INTRA-PARTY DEMOCRACY AND THE INCLUSION OF WOMEN

Transcription

1 VOLUME 2 NO 1 49 INTRA-PARTY DEMOCRACY AND THE INCLUSION OF WOMEN By Bookie Monic Kethusegile-Juru Bookie Monic Kethusegile-Juru is Technicl Advisor (Gender) to the SADC Secretrit, Privte Bg 0095 Gborone, Botswn Tel: ; Fx: ; e-mil: bkethusegile@sdc.int INTRODUCTION The inclusion of women in decision-mking is fundmentl humn right nd n issue of socil justice. There cn be no democrcy where decisions bout chnging the lives of people re tken without the prticiption of more thn hlf of the very lives tht hve to be chnged. It cnnot be prticiptory democrcy when decisions re tken by some on behlf of others (Mtintso 1997). Further, it hs been rgued tht the prticiption of women in ledership positions hs brought bout nother perspective nd resulted in incresed focus, ttention nd lloction of resources to life qulity issues such s helth nd eduction. The prticiption of women hs been credited with bringing bout qulittive trnsformtion of institutions, lws nd policies (Molokomme 2001). As Zofi Kurtowsk, Deputy Speker of the Polish Sente, noted nobody with common sense cn doubt tht the prticiption of women in the politicl decision-mking process should be comprble to [tht of] men. With tht s bckground, this pper explores the extent to which intr-prty democrcy llows for the inclusion of women in electorl politics (Molokomme 2001b). There is no doubt bout the politicl commitment of SADC member sttes t regionl level to the ttinment of gender prity in politics nd decision-mking, nd indeed in ll other spheres of life. In the light of this expressed commitment, I explore the performnce or prctice of SADC member sttes in the representtion of women in politicl decision-mking positions nd the trends tht hve emerged in methods of fcilitting the entry of criticl mss of women into politicl ledership. Finlly, I reflect on the lessons tht the DRC cn lern from these experiences nd their implictions for future in which gender prity will become the norm in SADC politicl systems. THE COMMITMENT The commitment of SADC member sttes to gender prity in politics nd decisionmking hs been mde t the highest levels. 49

2 50 JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS Regionlly, the Declrtion on Gender nd Development, signed by SADC heds of stte or government in September 1997, commits SADC countries to: ensuring the equl representtion of women nd men in the decisionmking of member sttes nd SADC structures t ll levels, nd the chievement of t lest thirty per cent trget of women in politicl nd decision-mking structures by the yer The Pln of Action for Gender in SADC tht ws pproved by the Council of Ministers in September 1998 identifies the chievement of this trget s one of its six objectives. In order to chieve the trget, Regionl Progrmme of Action on Women in Politics nd Decision-mking ws dopted by SADC Gender Ministers in June 1999, nd is now being implemented (SADC Gender Unit 1999). On receiving progress report on the implementtion of the Declrtion, SADC heds of stte or government t their summit in Mputo in August 1999 further committed themselves to dopting specil mesures, such s constitutionl nd/ or legislted quots nd nomintions of women, to ensure the ttinment of greed trgets. THE ROLES OF WOMEN AND MEN IN POLITICS AND DECISION-MAKING IN SADC The following sttistics, showing the numbers of women in SADC prliments nd Cbinets, demonstrte how SADC countries re performing ginst expressed commitments. The sitution is summrised in Tbles 1 to 3 nd in figures 1 to 3. Figure 1 Percentge of Women in Prliment 1999 nd % 30% 25% % 15% 10% 5% 0% Angol Botswn Lesotho Mlwi Muritius Mozmbique Nmibi South Afric Seychelles Swzilnd Tnzni Zmbi Zimbbwe Source: SADC Secretrit

3 VOLUME 2 NO 1 51 Tble 1 Women In Prliment And Cbinets In The SADC Region (Sept/Oct 2002 Summit) COUNTRY ELECTORAL WOMEN % WOMEN WOMEN % WOMEN WOMEN % SYSTEM /PARL PARL CABINET CABINET DEPUTY WOMEN MIN DEP MIN ANGOLA PR 36/ / / BOTSWANA CONST 8/ / /6 33 DRC LESOTHO * CONST 12/ / / MALAWI CONST 17/ / / MAURITIUS CONST 4/ / MOZAMBIQUE PR 78/ / /25 20 NAMIBIA* PR-NAT 19/ / / C/REG PR/LOCAL SOUTH AFRICA* PR-NAT 120/ / / PR AND C/LOCAL SEYCHELLES CONST 8/ /11 27 NO SUCH POSTS SWAZILAND CONST 7/ / TANZANIA CONST 62/ / / ZAMBIA CONST 19/ / /35 9 ZIMBABWE CONST 156/ / /12 8.3

4 JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS 52 Figure 2 Percentge of Women in Cbinet 2001 nd 2002 (Excludes Deputy nd Assistnt Ministers) 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% bw e bi b m z Zi m Z Sw T n z il ni nd s he fri Se yc ha ut So M lle c i ib e m qu bi oz m N s iu rit u M l w i o M so th Le n ts w Bo An go l 0% Source: SADC Secretrit Figure 3 Percentge of Women in Prliment nd Cbinet % 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% bw e Zi m b bi m Z ni T nz z il nd lle s Sw he fri c Se yc ib i ut ha So m N An go l Bo ts w n Le so th o M l w i M u rit iu M s oz m bi qu e 0% Prliment Cbinet Source: SADC Secretrit

5 VOLUME 2 NO 1 53 Tble 2 Anlysis of Representtion of women in SADC Prliments COUNTRY ELECTORAL NEXT WOMEN/MEN 2005 ADDITIONAL SYSTEM GENERAL IN TARGET NO OF WOMEN ELECTION PARLIAMENT REQUIRED ANGOLA PR Not Known 36/220 (16.4%) BOTSWANA CONST /44 (18.0%) 13 5 LESOTHO CONST /120 (10%) MALAWI CONST /193 (8.8%) MAURITIUS CONST /70 (5.7%) MOZAMBIQUE PR /250 (31.2%) 75-3 NAMIBIA Pr-nt/ / 99 (19%) C/Reg PR/locl S. AFRICA PR/Nt /400 (29.8%) PR nd C/locl SEYCHELLES CONST /34 (23.5%) 10 2 SWAZILAND CONST /95 (7.3%) TANZANIA CONST /275 (22.5%) ZAMBIA CONST /154 (12.3%) ZIMBABWE CONST /150 (10.7%) Source: SADC Secretrit The figures s t Februry 2001 revel the following generl trends: Prliment The verge percentge of women in prliments in the region (excluding the DRC, for which figures were not vilble) is bout 17 per cent. South Afric leds the region, with the highest number of women in Prliment (31.3%), followed by Mozmbique (31.2%). Both countries hve pssed the 30 percent minimum trget. Seychelles hs reched 24 per cent nd Tnzni 22.5 per cent. Eight SADC countries hve 15 per cent or higher representtion tht is, more thn hlf the desirble figure. In ddition to those cited bove, they re Botswn (18%); Nmibi (18%),Angol (15.1%) nd Zmbi (15%). Muritius, t 5.9 per cent, is furthest from reching the trget; followed by Mlwi (8.3%); Swzilnd (9.47%), Zimbbwe nd Lesotho (10%). Representtion of women in Zimbbwe nd Muritius dropped fter their elections in 2000.

6 54 JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS Tble 3 Anlysis of Representtion of women in SADC Cbinets COUNTRY ELECTORAL NEXT WOMEN/MEN 2005 ADDITIONAL SYSTEM GENERAL IN TARGET NO OF WOMEN ELECTION PARLIAMENT REQUIRED ANGOLA PR Not Known 4/27 (14.8%) 8 4 BOTSWANA CONST /15 (26.7%) 5 1 LESOTHO CONST /21 (28.5%) 7 1 MALAWI CONST /33 (9.0%) 10 6 MAURITIUS CONST /25 (4.0%) 8 7 MOZAMBIQUE PR /23 (13%) 7 4 NAMIBIA Pr-nt/ /21 (14.2%) 6 3 C/Reg PR/locl S. AFRICA PR/Nt /27 (29.6%) 8 0 PR nd C/ locl SEYCHELLES CONST /11 (27%) 4 1 SWAZILAND CONST /17 (11.8%) 5 3 TANZANIA CONST /27 (15.0%) 8 4 ZAMBIA CONST /20 (15%) 6 3 ZIMBABWE CONST /28 (14.3%) 8 4 Source: SADC Secretrit Cbinet The verge percentge of women in Cbinets in the region (excluding the DRC, for which no figures were vilble) is 17.4 per cent. This figure does not include deputy nd ssistnt ministers. Agin, South Afric, with 33.3 per cent, hs exceeded the 30 per cent minimum trget, followed by Lesotho (28.5%), Botswn (27%) nd Seychelles (23 per cent). In South Afric 57.1 per cent of deputy ministers re women, in Botswn 33 per cent, in Tnzni 29 per cent nd in Mozmbique 27.7%. Tnzni (15% ministers nd 29% deputy ministers) nd Zimbbwe (16%) re just over the hlfwy mrk while Angol, Mozmbique, Nmibi nd Swzilnd, re close to it. Swzilnd (11.7%), Mlwi (9%) nd Muritius(4%) hve the lowest representtion of women in the Cbinet. In the seven countries for which dt were vilble, n verge of 26.9 per cent of deputy ministers were women, suggesting tht women re generlly better represented t tht level.

7 VOLUME 2 NO 1 55 Some Comprisons nd Recent Trends At 17 per cent, the proportion of women in prliment in SADC is considerbly higher thn the sub-shrn Afric verge of 9 per cent, the Africn verge of 11 per cent nd the globl verge of 13.4 per cent. The proportion is lso higher thn tht for Europe (excluding the Nordic countries) nd the Americs, where the figure is 15 per cent. Of the ten countries in the world with the highest representtion of women in prliment, three of them South Afric, Mozmbique nd Seychelle re in Southern Afric (Lowe Morn 2000). Of the eight SADC countries tht hve held elections since 1999 the representtion of women hs only dropped in Muritius (from 7.6% to 5.9%) nd Zimbbwe (from 14% to 10%). In the cse of Botswn, the figure doubled from 9 to 18 per cent. There hs been positive tendency in the region in these yers for women to be ppointed to ministeril portfolios tht hve trditionlly been considered the domin of men. Although these figures should mke the SADC region proud of its chievements, the reltively fvourble verges should be judged ginst the performnce of individul countries nd the sustinbility of the gins mde. The figures in more thn hlf the SADC member sttes re still under 15 per cent fr below the projected 30 per cent trget. Moreover, those countries tht re doing well in one re, such s prliment, re not necessrily performing s well with respect to Cbinet nd other levels of decision-mking, such s locl government nd senior public service positions. In Mozmbique, for instnce, fewer thn 15 per cent of Cbinet ministers re women, despite the fct tht it hs the second highest number of femle prlimentrins nd, in Nmibi, which is low on the list of women prlimentry representtives nd Cbinet ministers, n impressive 43 per cent of those in locl government re women. A notble exception is Seychelles, which, in ddition to stisfctory percentges in prliment nd the Cbinet hs record 60 per cent of women in locl government. These trends nturlly rise the question of wht the countries tht re performing well with respect to women s representtion in politicl positions hve done to ttin these impressive figures. To wht extent hve intr-prty democrcy nd vrious election systems fcilitted or hindered the inclusion nd mximum prticiption of ll socil groups, especilly mrginlised groups such s women? Wht mesures re necessry to ensure tht the gins re not reversed? THE ROLE OF ELECTORAL SYSTEMS Although in-depth reserch hs not been conducted in ll countries, vilble evidence both from within SADC nd from outside suggests tht the choice of

8 56 JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS electorl system cn contribute gretly to the chievement of gender equlity in politics. This pplies to electorl systems t vrious levels the overll system t ntionl, provincil, nd regionl level, s well s the procedures nd systems within prties, such s primry elections. The ltter re often ignored, but they certinly hve mjor impct on the representtion of women in politicl ledership. Intr-Prty Electorl Systems nd Procedures The process of selecting cndidtes within politicl prties is just s importnt perhps even more importnt to inclusivity thn the type of electorl system t ntionl level (Molokomme 1999). Politicl prties hve their own internl procedures for selecting those who will stnd for them, nd someone who seeks politicl office nd does not survive the selection process t the prty level cnnot stnd s tht prty s cndidte. It is therefore importnt tht selection procedures within prties be inclusive, trnsprent nd democrtic. Before the 1994 democrtic elections in South Afric women constituted 2.7 per cent of Members of Prliment. Becuse the ANC provides for 30 per cent quot for women 27 per cent of Ntionl Assembly sets in the 1994 elections went to women. The decisive role of the ANC quot, together with the proportionl representtion system, directly incresed the representtion of women (Mtintso 1999). In the 1999 elections women s representtion further improved to rech the present figure of close to 30 per cent. The ppointment of eight women ministers nd eight deputy ministers improved the position of women in the Cbinet. Similrly, mjor victory for feminists in Norwy ws the cceptnce of gender quots controversil move. Quots were initilly ccepted within the Lbour Prty nd were lter introduced by the centre prties. The Lbour Prty then introduced gender quots in government. Thus in 1996, 40 per cent of the MPs in Norwy were women, 45 per cent in the executive of government, 33 per cent in the councils of locl municiplities nd 40 per cent in regionl councils. As with the proportionl representtion system of the ANC, in Norwy list of cndidtes nominted by ech prty runs for severl sets in every constituency. This system mkes it fr esier for women to be nominted nd elected. It lso provides n opportunity for broder recruitment nd prticiption of women in prty ledership positions. It is rule in Norwy tht every second nme on the list of cndidtes should be tht of womn (Hilde Frfjord Johnson 1996). In the SADC region, the fct tht there re 31.2 per cent women in the Prliment of Mozmbique is lrgely due to Frelimo s deliberte policy of including women. Out of totl of 129 Members of Prliment, Frelimo hs 37.7 per cent, Renmo 13.4 per cent nd UD 11.1 per cent. In Nmibi the representtion of women incresed significntly when the ffirmtive ction lw ws pplied in the first two locl government elections. Now 43 per cent of locl government sets re held by women. The ffirmtive ction lw ws not pplied in reltion to regionl decision-mking positions or to

9 VOLUME 2 NO 1 57 prlimentry elections so women only occupy 3 per cent of regionl positions nd 19 per cent of prlimentry sets (Eunice Iipinge 1997). Unfortuntely, in most cses procedures re, t best, gender blind, nd t worst not sufficiently trnsprent nd democrtic. Generlly, they hve not been conducive to the election of women nd, in some cses, they hve contributed to the mrginlistion of women cndidtes within prties. The option of going independent is the only other route, but this hs not proved fesible. It ppers tht the most common method of selecting internl prty cndidtes, especilly in constituency-bsed systems, is through primry elections, of which there re t lest two forms direct nd indirect. In the direct system ll members of politicl prty who qulify cn vote for the cndidte of their choice in the primry election. In the indirect system, which is more common, voters select smller number of representtives to vote on their behlf in the primries. An exmple of this is the electorl college system. The ltter system hs been criticised on the bsis tht it is more susceptible to mnipultion, especilly by welthy nd influentil members of the prty. It is often rgued tht it is esier to buy the votes of or influence the few people in the electorl college thn to do so in the cse of body of voters. In mny cses where this system hs been used it hs tended to return the sme powerful cndidtes or groups of people to power (See Somoleke 1998). In view of the gender imblnces within prties nd society generlly, this system is not conducive to the election of mrginlised groups such s women. In fct, in the cse of Botswn, women politicins hve identified the electorl college system s one of the stumbling blocks to their stnding for office. Direct elections re more likely to benefit women cndidtes becuse they tend to do most of the orgnising, fundrising nd cmpigning for their prties t the grssroots level, nd re better known nd pprecited by their own constituents t this level. TYPES OF ELECTORAL SYSTEM Proportionl Representtion (PR) versus Constituency-Bsed Systems Writing on the sitution in the Commonwelth, Lowe Morn (1996) observes tht there is overwhelming evidence to suggest tht women stnd better chnce of being elected under the PR system thn under constituency-bsed system. The reson for this, she rgues, is becuse in the former cse cndidtes focus on the prty nd its policies, rther thn on prticulr individul. This works in fvour of women t lest in getting their foot in the door becuse of the in-built prejudices ginst women. The experience of SADC countries supports the observtion globlly tht the proportionl representtion nd list system is more conducive to the representtion of women thn the constituency bsed system. The cse of Norwy is n exmple of this.

10 58 JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS Of the thirteen SADC countries represented in Tble 1, six hve constituencybsed electorl systems. Four of these Mozmbique, Nmibi, South Afric nd Angol hve proportionl representtion systems, except t the locl level in South Afric (in which there is combintion of the PR nd constituency-bsed systems) nd t the regionl level in Nmibi (where elections re constituency bsed). Seychelles hs mixed PR nd constituency-bsed system. Tnzni hs constituency-bsed system with 20 per cent of sets reserved by the Constitution for women nd contested on PR bsis. In other words, two of the three countries in SADC with the highest representtion of women in prliment (South Afric nd Mozmbique) hve proportionl representtion systems. The third top performer, Seychelles, hs mixed system. This shows definite correltion between the use of PR, either in full or in prt, nd incresed representtion of women in politicl ledership positions. Writing on the 1994 elections in South Afric, Mtintso (1999) observes tht: The 1994 ntionl nd provincil elections were run wholly on proportionl representtion bsis. The dvntge of the proportionl representtion system for women is illustrted by the contrst between the ntionl/provincil nd locl government elections. In the sets contested on the bsis of proportionl representtion, women won 27.9 per cent of the sets. In the wrd or constituency bsed sets, women won only per cent of the sets. This gve n overll verge of 19 per cent of the sets in locl government being won by women. Quots nd Specil Mesures The PR system on its own is not n bsolute gurntee of incresed representtion of women. According to Lowe Morn (2000), the chnce of women getting elected is even higher when the PR system is combined with legislted or prty-bsed quot. As is shown in the following (edited) extrct from her pper, there re four possible combintions of quots nd electorl systems. The Voluntry Prty Quot, combined with the Proportionl Representtion (PR) System Exmples of this re found in South Afric nd Mozmbique, nd it is no coincidence tht these re the two countries in SADC with the highest representtion of women in prliment. The two ruling prties, the ANC nd Frelimo, hve voluntrily dopted 30 per cent quots. Becuse they re the mjority prties, this system hs ensured levels of representtion by women of close to thirty per cent. The disdvntge of this system is tht it is relint on the ruling prties winning

11 VOLUME 2 NO 1 59 substntil mjorities. In other words, unless every prty contesting n election hs 30 per cent quot, there is no gurntee tht the criticl mss of 30 per cent will be chieved. The Legislted Quot, Combined with the Proportionl Representtion System An exmple of this is the locl government elections in Nmibi. Becuse the quot ws legislted, s opposed to being voluntrily dopted by one or other prty, the 30 per cent representtion of women ws gurnteed. However, becuse some prties fielded more thn the sttutory minimum, the overll outcome ws 41 per cent. This suggests tht the legislted quot nd PR system is the most powerful combintion for chieving gender prity in politics the ultimte objective. The Legislted or Constitutionl Quot in the Constituency-bsed System The exmple of this in Southern Afric is in Tnzni, whose Constitution stipultes tht t lest 20 per cent of the 283 members of prliment must be women. In other words, 47 sets re reserved for women. With the eight sets tht women contested directly nd won, this hs given women in Tnzni n overll representtion of 16.4 per cent in prliment. Clerly, the quot hs boosted the level of representtion by women in Tnzni. The Voluntry Prty Quot Combined with the Constituency-bsed System An exmple of this is tht of the Lbour Prty in the United Kingdom, which, through its commitment to fielding women cndidtes, mnged to increse substntilly the representtion of women. On the other hnd, in Botswn, which hs constituency system, two opposition prties (the Botswn Congress Prty nd Botswn Ntionl Front) hd thirty per cent quots for women for the 1999 elections. However, the prties did not ctively ensure tht their quots were met they did not review their procedures to enhnce ccess by women, nor did they hed hunt or encourge women to stnd for the primry elections. As result, the prties fielded very few women in the ntionl prlimentry elections. By contrst, the ruling Botswn Democrtic Prty (which does not hve quot for women, but yielded to pressure from women in the prty nd from women s orgnistions) fielded more women, mny of whom were elected nd re now in prliment nd the Cbinet. This exmple shows tht while quots re indeed useful, it is vitl tht politicl prties ct to ensure tht their structures nd culture enble nd encourge women to stnd for elected office. In ddition to quots, the electorl systems of mny countries (Zimbbwe, Botswn nd Swzilnd re exmples) llow the hed of stte to mke some ppointments to prliment. Indeed, of the eight women in the Swzi prliment, only two were elected. The King ppointed the other six. Similrly in Botswn,

12 60 JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS two of the eight women in Prliment re specilly nominted prctice tht hs been in plce for some time. CONCLUSION Internl politicl prty electorl systems nd procedures, especilly for primry elections, cn ply mjor role in promoting the election of women to positions of power. Relted to this is the importnce of demonstrted commitment nd ction on the prt of politicl prties to implementing greed mesures such s quots. This requires fundmentl trnsformtion of prty structures, rules nd institutionl cultures to mke them more encourging to women cndidtes. Such culture must be internlised by prty members, who should feel sense of ownership of the process rther thn see it in nrrow terms s the gend nd responsibility of the women members of the prty. A democrtic prty is one which believes in nd opertes on principles of socil justice, gender equlity nd equity; embrces the principle tht women s rights re humn rights; llows women nd men to hve equl rights nd exercise their politicl nd civic rights nd provides structures to enble both women nd men to stnd for elections. It should lso nominte cndidtes on merit nd empower women members to prticipte effectively in the minstrem ctivities of the prty, without fer of intimidtion. Democrtic processes nd procedures within prty should bridge the gps between the vrious groups so tht ll, regrdless of sex, clss or rce, re ble to prticipte effectively nd efficiently in prty ctivities nd progrmmes. In democrtic institution ny member cn stnd for election for ny decisionmking position t ny level, nd ll cn exercise their right to vote. Intr-prty democrcy nd inclusivity needs to be sustinble, nd this requires politicl prty to hve in plce structures nd systems tht will ensure tht ll groups re ctered for t ll times. Resources need to be invested to ensure tht the systems nd processes re sustined. There is no doubt tht the choice of electorl system hs direct impct on ccess by women to elected positions. Avilble evidence from SADC countries shows tht the PR system is more likely thn the constituency-bsed system to deliver more women cndidtes. This conclusion hs wider implictions, in view of the ongoing debtes in some SADC countries bout chnging from the PR system to mixed system. It is importnt tht the impct of such chnge on women s representtion be tken into ccount fully in these debtes. In countries such s South Afric, which hs the highest number of women in Prliment of the SADC countries, chnges in the electorl system for the 2004 elections could erode the gins lredy mde, nd retrd the chievement of the 30 per cent trget by It is lso cler tht the PR system on its own is not sufficient gurntee of criticl mss of women in elected positions it needs to be supplemented by quot system, preferbly one tht is either constitutionl or legislted, if it is to

13 VOLUME 2 NO 1 61 chieve the desired result. While voluntry, prty-bsed systems hve worked in countries like South Afric, Mozmbique nd Nmibi (t locl government level), they re dependent upon the relevnt prties winning lrge mjorities. This justifies the cll for explicit constitutionl nd legisltive provisions for gender equlity in SADC countries. In ddition, legisltive provisions for mndtory quots my be required s temporry mesure until gender prity is chieved. There is no doubt tht while the choice of electorl system plys mjor role in the prticiption of mrginlised groups such s women in elected offices, other vribles re lso t ply, which hve not been rised in this short pper. Gender bises nd stereotypes tht do not encourge women to enter politics remin pervsive t ll levels of society in SADC member sttes, nd governments nd politicl prties should ply leding role in socil engineering. It is therefore the responsibility of ll stkeholders in civil society, s well s reserchers, independent electorl commissioners nd cdemics, to consistently rise the issue of gender equlity in ledership politics s prt of their discourse on good governnce nd humn rights. REFÉRENCES Frfjord Johnson, H In Women in Decision-Mking: Empowerment for Action. AWEPA. Iipinge, E. et l. Forthcoming. The Sttus of Women in Politics nd Decision-mking in Nmibi, Report commissioned by the SADC Secretrit. Lowe Morn, C Strtegies for Incresing Women s Prticiption in Politics. Pper presented to the Fifth Meeting of Commonwelth Ministers Responsible for Women s Affirs Women s Politicl Prticiption in SADC. Pper presented t the Interntionl IDEA Conference: Towrds Sustinble Democrtic Institutions in Southern Afric. Gborone, Botswn, My. Molokomme, A Gender Equlity in SADC: A Democrtic Impertive. Pper Presented to the SADC-EU Conference on Strengthening nd Consolidting Democrcy in SADC Through the Electorl Process. Gborone, Botswn Gender nd Democrcy in SADC: A Regionl Cse Study. Pper presented to the Commonwelth Workshop on Gender nd Democrcy. Windhoek, Nmibi, 9-11 Februry b. Obligtions nd Timelines Under the 1997 SADC Declrtion on Gender nd Development nd the 1999 Progrmme of Action on Women in Politics nd Decision-mking. Pper presented to the seminr on Prlimentry Action on the Beijing Plus Five Review Process, Gborone, April Representtion of Women nd Men in Politics nd Decision-mking Positions in SADC.

14 62 JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS. 2001b. Building Inclusiveness in SADC s Democrtic Systems: The Cse of Women s Representtion in Ledership Positions. Report of the SADC Elections Forum. Johnnesburg: EISA Mtintso, T Into the Future: Gender nd SADC. Keynote Address Women in Politics nd Decision-mking: A Conceptul Frmework. Pper presented t the Conference on Women in Politics nd Decisionmking, Gborone, Mrch b. A Voluntry Prty-Bsed Quot in List System. Pper presented t the Conference on Women in Politics nd Decision-mking, Gborone, Mrch SADC, FEF, UNDP nd Botswn Cucus for Women in Politics Beyond 30 per cent in 2005: Women in Politics nd Decision-mking in SADC. Report of conference held in Gborone, Botswn, 28 Mrch to 1 April. SADC Gender Unit Regionl Progrmme of Action for Women in Politics nd Decision-Mking in SADC: Beyond 30% in Somoleke, G The Vrious Systems of Prty Primry Elections in Botswn. Pper presented to the Ntionl Conference on Women Prepring to Stnd for the Primries in Botswn, Emng Bsdi, Gborone.