Does women’s increased representation in national and local decision making translate into the adoption of gender equality policies and greater socio-economic status for women? This report highlights findings and recommendations from research on women’s political participation and economic empowerment in Burundi, Rwanda, DRC and Uganda. Findings include a lack of enforcement of political quotas for women, entrenched political and social cultures that hinder gender equality, and women’s insufficient economic empowerment.
Women at the negotiating table in Burundi and DRC
In Burundi and DRC, women’s level of representation in the official peace processes was low. Nevertheless, Burundian and Congolese women managed to have provisions for women’s rights and gender equality included in the 2000 Arusha peace accord and the 2002 Global and All-inclusive Agreement for DRC. However, the wording of the principle of gender equality was kept very general, which partly explains the difficulties and/or slowness in implementing most of these provisions. In DRC, mechanisms for implementation and enforcement were not established.
Impact of political quotas in Burundi
For nearly five years, there has been a 30 percent women’s representation quota for Burundi’s political institutions. However, while the number of women in decision-making bodies at all levels increased, this did not necessarily lead to substantial and effective representation of women or to significant reduction in inequalities between men and women. The adoption of a quota system was not accompanied by a transformation of the political and institutional systems, which remain heavily masculine and hamper the promotion of gender equality. The combination of ethnic and regional quotas, adopted in 2005, tended to reinforce ethnic and regionally-based allegiances as well as ethnic and political isolationism, pushing politicians, including women, into partisan positions accordingly. Nonetheless, the increased representation of women in state institutions may be having gradual positive effects on social transformation in Burundi. It seems that women are progressively building up self-confidence, resulting in their increased access to speech within the public sphere, as well as higher social respect.
Decentralisation processes: the challenges of mainstreaming gender in Rwanda
The quota policy implemented by the Rwandan government led to greater representation of women in the decentralisation process. However, gender equality has not been properly integrated into the process and decentralisation has not enabled women to influence the policies defined at the local governance level. While the decentralisation process in Rwanda offers opportunities to achieve more equality, this is subject to the strengthening of the decision-making powers of decentralised bodies and local communities.
Women’s representation in electoral processes in DRC
In DRC, women were actively involved in the 2006 general elections, and made up the majority of voters. However, very few of them managed to get elected: 8 percent at the National Assembly and 8.6 percent in the Senate. The anti-democratic and conservative nature of political systems and social and religious institutions in DRC hinder the effective implementation of parity, despite it being entrenched in the constitution.
Economic power and political participation in Uganda
Poverty and lack of economic security are often regarded as some of the major barriers to women’s political participation. In northern Uganda, increased income has allowed many women to play a more central role in decision making within the household and to acquire greater mobility and influence in decision-making bodies in communities. However, women’s economic gains have not been sufficient to allow them to achieve economic security, and their participation in politics remains low. Further, women continue to be marginalised from the major development plans set up by the government and international development agencies at the end of the war. Women are still viewed as a vulnerable group instead of as economic agents, and little attention has been given to the high levels of sexual violence against women and the way in which unequal gender relations continue to affect the economic recovery.
The report also makes detailed recommendations for each of the four countries.
The research was conducted by International Alert, the Eastern Africa Sub-Regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women, Makerere University and leading women’s organisations in the four countries.
