Israel's Women's Organizations Change Over

Israel's Council of Jewish Womens Organizations held a ceremony to transfer their rotating leadership to Rina Wasserman and Aviva Kohlman of Emunah. You can watch the ceremony (in Hebrew) by clicking this link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcMDS9f_aGU

Women’s Parliament 2008 - Cape Town

An  Invitation to attend the Women’s Parliament was indeed a surprise and I was privileged to attend the sitting for two days in August 2008 as a special guest of the National Assembly Speaker Ms Baleke Mbete - indeed a great honour.
 
The day began with singing and dancing. The Imbongi led in the President, the First Lady and the presiding officers singing praises in honour of all women. This year’s Women’s Parliament commemorates the last term of the current parliament and we were honoured to have as special guests the President of the Pan-African Parliament, Mama Beijing, Dr Mongella, the Speaker of Namibia, the Deputy Speaker of Zambia, Provincial speakers, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, Members of Parliament, visitors from the Sudan and Uganda, some of the men who supported the 1956 Women’s March and, of course, the people who make Women’s Parliament so special, delegates from all nine Provinces of South Africa. The many speakers included Ms Gwen Mahlangu–Nkabide the Deputy speaker of the National Assembly.

The Deputy Speaker reminded us that this is a historical event and that we must make meaningful contribution on behalf of all the women who could not be with us today as the declarations we make, will affect their lives.

The third parliament has cemented the achievements of women and has given face to their cause .It is a new transition that laid bare the grave misgiving of conventional gender politics and stereotypes. Women’s Caucus emerged the newer concerns that women articulated and are currently advocating: political representation, a fight against illiteracy and poverty to name but three. The latter formed part of this years Women’s Parliament theme.

The Speaker told us that prior to the first Women’s Parliament in 2005 it was only the rich and educated who could afford to travel that came to give input to Parliament.  It is events such as Women’s Parliament and Youth Parliament have given thousands of people the opportunity to exchange ideas with the Parliamentarians and for them to keep in touch with people at grassroots level.

The Chief Whip of the NCOP, Hon Ntwanambi, contextualises the process and gave a special welcome to “aspiring MPs”. She asked us to remember all those women who gave up their lives for us to be here today. She recalled that President Mandela in 1994 had committed Parliament to gender equality, free of any form of women oppression. Radical changes needed to be made and women empowered to takes their place as equals in all aspects of life.  She outlined the progress made in female political representation in South Africa compared to the rest of the world and in Africa.

Our Honourable President reminded us that National Women’s Day commemorates the role of women in achieving a non-racist and non-sexist society. He committed his government to the struggle for gender equality and to ensuring the liberation of women from different forms of oppression including social and economic freedom, civil and human rights. He argued that the marginalisation of women contributed to the under development of Africa.  In order to achieve targets in eradication gender inequalities it must be business unusual. Women must be accorded respect, freedom and dignity as well as participation at all levels. The President emphasised that all forms of violence against women and children are unacceptable but we must have hope in achieving our goals for the future. A very apt reading from Isaiah 43 was then read.

Maria Ramos  spoke on  macro economic empowerment by informing us that throughout the world the “market” plays a definitive role in life and that it is women traders who predominate. She believes that economic growth must translate into better opportunities for the advancement of women. SA spends 69% of its budget on social services but its not just the numbers that matter but the quality of service that counts.

The Honourable Thandi Tobias-Pokolo MP spoke of the positive role played by the Pan African Women’s movement and the Progressive Women’s movement and the challenge of providing an integrated approach to poverty alleviation.

Mrs Zanele Mbeki, South Africa's First Lady, spoke on  the same theme and reminded us how women had lagged behind because of patriarchy and gender inequality. She believes we need targeted affirmative action in favour of the women who have been left behind. It is unacceptable that the very South African women who are responsible for democratic change should be forced to fundraise overseas for microcredit support. We need a women’s research centre. The women’s movement in SA is not united, we need practical programmes and we must all agree on what women want. A women’s ministry, perhaps?

The increased political representation of women and poverty eradication was addressed by Dr Mongella. She hates the word “mainstreaming” as in African culture women retreat from the mainstream and caucus on their own. She believes women are overeducated and over informed. She reminded us that peace time allows for the further development of women while in times of unrest women’s voices tend to disappear. She questioned the lack of women’s voices in and on Zimbabwe.

Ranji Reddy Director,Office on the Status of Women in the Presidency   presented the draft CEDAW(Convention for the Eliminationof all forms of Discrimination against Women) report which had been appraised between 1998 – 2008 and will be delivered to the UN in September 2008. This covers two reporting periods and the next two reporting periods will also be covered in one report for 2012.

While progress is difficult to assess, it appears that SA has made unprecedented progress in advancing women in the political and decision-making areas. We still have challenges around employment for women aged 15 – 34; gendered poverty, and socio-economic conditions: HIV/Aids and health services in the rural areas; and crime and violence.

The Deputy Speaker said that the Government has denied women MPs as public representatives the opportunity to participate in the report. This is unacceptable and she demanded that the report come to Parliament before being finalised.

In this month of the Women's Empowerment, going to Parliament was a truly exhilarating experience and meeting some our leaders was indeed an enriching experience. Women have come a long way and I was proud to represent Jewish women in our parliament this past week and also to attend the interim  conference of the Union of Jewish Women held in Durban.

Sharon Fox, ICJW Vice-President for South Africa

Read about Sharon Fox's attendance at the ICJW Conference in Belgium - download the pdf here.