National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula says world parliaments have made inadequate progress towards improving women’s representation in recent years and still have a long way to go towards achieving gender equality across the socio-economic spectrum.
“Women have come a long way in their struggles, not only for equality, but to also have their voice and inputs heard, both at home and in the workplace,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.
Mapisa-Nqakula made the remarks during the 8th G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit (P20 Speakers’ Summit), in Jakarta, Indonesia on Friday.
The two-day summit of Speakers of G20 countries from around the world was hosted by The House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia, in close cooperation with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
Addressing delegates during a debate entitled: “Social inclusion, gender equality, and women empowerment”, Mapisa-Nqakula commended transformative legislation aimed at improving women’s participation and involvement in politics and the economy.
However, the translation of legislation into pragmatic, meaningful changes in women’s lives “has not been forthcoming”.
Mapisa-Nqakula urged the P20 Speakers to accelerate the pace of change warning that the road remains long and tedious.
She warned that the targets set in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Agenda 2063 may not be attained unless all nations adopt different strategies to those that have gone before.
The Speaker further acknowledged that COVID-19, the effects of climate change and economic volatility, which has increased economic insecurity in many parts of the world have reversed progress achieved so far.
She urged the P20 parliamentarians to multiply their efforts to achieve the targets set in the Beijing Platform for Action, to protect, advance and develop all women, including women parliamentarians across the world.
Mapisa-Nqakula highlighted challenges still facing girl children and women in general, including gender-based violence and child marriages that still afflict many nations.
Progress towards achieving women representation commended
The Speaker listed areas of progress in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and South Africa, including the representation of women in leadership and management positions and the adoption of the Model Law on Gender-Based Violence to guide and align legislation and improve execution outcomes.
“The setting of a 50:50 quota for men and women representation across the spectrum has helped to achieve 46% women representation in Parliament, 62% in the public service, and 45% women among 256 judges. These achievements and the recent appointment of a woman Deputy Chief Justice are commendable steps in the right direction,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.
