Women should take the lead in the Electoral Process

By Sheila Muwanga

Deputy Director Programmes

A woman in Dokolo checking for details in the voters's register recently.

In the late 1990s, the United Nations (UN) defined its third Millennium Development Goal as the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. As the UN set a number of specific and quantifiable objectives to meet such goals by the end of the past decade, stakeholders have argued that with respect to political participation of women, such objectives have so far only been met in part.

But there are still reasons to be optimistic. The proportion of seats held by women in single or lower houses of National Parliaments has risen in Northern Africa from 3% in 2000 to 12% in 2011, making such progress the most significant worldwide. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the proportion of seats went up from 13% in 2000 to 20% in 2011(MDG 2011Report). Noting that women are currently holding less than 20% of the seats in Parliaments worldwide, the African continent does not fare too badly, especially considering that Africa has seen the fastest rate of growth in female representation in Parliament than any other region of the world.

In Uganda, women participation in leadership is undoubtedly on the rise, currently estimated at 35%. This is beyond the global and Sub Saharan range. If this was one of the key objectives of promoting women emancipation back then in the early 1990s, then we are on the right track.

Taking the emancipation debate to another level now, we need to take a look at the role of women in elections and question the effectiveness of existing platforms for female voters and candidates to express their views, share ideas and raise their political profile.

Women need to be at the fore front of decision making starting at family level to national level. Women are the final consumers of social services. The burden falls on their backs to ensure sustained livelihood for their families because soon after elections, they are back to prioritizing the day to day operations of their homes. Unfortunately, the silence of women in the electoral process particularly those in the rural areas due to various domestic and community dynamics, is often too loud. These women are vulnerable to electoral manipulation. They may be unable to scrutinize manifestos, co-relate the quality of candidates to their day to day lives and most importantly face mammoth difficulty in competing with their male counterparts.

The good news, this situation can be averted. Women who have been exposed and have come face to face with these complex governance issues can play an important role. Some of these more enlightened women are found in civil society organizations working with women, governance and human rights related issues. These groups have through their outreach programs endeavored to reach the lowest of the lowest. More of these efforts need to be supported.

The opportunity is now. With the Voter Registration Update exercise under way, women need to re-awaken each other’s zeal and interest in elections. Women need to be vigilant in attending community meetings, trainings and dialogues on governance starting now. Campaigns such as ‘VOTABILITY’ spearheaded by the Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU) need to be embraced by women!

Our democratic process will only grow stronger, be more legitimate and credible when more diverse groups such as women, the disabled, and workers are brought on board.