The New Nation - Internet Edition

Professor Hajera Mahtab

Decision-making is often associated with the question of access. Do women have an appropriate and continued level of access to centres of influence and power? In judging a societies success in providing access to women, we could look at a number of factors. Quantitative representation-the number of women at each level, such as the municipal, authority or board levels. Women's voices being heard at all levels-this could be judged on the basis of the inclusion of women through the chain of decision-making from the grassroots to privileged positions within society. The accountability of those in privileged positions to women-the role of women in the process of all representatives- professional, political, educational; whether male or female-being accountable to women's concerns.

Under the international human rights framework, all rights are considered to be universal and indivisible. Rights have been categorised as civil, political, economic, social and cultural. Women's rights are to include all these components of rights categories. Focusing on the issue of women's access to decision-making, consideration should now be given to the extent to which women's access to decision-making has been enshrined in international human rights standards.

In key international human rights texts, it has been recognised that women's access to decision-making should include

Participation in political life

Full participation and integration

Participation in sustainable development

Participation in economic fields

Participation in public life

Participation of women

Atention will now be given to the methods and criteria to be used in assessing progress towards the above standards regarding women's access to decision-making. These will be categorised according to the three factors that have already identified

In order to engage positively with the challenge of promoting women's access to decision-making, initially NGOs themselves need to become gender-conscious. Their own personnel policies and practices need to be cognisant of equitable representation, especially at the managerial and po:;cy-making levels. They need to develop their own capacity in this regard, and be strengthened to access international human rights bodies where appropriate. Through networking and increased information exchange, NGOs can share good practice, innovative methods and ideas amongst each other, and be encouraged through the solidarity that can result

Traditionally women's of developing countries were absent from decision-making outside the family level. Most of the decisions made at the community level revolved around conflict resolution and other clan affairs, which were dealt with in all-male ad-hoc assemblies under the "justice tree". Women, although belonging .to their father's clan like men, were never represented in these assemblies. Their role was limited to private consultations their husbands made with them on the maters at hand. And even these consultations were kept at a low profile in order not to undermine the man's role of public decision-maker.

This total absence and exclusion of women from decision making in top leadership positions of their country has other negative consequences for them. Among these are

n lack of acquisition of the necessary experience for taking part in public decision making

n perpetuation of the negative atitudes regarding women's ability to lead and govern

n lack of role models of women leaders for young women and girls

n important decisions reached without women's view-point

n lack of interest in decision-making by most women as political positions have been stereotyped into male roles

In 1978, American Cyanamid, a paint company located in West Virginia, announced that in order "to protect the unborn children of working employees from any possible harm," women capable of bearing children could no longer work in company jobs that might expose them to lead and other chemicals potentially harmful to fatal life. One year later, four women interviewed by a newspaper, claimed that they had to be sterilized to keep their high-paying jobs at American Cyanamid. However, after the last national conference, which took place in Hargeisa in 1997 and where some women participated on their own initiative, things seem to have moved in the right direction with regard to women's chances of entering positions that influence public decision making. Drawing on this prevailing positive environment, and after a series of discussions between the Somaliland Women's

Research and Action Group (SOWRAG) and the International Cooperation for Development (ICD), the need to contribute towards promoting Somali women's decisionmaking in the critical post-conflict period was put forward as an area of action. This small study on assessing potential women leaders in the major towns of Somali land will therefore complement and contribute. to a broader programme of empowering women in decision-making, which is being undertaken by Negaad Women's Umbrella Organisation and SOWRAG.

The number of identified women leaders from the different towns are as follows: Hargeisa 20, Burao 14, Borame 9, Berbera 7, Erigavo 8 and Las Anod 7. Since Hargiesa has the most population compared to the other towns, we made a list of all the given names and then we drew a random sample of 20 women. The list was very long and it was not in the scope of the study to interview all the listed names. The data gathering took place during the month of March 2000. Four enumerators namely Khatra Jama Mohamed (Borame), Kiin Ali Farah (Hargeisa), Farduus Ismail Osman (Berbera, Buraoand Las Anod) And Hodan Barre Duale (Erigavo) under the guidance of the consultant filled the questionnaire. The in-depth interviews and the informal discussions were conducted by the consultant

According to the information collected by the international parliamentary Union on November 2004, there were only 14 countries (in ranking order Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Cuba, Spain, Costa Rica, Belgium, Argentina, Germany, South Africa, Iceland and Mozambique) who had reached the thirty percent mark of women respect or single house. Only four countries - Rwanda, Netherlands, Belgium and Argentina reached this critical mark in the upper house.

Finland, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Greece and Sweden have implemented quotas to increase the number of women on the board of directors of companies to 40% in the business sector. Women in Arab countries remain particularly under-represented in parliaments - the regional average for women's participation in lower houses is 8.2% - their participation has doubled in the last eight years, assisted in large pa'rt by the implementation of different types of quotas in countries such as Djibouti, Jordan, Iraq, Morocco and Tunisia.

In Bangladesh, bureaucracy comprises roughly 30 civil service cadres whose incumbents are recruited at the young age not exceeding 30 by the Public Service Commission through an open competitive examination and power is increasingly exercised by the upper ranks of the civil service. Thus decision-making authority and political power is shared by the ministers and bureaucrats, in the main and, to a lesser degree, by the members of the Parliament

Unfortunately, women in Bangladesh are practically outside all the three components of power and are by-standers to the national decision-making, policy formulation and execution.

Commit themselves to establishing the goal of gender balance in governmental bodies and commitees

Take measures, including, where appropriate, in electoral systems that encourage political parties to integrate women in elective and non-elective public positions in the same proportion and at the same levels as men

Protect and promote the equal rights of women and men to engage in political activities and to freedom of association, including membership in political parties and trade unions. Review the differential impact of electoral systems on the political representation of women in elected bodies and consider, where appropriate, the adjustment or reform of those systems

Monitor and evaluate progress in the representation of women through the regular collection, analysis and dissemination of quantitative and qualitative data on women and men at all levels in various decision-making positions

Measure taken by political parties, by governments, national bodies, the private sector, political parties, trade unions, employers' organisations, research and academic institutions, sub-regional and regional bodies and non-governmental and international organisations, by the United Nations, by women's organisations, social partners, producers, and industrial and professional organizations are also welcome to solve the problems.

Having reviewed some of the existing human rights standards, .it can be seen that the project of promoting women's access to decision-making is a vast one indeed. However, it has also been suggested that NGOs are often in a very favourable position to atempt to work on this challenge at its root and with due consideration to the context As one speaker has asserted, "Let us strive to make this twenty-first century the century which translates women's de jure equality with men in political participation and leadership into that where women and men equally enjoy these rights de facto." NGOs will continue to play a crucial role in this ongoing struggle, which will have a profound wider impact on governance, development, equality and peace.

Courtesy: REVIEW