To curb gender imbalance in administration: Nonprofit organisation, Leap Girl Africa, advocating increased female representation.

It is for this reason that the organisation is working on a Draft Bill on the institutionalisation of a quota relating to the parity of women’s representation in all decision-making bodies, and meetings with decision-makers.

This is under the organisation’s project, dubbed: “Lead to Action: Increasing the participation of women and girls in civic and political spaces and processes”.

Leap Girl Africa is working on the Draft Bill in collaboration with the ‘Association au Secours des Filles Mères, ASFM, loosely translated as Association to Aid Girl Moms.

To ensure that a robust, detailed and efficiently drafted document is submitted to Parliament for scrutiny, Leap Girl Africa organised a workshop that rallied experts to review and validate the proposed draft document.

The event held in Ebolowa, in the South Region, on September 20. It grouped individuals from diverse backgrounds including State officials, politicians, civil society actors as well as media practitioners, among others.

The experts had as main aim to read and understand the Draft Bill as well as make valuable contributions to its content.

According to Leap Girl Africa, it is time for the voice of women to be considered in decision-making processes as women can make valuable contributions in policy development on all sectors of life.

Draft Bill timely

Speaking to The Guardian Post, an executive from the women’s social protection division at the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and the Family, MINPROFF, Olinda Nang William, commended Leap Girl Africa for the timeliness of the draft document and encouraged them to continue with activities that support government action.

“MINPROFF works in accordance with instructions from the President of the Republic that requires them to take into account women in all aspects of life. The civic and political participation of women is very important as it will make their voices to be heard,” Olinda stated.

He added that: “Having a law that provides a quota of female representation in administration is necessary and will improve on the gender bias as far as leadership is concerned. Most often, women are relegated to the back when it comes to decision-making, hence this law will bring women forward and ensure that institutions, political actors will create space for female leadership”.

Olinda added that the Draft Bill is timely as next year is an election year for the country and MINPROFF will be proud to see women in the limelight.

“If this law enters into force before the elections, women will be highly represented. Taking part in this was important for us as a ministry that is in charge of issues concerning women. We had rich exchanges and we hope that what we have done here today will help Leap Girl Africa advance with its mission in making sure women are represented in civic life,” Olinda noted.

On her part, a representative from the Ministry of Justice, MINJUSTICE, who doubles as the Gender Focal Point of the Ministry, Yvonne Meva’a, reiterated that there is gender disparity in the country as far as some sectors and posts are concerned. Meva’a said the State has a duty to address these concerns.

“This law on quota will serve as a trigger that in the long run will lead to gender parity as far as leadership in the country is concerned,” she stated.

Women encouraged to be courageous

Speaking at the workshop, participants urged women to be courageous and take on more leadership roles. They highlighted that most often, women are the ones who relegate themselves to the back and shy away from public action.

A representative from the Cameroonian Party for National Reconciliation, PCRN, stressed that the political outfit needs more women, especially in top positions.

He regretted that sometimes, women with the zeal to be members of a political party are scarce. He insisted that women should let go of fear and be more engaged in civic life.

Leap Girl Africa revealed that once the Draft Bill is finalised, it will be handed over to MINPROFF that will in turn hand it over to MINJUSTICE, which is in charge of tabling the Bill before Parliament for scrutiny. 

About LGA

Leap Girl Africa is a young women-led organisation created in 2016. It is advancing girls and young women’s rights and education by preventing and responding to Sexual and Gender Based Violence, SGBV, improving girls access to Sexual and Reproductive Health services and related items and using technology to improve access to education.

The organisation envisages a Gender-based Violence, GBV-free community where girls in all their intersectionalities are educated, their rights respected, and they are given equal opportunities and resources to reach their full potential.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3239 of Tuesday September 24, 2024