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The three participant countries of the African Women Leaders Project are Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Somalia. Click below for more information on women's situation in these countries.

 

• Nigeria

• Sierra Leone

• Uganda

 

 

Political Background

Throughout its history as an independent state, the country has mostly been ruled by dictators with intermittent attempts of democracy. Nigeria re-achieved democracy in 1999 after a sixteen-year interruption. From 1966 until 1999, Nigeria had been ruled (except the short-lived second republic, 1979-1983) by military dictators who seized power in coups d'état and counter-coups during the Nigerian military juntas of 1966-1979 and 1983-1998.
Nigeria’s most recent return to democracy came as a result of the mysterious death of its dictator. With its return to civilian rule, Nigerian’s elected Olusegun Obesanjo. Although the elections which brought Obesanjo to power in 1999 and again in 2003 were condemned as anything but free and fair, Nigeria has shown marked improvements in its attempts to tackle government corruption and to hasten development at all levels. Recent elections in April 2007 brought Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to power. This marks the first successful civilian transfer of power in Nigeria, despite loud criticisms of yet another extremely flawed election.
       As early as the colonial era, the marginalisation of women has been standard practice in Nigeria's patriarchal political system. Indeed, until 1976, women were not even allowed to vote in Northern Nigeria. This marginalisation has continued into the Fourth Republic. The negligible presence of women in institutionalized politics is equally apparent in their low participation as party executives, elected officers, and political appointees. Despite their under-representation in political leadership positions, their involvement in the National Assembly is invaluable to efforts made in strengthening and reconstructing the democratic principles of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic.

Economic Background

“Women make up 49.6% of the nation's population (1991 census), but they are responsible for producing over 70% of the nation's food supply.  The majority of female workers are in lower cadre occupations. Those in professional and marginal occupations constitute only 18% of that grade of employment. Although there are labour laws, which protect women in the formal labour market, these are poorly implemented. Most Nigerian women are informal sector workers who predominate in micro enterprises with little or no access to credit, technology and other supports required to build up capital.” –  Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Youth Development: 2000
     The traditional or tribal society in Nigeria expected women to be significant wage earners in the family. They labored in farming, fishing, herding, and commerce (for instance, pottery, cloth-making, and craft work) alongside Nigerian men. Women traditionally had the right to profit from their work, although the money usually served as a contribution to the family income. Many of these traditions survive in modern Nigeria, and women’s economic contributions are consistently under-valued. The majority of women who are employed in the formal sector are in clerical (typists), sales and service positions (teaching and nursing professions).  A high percentage of women find employment in the agricultural sector where women’s involvement in household subsistence farming, animal husbandry, food processing and distribution for additional family income is not taken into account. A high proportion of economically “inactive” females are involved in domestic duties.1 Though women are underrepresented in the formal sector, they play an active and vital role in the country's informal economy.
     There are no laws barring women from particular fields of employment, but women often experience discrimination due to Government tolerance of customary and religious practices that adversely affect them. While the number of women employed in the business sector increases every year, women do not receive equal pay for equal work and often find it extremely difficult to acquire commercial credit or to obtain tax deductions or rebates as heads of households. Although women are not barred legally from owning land, under some customary land tenure systems only men can own land, and women can gain access to land only through marriage or family. In addition to this, many customary practices do not recognize a women's right to inherit her husband's property. This makes widows vulnerable, and many are left destitute when their in-laws take virtually all of the deceased husband's property.

Women in Politics

 While democratic transition in Nigeria in 1999 has created openings that politicize gender identity, there remains both a dearth of political opportunities for women and severe self-reinforcing constraints on gender participation. Though the number is increasing, women remain grossly under-represented. For instance, only 631 women stood for a total of 11 881 electable positions during the 1999 elections. Those that managed to win constituted a mere 1.62 percent (181 of the total positions available).2 In the 2003 election, the first cohort of women Senators was displaced, but three other women attained office as senators. Out of the twelve women that served in the House, four lost their seats and eight were re-elected. The number of women nearly doubled as thirteen additional women were elected into the House. Women have continued to gain with the most recent elections of April, 2007. There were a total of 1,200 women aspirants to 1,532 offices, with 660 of them winning their primaries. Ninety-three finally emerged as winners: 6 deputy governors, 9 senators, 27 national representatives, and 52 in various state Houses of Assembly. There were also notable increases in the number of women holding cabinet and ministerial positions. Although it failed to fulfil its promise of 30 percent of cabinet positions for women, the Yar’Adua government did place 7 women in these high offices (18 percent of the cabinet).  The April 2007 elections also saw Nigeria receive its first female Speaker of the House, the Hon. Patricia Olubunmi Etteh.

   Prior to its return to democracy, the presence of women in Nigerian politics was largely limited to the wives of politicians. The activities of some of these women, particularly of the First Ladies Maryam Babangida and  Mariam Abacha, have had quite an effect on gender politics in the country. The “Femocracy” of these women “cannot be said to have enhanced gender equality or to have in any way challenged conservative attitudes to women. Instead, eight years of femocracy has generated promises to appoint token women, and has made the parading of expensively attired wives into a political tradition (Mama, 1997: 97).”
     The effects of Nigerian femocracy have not been all negative, however. During her last year as First Lady, Maryam Abacha was widely reported to have imposed an affirmative action policy on political parties. She “unofficially” directed them to ensure that they each nominated one female gubernatorial candidate for the 1998 elections. However, her powerful husband died before the elections, bringing her reign to an end. One positive story is that of Justice Fati Abubakar, whose husband was Head of State in the one-year interregnum following the death of Sani Abacha. Her husband, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, held power for only one year before handing over to a democratically elected government. During her year's tenure at State House, his wife, a High Court judge, established Women's Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA). Today WRAPA is generally recognised as one of the most effective non-governmental organisations fighting for the advancement of women's human rights in Nigeria.
     In terms of women’s political participation, attempts have been made to increase that in both political and public life.  Upon launching “Women’s money for women’s election”, a programme entitled “Agenda 2003” was also launched by a coalition of women non-governmental organizations to raise funds for women political aspirants.  Similarly, several registered political parties have made positive concessions to encourage women’s participation in politics.  The People’s Democratic Party introduced a waiver of the mandatory registration/nomination fees for women aspiring to elective post on the party’s platform.  The All Nigerian Peoples Party declared that, in the event of a tie between a male and female candidate during primary elections, the male candidate would step down for the female.

Challenges to Women in Politics

Women attempting to enter into politics in Nigeria face numerous obstacles. Those who have aspired to office must often deal with a lack of funds to run an effective campaign, a discriminative use of party zoning, low education and a slew of cultural and religious barriers. The marginalization of women in politics is certainly not new to Nigeria, having dated back to colonial times. In fact, women did not gain the right to vote until 1976. Although the 1999 constitution protects women’s rights and grants them equal participation, women often find that their rights are secondary to prevailing traditional and religious laws. This is particularly true in the northern states, where Shari’a law is widely practiced.
     Women who seek public office find their political rights are sidestepped by political party manipulations of the system. For instance, although some political parties waive the nomination fee for women running for office, party members use this to claim that women lack a serious commitment to politics and to their party. Women running for public office are also labelled as “cultural deviants” – they are said to be too assertive and independent to be team players. Opponents also use the power of the press to run smear campaigns against women candidates.  They rely on abusive language to publicly demoralize and delegitimize women, ruining their reputations. Political parties also often rely on the indigeneity clause of the 1979 constitution to derail women’s campaigns. The clause, initially created to provide for more equality in representation, distinguished between the indigenes of a state and the settlers. Therefore, women who marry men from other states and move out of their hometown are discriminated against.
    Nigerian women, like many others in Africa, are also hindered by their lack of education, lack of economic independence, and often domestic violence as well. These factors of a lack of skills, financial means or family support combine to derail the campaigns of many women who would participate.

    

    
Political Background

From 1991 to 2002, the country suffered greatly under the devastating effects of civil war. The violence finally came to an end as a result of foreign involvement, namely by UN and British troops. By early 2002, most of the ex-combatants were disarmed and demobilized, allowing President Kabbah to declare the civil war officially over. Women and women's organisations played a crucial role in this process by developing a non-partisan voice for peace and democratisation. Following massive street demonstrations led by women in 1995, National Consultative Conferences were held in Freetown and set the stage for elections and a return to civilian government. Women's organisations had a leading role in setting the agenda for this process and subsequent civil society efforts to foster a participatory peace process. Yet these organisations were excluded from a place at the negotiation table in Lomé. Elections were held in May, 2002, resulting President Kabbah’s re-election. As part of the peace accord, Sierra Leone created a Truth and Reconciliation Commission as well as a Special Court to try those accused of crimes against humanity during the war.

Sierra Leone has so far committed itself to the following agreements; however it continues to fail in implementing them and is moving at a very low pace compared to other African countries, including Rwanda and Uganda among others:
- The Truth and Reconciliation Report highlighted the plight of women during the conflict and recommended the 30% quota representation for women in Parliament; 
- The Lomé Peace Agreement paid special attention to the needs of women and the importance of their inclusion in strategic decision making positions, so as to enable them play a central role in the country’s reconstruction process; 
- Sierra Leone adopted a National Policy on the enhancement of women via gender mainstreaming in 2001;
- A gender ministry has been established, though it remains very poorly resourced;
- The Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was signed and ratified by Sierra Leone in 1988, but the civil war prevented the enforcement of the Convention’s principles and the changing of laws to that end;
- The United Nations Millennium Development Goals’ recognise the fundamental role of women in development, with the proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments being a key indicator in measuring progress on women’s empowerment.

 

Economic Background

In Sierra Leone, women constitute 51.30% of the population and constitute the majority of the rural labour force. They provide over 80% of the labour that produces over 70% of the nation’s food supply. Adult illiteracy rate is 81% among women and 60% for men. The school enrolment rate for girls is 24% as compared to boys’ 43%, and the drop out rate among girls is very high due to teenage pregnancies, early marriages and the high demand for female labour at home.

Women also play a main role in the markets of Sierra Leone, particularly those who are poor and lack access to land and other assets, including credit availability. Among the majority of rural and low-income urban women dwellers, market women describe themselves as the ‘poorest of the poor’. They deal mostly in perishable foodstuffs at small local daily markets. At the end of the civil war, the livelihoods of most market women were destroyed. With the support of the Campaign for Good Governance (CGG), which provided them with numerous financial and technical assistance, a recovery plan was developed. This entailed a micro-credit revolving loan scheme to enable the (market) women to re-start trading and production activities, thus creating a favourable condition for them to shake off poverty.

 

Women in Politics

Recent trends in women’s political participation in Sierra Leone have been very encouraging, though there is still a long way to go to increase women’s roles. In the 2002 elections women represented 49.6 percent of the total number of registered voters. The single female aspirant - Zainab Bangura - to presidential office, however, failed to win enough votes to gain a seat in parliament. In the current legislature, women constitute just 14.5 percent of all parliamentarians. Among the Government’s 21 cabinet ministers and 10 deputy ministers, only six are women: the ministers for Trade and Industry, Health and Sanitation and Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs; and 3 deputy minister positions.  Though women make up the majority of voters, and they participate in significant numbers in party campaigns and rallies, very few hold party posts.

Women hardly fare better in local politics. The Local Government Act of 2004 established Ward Development Committees in the district towns, with a 50/50 gender balance in its composition. They play a liaison role between the councillors and the community members they represent. At the local level, the Paramount Chiefs are the traditional heads. This position is elective, but the claimant must have chieftaincy rights to the throne. In the North and certain parts of the East, women cannot claim chieftaincy rights and therefore cannot be paramount chiefs in these areas. In a total of 149 Paramount Chiefs, only 11 are women, and only one of them is present in the Parliament.

In addition to elected office, there are few women in the Civil Service – only 17% are women. By 2005, only 2 women were serving as permanent secretaries, out of 21 positions. The current Chief Administrator of Freetown City Council is a woman. Few women are appointed as head of the various commissions and institutions set up by the government; however, women have been recently appointed as chief executives to important national institutions. In the Judiciary, out of 23 appointed judges, 7 are women, and 2 of the existing 19 magistrates are women.

 

Challenges to Women in Politics

Although there have been some improvements, women’s political participation and leadership continues to be an issue of concern to all, as their ambitions are being stifled by political leaders and the majority of the population. Women remain largely underrepresented in political life and are persistently excluded from the exercise of power for several reasons. Specifically, there is a lack of political will by the government and by political parties to promote women’s rights and involve women in the political process. In the elections of 2002, most parties agreed to implement a newly advocated 30% quota for women on their lists.  Some parties later admitted that non-compliance with the quotas was caused by the anticipation of electoral defeat of women candidates.

Tradition and cultural have also acted as barriers to women’s participation. Women's disempowerment in Sierra Leone is rooted in traditional and discriminatory customary practices, particularly in the Northern and Eastern provinces where traditional customs and cultural norms prevent women from becoming Paramount Chiefs. Both men and women are traditionally reluctant to support female aspirants for any public position. Similarly, women often face negative stereotypes when running for public office. They are subjected to public criticism and attack. Due to this preponderance of criticism, women politicians themselves often sense that by entering public life they are judged to have ‘overstepped the mark’. For those women who choose to participate politically, there is typically a lack of support. Inadequate networking among women’s groups has led to a diminished sense of solidarity among women and has undermined the potential for vital support systems that women need to enter politics. This, in conjunction with other challenges, has resulted in low self esteem among women who come forward and assume political office.

Violence and limited funding are also challenges that women face in their attempts to enter the political arena. Violence is characteristic of many election processes in Sub-Saharan Africa and Sierra Leone is no exception. The fear of violence and intimidation during political campaigning has limited the political participation of women. Also, limited access to urgently needed funding is a major problem for women who are expected to provide “gifts” to win over voter support, especially in new “constituency-based” elections (that will come into effect in the 2007 elections). Money is usually in men’s hands and they tend to support male candidates.

Presidential and legislative elections will be held in August 2007. The 2007 elections will be notable for their return to a constituency-based system, as called for in the 1991 constitution. This system traditionally puts women contestants at a disadvantage, because as political parties can win at most one seat, nominating a woman means that a party must explicitly deny the aspirations of a man in the same district. In proportional systems, a party expects to win several seats, making them more conscious of trying to balance their tickets by including women. In preparation for the elections, Sierra Leone has redrawn parliamentary constituency boundaries for the first time since 1985.

Voter registration for the August presidential and general elections closed on March 18. There are discrepancies over how much of the eligible population has registered. The National Electoral Commission (NEC) announced in a report, however, that as of March 13, 2007 only 46% of eligible female voters have registered while 53.9% of male voters have registered.

Massive sensitisation in favour of women political rights has been and continues to be conducted to educate the public on the importance of the right to vote and of increasing women’s political position.  In Sierra Leone, the challenges women face are persistent, and therefore it must be realised that only strong political will, a growing women’s movement, political party commitment, the adoption of electoral quotas and reserved seats, and sustained mobilisation can make the difference. Affirmative action such as vigorous campaigns for girls’ education and strengthening the capacity of women already in decision making positions could also led to positive outputs in women’s access to political leadership.

 

 

_{Nigeria Sources: CIA worldfactbook,ICG country reports, International IDEA report, NDI, Council on Foreign Relations report, Ministry of Women's Affairs and Youth Development, United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Jibrin Ibrahim, Global Rights.}

_{Sierra Leone Sources:CIA worldfactbook, BBC country profile, Sierra Leone gender baseline report, provided by Campaign for Good Governance. Reports and documents from 50/50 Group, National Accountability Group, ICG, NDI, International IDEA, DPKO Gender Advisory Team, United Nations, Concord Times.}