political parties’ documents, the proposed recommendations in this report emphasizes multi- dimensional and mutually reinforcing strategies premised on the need for transformative change from within political parties, as well as on sustained initiatives by government actors.
