In a world's first, women MPs have outnumbered their male counterparts resulting from a Parliamentary Election. Rwanda, emerging barely 14 years from the dark episode of its 1994 Genocide, had already made huge strides for women in policy-making by making it mandatory for 30% of its Parliamentarians to be women, but in the latest election the nation far surpassed that quota, bringing in 45 women MPs -56.25% of the 80 seat Legislature. Rwanda is the first country anywhere in the world to achieve this milestone and demonstrates that nation's desire to bring women into the forefront of decision making as well as its high prioritization of women's issues. The country had before this election already made very progressive and novel steps to ensure that every sector of society was well represented by reserving special seats in Parliament for women, the youth and the disabled. This development should, however, earn Rwanda more global attention in a world that has all too often despised the leadership potential in women.
All the parties fielding candidates in Rwanda's September 16 - 18th election had at least one woman winning a seat with the coalition Rwanda Patriotic Front taking the lion's share of 42 seats.
http://www.unifem.org/news_events/story_detail.php?StoryID=736
http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:joP82iqgUJ8J:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_parliamentary_election,_2008+Rwanda+Elections+2008&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1
Thursday, 25 September 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Before we roll out hearty congratulations to the Rwandans, we should note that their Parliament has very little real power. This means that the ability of these women to "lead" is limited by the broader socio-political context.
There are almost no women in the cabinet, and the way the political power circulates is highly controlled and monitored by the RPF.
Thanks for the comment. In as much as it is true that numbers do not always add up to influence in Rwanda it is difficult not to appreciate the opportunities that the 56.25% women majority Parliament could bring; It will likely stir up other nations to encourage similar movements in their countries where a woman majority may be more quickly felt; It also provides a psychological boost for those fighting for women's rights around the world; and finally for Rwanda itself, with the international spotlight firmly on the country, President Kagame may feel obliged to give women real power and authority and I expect that the female majority in Parliament will do everything in their power to make their numbers really count and save their movement from the embarrassing scenario where they don't. I remain hopeful.
oh gosh, i wish i was more hopeful. thanks for sharing your perspective.
Post a Comment