MUTARE- Regional governments in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) have been urged to leverage the bloc’s gender model law to curb multiplex inequalities faced by women.
As the world celebrates the International Women’s Day themed ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’, Beomo Sekgoma SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) secretary-general urged government efforts to centre on legislative support to curb rising GBV and crosscutting gender inequalities in the region.
In a statement, SADC PF reiterated its commitment to ensuring gender equality and women empowerment through consistent parliamentary initiatives which advance Sustainable Development Goal 5 relating to gender as well as international and regional instruments such as the Maputo Protocol which are relevant to women’s advancement.
The Forum promotes gender equality, women empowerment, and sexual and reproductive health rights, vital enablers for women’s inclusion in socio-economic development, climate action and sustainable development.
“Gender mainstreaming, gender-based budgeting and the Model Law on GBV, and Gender Responsive Oversight Model (GROM) are pivotal initiatives of the Forum which aim to advance gender equality from a holistic perspective that includes giving both men and women equal chances to participate in key decision-making regarding climate change responses.
“Furthermore, the Forum has consistently underscored that an effective response to climate
change can only exist in a world where men and women have equal rights and are treated equally under the law.
“In addition, the Forum wishes to seize the opportunity of this celebration to reiterate the importance of gender equality in the Southern African region which is still influenced by the deep-seated inequalities that affect women, especially when faced with patriarchy, male chauvinism or traditional beliefs that promote women repression and inculcate bias towards women and young girls,” reads part of the statement.
Rouzeh Eghtessadi, executive director of SAfAIDS, noted that generational equality is possible through transformative development actions, including climate action, economic security and democratic participation in decision-making that honour young women’s inclusion.
Eghtessadi said governments should promote, through progressive legal reforms, societies that uphold freedom of choice, dignity and respect for all human beings, irrespective of gender identity.
She said statistics from research and studies continue to show the increased vulnerability of young women to poor Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) outcomes, violence, femicide and discrimination.
“Alas, institutional and governance mechanisms view these as ‘statistics’. Statistics are human beings! One harmed or lost young woman, is an extrapolated harm or loss to a household, community and nation.
“A claim to achieving the SDGs can only be authentic, where this 21st-century systemic gender and human rights-based transformation is committed in policy, and resourced in practice.
“We recognise pockets of progress across the region, where traditional, religious and political
leaders Champion young women’s rights and stand up for gender equality in their constituencies,” said Eghtessadi.
This year’s International Women’s Day coincides with the UNFPA global theme on Climate change, the world body said on IWD, reflecting concern on the effects of climate change disproportionate effects on women and girls.
UNFPA said in a statement “With this recognition, there is need for a multi-sectoral response to climate change that will enable women and girls to actively participate actively and decisively to strengthen their access to quality SRH and GBV services
“Ultimately, women and girls should benefit from efforts to curb climate change or within the mitigation strategies for climate change in beneficial ways, particularly those that are in areas of previous disadvantage, that still find themselves heavily reliant on a good climate for their everyday sustenance.”
The SADC PF) was established in 1997 in accordance with Article 9 (2) of the SADC Treaty as an autonomous institution of SADC It is a regional inter-parliamentary body composed of Thirteen (14) parliaments representing over 3500 parliamentarians in the SADC region. These member parliaments are Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South, Africa, Seychelles, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
