Women around the world have not had to face any form of discrimination for the last 30 years thanks to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which was adopted December 18, 1979 by the United Nations. But reality has lagged far behind the lofty aim of the document, which has been ratified by 185 nations.

The agreement places emphasis on the equal rights of men and women, including the rights of women to participate in government. But equal political participation has not been fully realized - only 16 percent of parliamentary seats worldwide are held by women. Nonetheless, large disparities exist between the highly industrialized and the developing worlds.

The battle for gender equality in Africa has been fought for decades by women's rights activists and human rights organizations. There have been recent breakthroughs - the election of Liberia's first female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Mozambique's first female prime minister, Luisa Diogo and Nigeria's Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala - but overall, female participation in African governments still remains minimal despite the fact that they make up 70 percent of the poor population in Africa.

Still struggling on long journey

"Women are increasingly becoming involved, that's why people like President Johnson-Sirleaf are in power, but it has been a big struggle and the struggle continues," Miria Matembe, the director of the Center for Women in Governance, CEWIGO, told Deutsche Welle. "We've been breaking through certain barriers and we've made a little breakthrough. But the journey is still very far and we are struggling."

There is no doubt that the number of female political players in Africa is rising, especially due to quota systems enacted by many African governments, as was done in South Africa, Rwanda and Mozambique. The quotas stipulate that 30 percent of political positions must go to women. But those statistics don't translate to real power, according to Matembe.

"There are women in power, but they have no real power," she said. "The quota system has allowed for female participation but their participation is in the form of numbers not in influencing government agendas. The women have no effect on decision-making."

The issue of gender inequality in Africa is often overlooked by the continent's leaders in comparison with other issues like economic growth and infrastructural development.

"Women's rights issues in Africa are so silent, while other issues are considered to be wider, so they are often lost among the mass spectrum of global issues." Tilder Kumichii, the director of Gender Empowerment and Development (GeED), a non-governmental organization in Cameroon told Deutsche Welle.

Window dressing

Decentralization in many African nations' political systems has dispersed decision-making governance closer to the citizens. Expectations have been raised for greater political power for African women in these decentralized, democratic systems, however, women are still a demographic that is underrepresented in politics.

There are a high number of female parliamentarians in many African nations, like Rwanda and Mozambique, but Kumichii said they often serve as "window dressing," and are placed in political positions only to give the impression of progress but have no real political power.

Kumichii revealed that the female parliamentarians in African nations are mostly alternates; political understudies working for a male parliamentarian.

"They have no real decision-making power and are usually under a male substantive," she said. "I should know, because I am one of them. The only real chance you get at making decisions is if the male substantive happens to die, and even then you have to go through a re-election process."

Human rights experts have considered decentralization to be an advantage in the battle for gender equality as it would provide opportunities for women to participate in politics at local and regional levels. However, that has not been the case. Less than 15 percent of Africa's mayors are women.

"Decentralization per se does not empower women because you cannot decentralize what doesn't exist." Matembe said. "Women must possess power at the national level for decentralization to filter it down to other women. African women don't have any economic power, political power or even knowledge power."

Lobbying for change

Experts have said the key to tackling gender inequality in Africa is for governments to see women's participation in governance as "good economics". Women's leadership in decentralized structures must become perceived as a major contribution to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, which pay special attention to women's issues.

Many African nations still contend with gender inequality and human rights violations that experts warn impede the fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals. Experts attest to a link between the non-attainment of the Millennium Development Goals and the neglect of women's rights since it often results in poverty, disease and high mortality rates among adults and children. Women's involvement in political decision-making would improve development cooperation as they would contribute to the development of their communities.

"Study after study has shown that there is no effective development strategy in which women do not play a central role," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said. "When women are fully involved, the benefits are immediate - families are healthier and better fed and their income, savings and investments go up. And what is true of families is also true of communities and, in the long run, of whole countries."

"NGOs can play a role by lobbying national governments for women's participation in governance." Joanna Maycock of the of the European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development, CONCORD, told Deutsche Welle, "Political parties in Africa must be sensitized towards women participating more in the political process."

Matembe would like to see an increase in the quota numbers for women in politics but she emphasizes that the women's roles must influence the government agenda to make them responsive and sensitive to gender issues.

Author: Faith Thomas

Editor: Sean Sinico