Gender equality in Zimbabwe needs to be regarded as a national struggle, not simply a woman issue, to be addressed parallel to that of achieving democracy, economic development and social justice in the country.  Too often women in Zimbabwe experience discrimination and gender-based violence.   According to the Human Development Report (2007/2008), Zimbabwe is among the countries with the lowest global gender related development index, ranking 130 of 170.  This reflects the low status of women with respect to access, control and ownership of economic resources and positions in the decision-making process.  The fight for gender equality and empowerment remains difficult for Zimbabwean women as they are constricted by implementation of laws, confront abuse of customary law and a largely patriarchal nation, where women remain stereotyped as housewives and caregivers. There is a real need to craft an engendered constitution, harness political will to implement rights and educate women in communities, to ensure for protection and respect of women.  

In light of the constitutional reform process in Zimbabwe and the nation’s transition to democracy, leading officials have an opportunity to secure safeguards for women in the new constitution.  These include a proportional representation electoral system and women’s quotas in party nominations, which will provide an opportunity for women to play a role in politics, as well as provisions to close the gap of women’s access to social and economic rights.  The provision of rights in the constitution fosters a sense of entitlement of rights to women, which will be instrumental in empowering women in communities.  Zimbabwe has made commitments to protect the rights of women and address gender inequalities, including being signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Beijing Platform of Action, the African Union Protocol on Women’s Rights, and the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development.  These commitments must be fully implemented and embraced as part of the constitutional review process.  

One of the most powerful instruments in pressuring Zimbabwe’s government officials for safeguards of women’s rights in the new constitution is a united women’s voice, one which echoes the demands of women nationwide. The Women’s National Congress in South Africa sets an example of the power which a united women’s voice can have to ensure that women are represented and kept part of the constitutional negotiations.  This Coalition covered “most political parties, rural women’s organizations, and religious and professional organizations.”  Today, women of Zimbabwe have a similar task in front of them, to craft a national platform of action, to be a part of the constitutional negotiations and enable their influence over the electoral system, to keep the Global Political Agreement inclusive.  Women need to intervene on the status of customary law and access to socio-economic rights in the constitution and voice any concerns now by participating in the process and following up by voting in the referendum in February 2011.  

Zimbabwean women are doing just that, mobilizing to confront the government in achieving justice for women in economic, social and political rights.  They have been demanding respect for and protection of human rights and the rights of members of their communities.  Since the country gained independence in 1980, women in Zimbabwe have been active in lobbying the government to adopt laws and policies that promote and protect their rights. Of particular significance has been the women's movement's success.  Women's organizations such as the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA), the Women's Coalition, Women Action Group (WAG), Women and Law in Southern Africa Research and Development Trust (WLSA), among others, have lobbied for the enactment of laws against domestic violence. In November 2006 the lower house of parliament passed the Domestic Violence Act. Since its enactment, there has been an increase in the number of domestic violence cases brought by women seeking justice.  Women have also lobbied against discriminatory inheritance laws, for reform of marriage laws and on other issues affecting women.  

Today, women’s rights groups find that even with the support of high-level politicians, it is extremely difficult to get commitment to become a reality.  They are also finding that the discourse on women’s rights risks being swallowed by party politics, where women’s representation remains low at 25%.  For this reason there is even more need for women to unite and participate in the transition.  Presently, women’s groups have played a pivotal role in ensuring that women are participating and represented in the constitutional process.  They have united under an umbrella organization called, the Women’s Coalition, which has brought together 54 organizations and has 9 chapters across the country.  This body has played a pivotal role in strategizing on how women can interface with the constitutional reform and participate in the process.  For instance, the Women’s Coalition presented names to the committee responsible for the constitutional outreach process, COPAC, increasing the participation of women in the outreach teams to 25%.  They have also been monitoring the process and ensuring that outreach teams create space for women to speak.  Other groups such as WLSA have been using media to raise awareness and joined with the Women’s Coalition to reach out to women in rural communities, reaching over 2000 women.  

Today’s discourse on women’s rights in Zimbabwe must set gender equality in parity with economic, political and social justice being sought through the democratic transition.  Through empowering women and supporting civil society groups actively working to ensure women’s rights is part of the national agenda, there is real hope that this transition can bring justice to women of Zimbabwe. 

Marieka Walsh
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Imagine that you are about to have a baby via Caesarian section.  You are being wheeled into an operating room and are handed a stack of forms to sign.  You are distressed and in pain, so you sign the papers handed to you.  Sometime after giving birth you discover that in addition to having signed a consent form to receive a C-section, you have also signed a form authorizing the doctor to sterilize you.  You are HIV-positive.

Fifteen HIV-positive women in Namibia have accused state hospitals of coercing them into being sterilized and are now in court suing the government.  Even though these women signed a consent form to be sterilized, they were not informed of the consent they were giving (“Women Up in Arms Against Forced Sterilization”). 

Going into labor, one plaintiff said, “I was in pain and told to sign.  That is what was in my mind.”  She added that she was in so much pain that she wasn’t in the right mind to ask questions.  Additionally, there was no time—she needed immediate medical attention (“Witnesses Testify in Sterilisation Cases”).  According to the LAC, medical workers allegedly target women who cannot read or write (“Women Claim ‘Forcibly’ Sterilized at State Hospitals.”)

According to court notes of this trial, one plaintiff testified that there was no mention about “removing uterus or womb” on the form she signed, and that her nurse told her that all HIV-positive women have their uterus removed.  Allegedly the nurse did not refer to it as sterilisation, which it was referred to as on the consent form, and the patient did not learn what sterilization meant until after the surgery had been performed. 

According to Amon Ngavetene, the co-coordinator of the AIDS Law Unit of the Legal Assistance Center (LAC), most of these women were not even aware that they had been sterilized.  The LAC is defending the women in court.  After giving birth, Ngavetene says, “some [women] returned to healthcare facilities to access family planning just to be informed that there is no need for them to go on contraception because they have been sterilized.”  Other women have asserted that they had to agree to sterilization in order to access other health services such as C-sections.  (“Campaign against forced sterilization kicks off,” Nangulu Shejavali)

One nurse allegedly claimed that HIV-positive women were being sterilized because “there was no point in having children in the future” for an HIV-positive woman (“Women Robbed of Motherhood,” Wezi Tjaronda).  Yet with the proper drugs and precautions, an HIV-positive woman can have a perfectly healthy baby without passing the virus on to the child.

The LAC writes, “Sterilisation without informed consent violates a woman’s constitutional, regional and internationally protected rights to equality, dignity, non-discrimination, health - which includes the right to make one’s own decision about health care, to found a family and to fair administrative justice, including the right to proper treatment by hospital administration through medical ethics.”

Human rights groups and civil society organizations in Namibia, including the LAC, International Community of Women Living With HIV (ICW), the Namibia Women’s Health Network, AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa, Women’s Solidarity Namibia, the Women’s Leadership Centre, and Sister Namibia, are supporting these women and are protesting this gross human rights violation (“Campaign Against Forced Sterilisation Kicks Off”).  Nevertheless the trials in Namibia are being given limited international press, and most people around the world are not even aware of these serious human rights allegations.  

According to the LAC, these court cases began in October and November of 2009 in the Windhoek High Court and continued through June 1 to June 3.   The case will continue again from September 1 to September 10. http://endforcedsterilisation.wordpress.com/

Written by Meg Armstrong
72 Comments
 
 
Reasons for the new operation Amani Leo:
For the past six months, the Congolese National Army (FARDC) has been criticized by diplomats, civil society and human rights groups concerning allegations of violence against civilians during the military operations Umoja Wetu and Kimia II. Yet, there is new joint military operation between FARDC and the United Nations Peacekeeping Force (MONUC) called Amani Leo. This new operation between MONUC and FARDC is to neutralize and capture the Rwandan Hutu militia (FDLR) operating in DRC who participated in the1994 Rwandan genocide. The FDLR is notorious for attacking villages and civilians in furtherance of their efforts to control territory, which allows them to illegally export valuable minerals out of the DRC and fund their operations.

Previous operations Umoja Wetu and Kimia II:
The Umoja Wetu started in January 2009 after the international community urged Rwandan President Paul Kagame to use his influence on National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) leader Laurent Nkunda to stop CNDP’s 2007-2008 rebellion against the Congolese government. After few weeks of negotiations, President Kagame finally offered to help locate and capture the CNDP leader Laurent Nkunda. In exchange, DRC’s President Joseph Kabila allowed the Rwandan National Army (RDP) to enter the Congo in search of the rebel Hutu FDLR.  During this operation Nkunda was arrested, transferred to Rwanda, and then replaced by another leader Bosco Ntaganda who has a warrant of arrest from International Criminal Court (ICC) on conscripting child soldiers into his militia. Former CNDP combatants were then integrated into FARDC.

In March 2009 the second operation Kimia II started. It was a joint operation by MONUC and FARDC. The Rwandan Government supported the mission, claiming that Operation Umoja Wetu had been unsuccessful and that the FDLR continued to pose a serious security threat to Rwanda. The Rwandan Government requested that the MONUC joins forces with the FARDC to combat the FDRL. The goal of this operation was an attempt to dismantle the FDLR’s military capacity. According to FARDC, the operation was a success at the end. For the first time they were able to dislodge the FDLR from areas where they had been entrenched for years and the critical mining-dependent areas were no longer controlled by FDRL. According to UN statistic, “a significant number of FDLR combatants have been given up their weapons and returned to Rwanda since the start of military operations in January 2009”.  1,798 family members of FDRL and 12,387 Rwandan refugees were sent to Rwanda.

Criticisms of Umoja Leo and Kimia II
Although the Congolese Army took control of mining sites in these operations and disarmed some FDLR combatants, FARDC and MONUC were unable to adequately protect civilian populations.  These two operations have been accompanied by horrendous abuses by both government and rebel forces against a civilian population throughout the eastern Congo. For instance, there are times that the rebel groups may target civilians to punish them for their government’s decision to launch the operations. The FARDC soldiers themselves are also accused of targeting civilians who they feel are collaborating with the FDLR. According to Human Rights Watch, “between January and September 2009, over 1,400 civilians were deliberately killed by the FDLR, the Congolese army, and their allies”. 7,000 cases of rape against women and girls were reported which indicates rates nearly double those in 2008.  And over 900,000 people were forced to flee their homes in Eastern Congo”. Human Rights Watch also reported that, “a comparison of the impact of military operations on the FDRL and the harm to civilians starkly conveys the suffering endured by the population.  84 humanitarian and human rights groups in the Congo Advocacy Coalition reported that for every FDRL combatant that has been removed from combat through being repatriated, one civilian has been killed, seven women and girls have been raped, eight homes have been destroyed, and nearly 900 people have been forced to flee for their lives. This report illustrates the unjustified costs of pursuing a military solution to rebel groups operating in the eastern provinces.

Conclusion
Although, Alan Doss, the UN representative in Congo, announced that the new plan will more focus on the protection of civilians, conducting operations targeting the FDRL in the region, clear strategic areas of negative forces, hold territory liberated from FDRL control, and assist in restoring State authority in these zones; the UN and FARDC still have not specified how this operation will achieve these objectives, and particularly have not specified how they will guarantee protection for civilians.

Military solutions shouldn’t be used to neutralize FDLR. The violence against civilians that accompanies these military operations is unacceptable. Many Congolese have lost their lives in these operations. Women and girls have been raped and near a million of people have been forced to flee their homes.  It is time for the international community and MONUC to put pressure on Rwanda to stop supporting the military joint. The UN and the international community should encourage Kagame to negotiate with the FDRL in diplomatic and democratic ways rather than pursuing only military solutions. The end of FDLR presence in Congo will put end to all types of human rights abuses and curb illegal mineral trades.  The UN should help the Congo build its capacity to monitor and regulate mining to avoid any illegal trades of minerals. For instance, the UN could send a team of independent consultants to audit the mineral supply chain and hopefully, Rwanda and Congo will find ways to collaborate through diplomatic means rather relying on military forces.
118 Comments
 
 
From Bono to Angelina Jolie, the ‘cool’ humanitarian thing to do these days is to send money to Africa, you know, to help feed, shelter, educate and provide medical services to the starving boney children with flies on their eyes. What may come across as shocking to the Bonos of our world is that not all humanitarian efforts have helped the continent, at least that’s what Moyo would say. Most Africanists have heard of Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo for her clear-cut assertion that foreign aid has not only stagnated, but that it has also been the root cause of developmental retardation for the African continent. Perhaps it is a combination of Moyo’s conservative side and her African roots that have given her considerable attention, often compared to Ayaan Hirsi-Ali -another conservative figure bred on the continent who is widely known for criticizing the Prophet Muhammad. It comes as no surprise that both Hirsi Ali and Moyo have contributed their knowledge and experience to the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, a harbor of conservative scholar academia.

The emergence of popular, educated African women icons such as Moyo has given Western as well as other audiences new paths for understanding why Africa’s predicament is still enduring decades after colonial rule. Moyo’s perspective is not a completely unexplored opinion, authors such as Paul Easterly have advocated for diminishing help from bureaucratic organizations and instead searching for what he refers to as ‘homegrown development’. So what is fundamentally different about ‘Dead Aid’?  Moyo’s audience ranges from prominent politicians such as Rwandan President Paul Kagame who have been pushing for gradual independence from foreign assistance, to economists such as Jeffrey Sachs who advocate for the ‘end of [African] poverty’ through Western aid.

Throughout her many interviews, Moyo reiterates the main issues that she also raises in her book, one of which argues that foreign aid fuels corruption since there is no transparent allocation of the donation. Moyo raises an interesting point about the lack of fund appropriation for foreign aid; she also understands how this has trapped Africa in an aid dependency cycle that, coupled with operational bureaucracies, disables the development of private enterprise. Thirdly, Moyo argues that ‘large inflows of capital… really kill off the export sector’ because most African nations are abundant in extractable minerals and resources. Finally, Moyo elaborates on the consequences of corruption that result in the African government’s lack of accountability, rather than being held responsible by its people, governments have geared their liability to international organizations and businesses. As a result, Moyo makes the assertion that an African middle-class is barely existent, instead the disparities between the wealthy who remain in power and the poor who are barely surviving, continue to be the center of African realities.

Personally, I would say that Moyo’s collection of data that support her one-sided views have elements of truth within them, however, it would be unrealistic to reinforce a 'let's cut off all foreign aid to Africa' instantly. Despite the corruption and the bureaucracy, foreign aid has been the main source for the survival of at least an estimated millions, for this reason, the plan to decrease and eventually cut off foreign aid would be to strengthen the government's provision of public services. The measures would take time especially because most African governments are known for their notorious personal economic drives, that is why an internal change in the political institutions would have to be upheld alongside the development of a stronger civil society. As Moyo suggests, micro-finance is one of the most effective ways of establishing these goals since a 'homegrown' or bottom-up development could be sustainable in the long-term growth of Africa.The biggest challenges remain: how to deal with political greed? how do we create incentives for African governments to establish public services?
55 Comments