Women’s role key in economic success, says EAC boss

EAST African Community (EAC) Secretary General Peter Mathuki on Monday acknowledged women's role in the regional economic success.

Dr. Mathuki, who was speaking during the opening session of an Annual Women's Conference organised by EAC Secretariat noted that women constitute more than 50 percent of the population of the EAC and therefore hold the key to the region's economic success.

According to Dr. Mathuki, noted that Article 5(e) of the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC stipulates gender mainstreaming in all its endeavours and enhancement of the role of women in cultural, social, political, economic, and technological development, whereas Articles 121 and 122 emphasise the role of women in socio-economic development and business.

"We need to include women as active participants in decision-making at both the national and regional levels. The purpose of this is to ensure that decisions are inclusive and reflect the desire of the entire population," said Dr. Mathuki.

The EAC boss informed the conference which was jointly organized with the Tengeru Institute of Community Development (TICD) as part of the 2022 International Women's Day celebrations that at the national level, the Constitutions of the respective partner states guarantee one-third majority for women in elective positions and this has considerably increased the number of women legislators in elective positions across the region.

According to Mathuki, partner states had also institutionalized Gender Equality with each having autonomous Ministries responsible for Gender with their respective policies, strategies, action plans, and gender focal persons to promote, coordinate, implement, and monitor gender equality and equity.

Dr. Mathuki also disclosed that Affirmative Action in regional politics has considerably increased female representation in National Parliaments, with Rwanda leading at 63.8 per cent in the Lower House and 38.5 per cent in the Senate or Upper House; Burundi at 36.4 per cent in the Lower House and 41.9 per cent in the Senate; Uganda at 35 per cent, Tanzania at 36 per cent, Kenya at 27 per cent and in South Sudan, women hold 28.5 per cent of seats in Parliament.

"I wish to say that women alone cannot achieve Gender Equality; it requires a strong commitment by all of us," he asserted. In his rejoinder, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups, Amon Manju appreciated the efforts taken by the Partner States to ensure equal rights for men and women in economic, social, and political affairs.

"As a country, Tanzania had registered many achievements, these include policies and initiatives aimed at supporting and promoting women's economic empowerment, women leadership, access to basic social services, as well as review of discriminatory legislation.. This demonstrates the Government's strong commitment towards furthering gender equality and women's empowerment," explained Dr. Manju.

The Deputy Permanent Secretary called upon partner states to ensure that women truly have equal opportunities to own land and property, to engage in decent work, and to promote better sharing of unpaid care work.

He said: "We need to overcome persistent challenges so that we finally attain 50/50 representation in leadership spaces, to intensify efforts to prevent violence against women and girls. International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day celebrated annually March 8, to recognize social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.

This year's theme is "Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow".