Females make up a half share of the population of the globe. As various sources show, this share is going up in some continents like Africa. This did mean that the countries’ existence and interaction is supposed to be taken by over half portion- females. Though this is the logical expectation to be seen in the continent, African females are not yet showing up themselves in certain areas of leadership positions. The root cause of this fact is the socio-cultural well-being of the society. Even though institutions, NGOs, governmental associations and various associations have been working to assure gender equality and adopt certain policies, the effect is far from the attempted goal.
For this low achievement of these organizational efforts, different critics argued that the rooted patriarchy is the key to be addressed through consistent and devoted training and advocacy. Since the attitude of the people was built for centuries and is highly manifested in various socio-cultural and political sections, it needs a firm and committed stand which should be facilitated by policies and sound implementations. This is the way to transform society since the females are struggling to transform within untransformed society.
Thus, the question is why women are needed to be in leadership positions? Scholars in sociology and politics believe that women is more sensitive and nearer to the community than their male counterparts comparatively. This means that the problems, frustrations, aspirations, feelings and threats of the society are best understood by woman than man.
This means that she has been taking these issues in her mind since she is practically passing through such things. Thus, when she took a leadership position, she could act ahead of confronting these issues. In line with this, the former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson, said that “when women are elected in a village council or to a national parliament, they have an influence on public investment, on health sector and education. When there are more women in the parliament, they can represent the major and hot issues of the society. When they are there in a good number, women can serve as a role model for girls and that could make a difference in the long run.”
The president was also asked about the measures that she took while she was in the position regarding the issue. The journalist raised this question after remarking on the increased number of women who took leadership positions in the country following the president’s leadership. She replied: “We open the political space so that more and more women use that space and get into leadership positions. This is I think what African women leaders need to do.”
These days, the equal engagement and representation of all forms of the society is progressively demanded by the people. Thus, sustainable development and transformation without the critical consideration of these sections is unthinkable. This was also the primary focus of African Union Summits which took place in recent years. The issue of women is becoming one of the exceeding concerns for the summits. Although the figures and qualities have not been achieved in the continent, the issue remains very controversial till this moment.
If then what could the continent look like if more women took leadership positions? The former Liberia President Ellen Johnson was once talking with Shaka Ssali, the host of Strait Talk Africa, to be aired on VOA. He asked her to suggest on the impact of having women leaders in Africa. Here is her thought. “African women have a great responsibility when it comes to leadership. We have to work together to set examples to inspire young women to achieve their leadership goals. When a woman leads not only there can be economic management and financial success, but also we can make the world a better place than we found it.”
This woman’s words were originated from what she practically did while she was in the position. For these deeds, she received recognition before the globe. She mobilized women and girls and changed their lives and organized an association that aimed at enhancing women’s and girls’ knowledge and skills in leadership. She has brought a good number of females into the front to take leadership positions.
UN Women in collaboration with USAID was investigating the tangible changes that the continent saw with women leaders. Kah Walla (a candidate who ran for Cameroon’s Presidential election in 2011) was the first one to be asked about the issue. Here is her say. “African women have the responsibility of changing the situation as Africans; to be able to have efficient organizations and efficient countries. We have to work hard to build a country that is ready to respond to the needs of the people who live there. I have a firm believe that women can do this. We, women, have all the ability, all the resources and capacity.”
Nigozi Okonjo iweala (PhD), (Corresponding Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Nigeria), believed that every individual has the capacity to contribute to change. But when African women get at leadership, their voices are going to be heard in the right place, time and on behalf of people; not only other women and girls but also many girl children.
Each African woman has a say on various topics. But she didn’t have an appropriate platform to utter her inside. However, leadership positions are key to open the gate for females. Though all female girls could not get that opportunity, if women leaders are there, they can represent and echo the minds of others better than the male ones.
Wangari Maathai, Kenyan and the first Black African woman to win the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, argued that “Advocacy should be given to women. They should be given an opportunity to be in decision-making positions, to hold power and to challenge women that one day they have that power and will use it better than their male colleagues.” Besides this, Juliet Asante of Ghana strongly believed that “African women are committed to improving the quality of Africa.”
The two former female presidents of Liberia and Malawi practically showed that when African women take a leadership position, they have the ability to address the masses with an influential approach. These women were able to mobilize millions of females in their countries and extend their service to other countries of the continent. In here, I believe that their sex and social placement helped them to understand the controversial issues of their people. This had facilitated them to segment and level the enacted issues according to their importance and immediacy for the people.
In Ethiopia too there have been very strong, committed, and successful women leaders. Since recent years, women are increasingly coming to the frontline of leadership. In relation to the deeds of the two above mentioned presidents, let me walk you through Meaza Ashenafi’s experience.
Meaza Ashenafi is a very strong woman whose contribution, I found, is very relevant in the process of combating women’s challenges in Ethiopia and Africa. She is a devoted lawyer who became the first female chief justice of the Ethiopian Supreme Court. Meaza did know and understand the basic challenges of Ethiopian women and reacted to that in practice. She did two important solutions. The first one was she had initiated her lawyer colleagues and formed an organization that aimed at mobilizing women and men forward to avoid women violence and humiliation.
She said, “I feel women lawyers needed to get organized because we pioneered people. This was in the 90th when we established an association. We pioneer advocacy and promote the rights of women. This mobilization skill helped me and my colleagues to move into another sector which is the business sector. So, I believe that women need to organize and work together since the collective action is needed to make a change.” Since they were effective in their approach, the organization was too impactful as she mentioned it in her interview. “People listen to us because we have legal skills and that we are using the law as a tool to sort out arguments on cases.”
This association was successful in mobilizing a good number of women and the rate of females’ violence and harmful cultural practices against women were diminishing significantly. Here the point is that, this woman had initiated this association and convinced her friends to join her since she was a well-alerted woman about the basic threats of society and she was skilled and confident in solving the problem. As she said, the association had brought a change. Thus, she shines for society and transforms it into an informed being.
Meaza feels that the essence of patriarchy in Ethiopia and Africa is progressively challenged these days. “Things are moving forward. We are witnessing an increasing number of women representatives in politics …legislative… executive branches.”
As the cited women leaders said; based on their own practical political experiences, African women have the potential, skills, knowledge, confidence and commitment that can equip them in any leadership position. The maximum effort they demand is the prevalence of a transformed society. They are the reliable sources of information about the society. Thus, they know how deepen the issue is and act accordingly with a critical and systematic approach better than males is my justification. Let me borrow the words of Wangari Maathai as a closing remark. “When more women come to leadership, the world will be better managed.”
BY MEKDES TAYE (PhD)
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 9 AUGUST 2024
