REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA SPEECH BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF GENDER HON. VICTORIA KALIMA, MP ON THE OCCASION OF THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE CAPACITY BUILDING CONFERENCE FOR ELECTED LEADERS IN THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 6 TH OCTOBER 2016 GOLDEN PEACOCK HOTEL, LUSAKA. 1
THE PERMANENT SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF GENDER; SENIOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS HERE PRESENT; THE BOARD CHAIRPERSON, ZAMBIA NATIONAL WOMEN S LOBBY; BOARD MEMBERS OF THE ZAMBIA NATIONAL WOMEN S LOBBY; REPRESENTATIVES OF THE DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (DFID), EUROPEAN UNION, THE BRITISH COUNCIL AND THE ZAMBIA ACCOUNTABILITY PROGRAMME; OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COOPERATING PARTNERS REPRESENTED; DISTINGUSHED MAYORS, COUNCIL CHAIRPERSONS AND COUNCILORS; MEMBERS OF THE PRESS; LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. 2
GOOD MORNING. I am delighted to be part of this very important conference which I am informed will endeavour to build the capacity of female civic leaders as they commence their duties to serve our communities. Allow me to first congratulate our female councilors, mayors and council chairpersons for being elected from amongst so many candidates that contested the 2016 elections. The opportunity to serve is a privilege which we should accept with humility. The journey was not easy especially for us women who had to just cross the adoption barrier, cultural perceptions of who a leader is, financial muscle to campaign with. As you commence your duties, it is important to take some time to reflect on what the initial objective was when you made the decision to contest for public office. Your drive to enter into the political realm is what will propel you to succeed and now in order for you to succeed, people have given you the ability and chance to participate in this country s governance processes. 3
As women, it is assumed that you excel especially in addressing the challenges and responding to the needs of the vulnerable people because we tend to be empathetic but also understand the issues of food security, water and means of survival because at one stage or another in or lives, we have faced the said issues. Hence I would want to believe that in terms of service delivery especially in councils with female mayors, we will see a change in the way councils deliver services to the people. Ladies, it is prudent that as civic leaders, you come up with strategies on how you are going to fulfil the expectations of the people, and this you need to do within the framework of the Patriotic Front governments vision which is embedded in the party manifesto and subsequently, government policies. As you are aware the PF Government led by His Excellency Mr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, the Republican President puts emphasis on increasing the number of women in government. Just this morning as he was swearing me in, he directed me to accelerate the reaching of gender pointy. 4
As a Ministry mandated to deal with gender mainstreaming, we feel elated that you availed yourselves and people voted for you, so we could have an increased number of women in politics. We are very much aware of the many challenges that you faced which are not just peculiar to Zambia, but they are at a global level. Where you find that women are under-represented despite being the majority voters and when elected are not given leadership potions despite the proven abilities that women have as leaders. When women are denied participation in the governance process by all the artificial barriers that are put up, they are inevitably denied the right to participate equally in governance. Ladies, Some of the obstacles women face in participation in political life include education, limited networking and lack of resources in order to be effective in their work. I would like to urge you as women leaders to, if need be, further your education, begin to establish networks even from here, establish groupings with each other, where you can mentor each other and morally support each other as you endeavour to fulfil your mandate. 5
It is a known fact globally that when women are in leadership and decision making positions, they bring quality to the developmental processes. Countries like Norway, Sweden and here at home in Africa, South Africa and Rwanda where there are more women in the political arena especially parliament, there s been marked difference in the development of these countries. Rwanda stands at 62% female representation in parliament and when you visit Rwanda, you would not believe that this was a country affected by genocide. As a government we are looking forward to marked differences in the service delivery to our people in the various municipalities where you are serving. The above is not just in tandem with the mission statement in the Beijing Platform for Action which states that Equality between women and men is a matter of human rights and a condition for social justice and is also a necessary and fundamental prerequisite for equality, development and peace. A transformed partnership based on equality between women and men is a condition for people-centred sustainable development, but also with the vision of His Excellency the President Mr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu who wants to see a transformed Zambia through strategic thinking leadership. His Excellency is very clear on the 6
need for women to fully participate in the governance process of the nation and this can be evidenced by the number of women appointed to key leadership positions in Cabinet and other Government Departments. The 2016 general elections have shown a substantial rise in the number of women who were successful in elections. There was a forty seven (47) percent rise at local government level and fifty three (53) percent rise at parliamentary level, in comparison to the 2011 general elections. This is a very encouraging trend and with you in the communities to mentor and encourage other women, these numbers can continue to rise steadily as years go by. The foregoing cannot be achieved if you do not carry the burden of transforming Zambia and thereby having sustainable development, which is dependent on the impact you will have on your communities, the changes and development that you will bring, the development that you will bring. This is your responsibility as civic leaders. 7
One of the attributes of women is our ability to make a difference in the approach to governance, women are known to be open, consultative, trustworthy and generally accountable to the people who put them in offices, in this case the electorate or the taxpayers or the general public. Ladies and Gentlemen, Allow me to turn to the Zambia National Womens Lobby. This organisation was established to respond to the persistent exclusion of women from decision making processes and the increasing gender imbalances in the representation of women in government departments, political parties, the public and private sectors and also to build capacity of women in positions of leadership like yourselves. Congratulations are in order for the work they have been doing over the years in trying to ensure that we have increased numbers of female parliamentarians and local government candidates. And in this particular case, where we have just come from elections, we take our hats off to the lobby for the tremendous work they did. 8
I implore you therefore, to learn as much as you can from the Women s Lobby and from each other during this two day workshop. The Government welcomes initiatives such as the one being done by the Women s Lobby aimed at empowering women to influence positive change in the communities. Furthermore, I would like to thank the co-operating partners for their support to programmes that are aimed at increasing the numbers of women in governance, especially in leadership positions. However I would like to appeal to them that they should not tire of investing in programmes of this nature. In conclusion, allow me to reiterate Government s commitment to enhancing gender equity and equality through the domestication of the regional and international instruments on Gender to which Zambia is party and establishing appropriate structures like the forthcoming Gender Equity and Equality Commission. I wish you all success during the conference and in your future endeavors. I THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION AND GOD BLESS YOU. 9