Political empowerment of women in Namibia since Independence
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Date
2005
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Abstract
The study focused on Political Empowerment of Women in Namibia since Independence. Therefore, the study will focus on the national level, because that is where the necessary interventions can be initiated
At independence, the Namibian government was confronted with the task of redressing issues of inequality, not only amongst the different races within the country, but also in terms of gender. Namibian traditional cultures, as well as colonial history, neglected and oppressed women in many ways tothe point that until independence women were treated as minors. This state of affairs affected women's status in society. This study was conducted to determine whether this dismal state of affairs has changed since independence or not
The Republic of Namibia adopted a Gender Neutral Constitution. Article 10 of the Constitution of the Republic of Namibia states that" all persons shall be equal before the law and that no person shall be discriminated against on the grounds of sex." The Constitution therefore creates an enabling environment for attaining gender balance in the country
It is important that political parties should therefore take the lead in leveling the playing field for women, by making space for women to participate equally in politics and educate men to share equally in housework and the raising of the children. Nonetheless, political parties have made little effort to promote women as leaders within their own ranks and to nominate them as candidates for national election. Political parties tend to blame women for not coming forward as candidates, rather than analysing and removing the many barriers and constraints facing women who enter the male dominated sphere of politics
Despite that Namibian government is a signatory to various agreements the participation of women in the Namibian political arena is still dismal. This has happened when thereare women in leading political positions, and opportunities have been opening up in the light of equal opportunities for all and at a time when more women are being trained in various professions. The result of this situation is that women in Namibia seem to have neither the same, political support to rise up to leadership positions and nor being availed the new opportunities at the political decisionmaking level
This study used qualitative with slightly quantitative techniques of collecting data. The selection of respondents was arbitrarily done. In addition, semistructured interviews were conducted with the following: Sister Namibia, Legal Assistance Centre, political parties, and donor agencies,Parliamentarians and Ministry of Women Affairs and Child Welfare. The information was also collected through, among other sources, reviewing literature and reading annual reports, as well as and examining different types of official documents. This information was supplemented by qualitative information gathered through semistructured interviews
One of the objectives of this study was to determine whether or not there are procedures in place that promote women's political empowerment in Namibia and to determine factors that hinder women's political empowerment. Firstly, the study has found that changing laws and government policies alone neither guarantee the protection of women's rights nor remove gender discrimination from all sorts of levels of society. Women have the responsibility to get elected, because women still have to do everything in their power to continue uplifting and emancipating Namibian women, and this can be better achieved if they enjoy people's confidence
The statistical analysis of the current status of women in elected and appointed decision making bodies are still small minority,will be possible for women to come out of their significant invisibility in the decision making structures of all bodies in Namibia
Description
Theses submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Public Administration
Keywords
Women, Gender equality, Politics