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Remarks by Tegegnework Gettu, Director of UNDP Africa at the Gender Forum On
Gender Equality, Elections and the Management of Diversity in Africa

Keynote Address  by  Mr. Tegegnework Gettu The United Nations Assistant Secretary General and Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa (RBA)

Kigali, Rwanda

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Minister For Gender and Family Promotion, Hon. Aloisea Inyambu,
Minister of Local Government, Hon. James Musoni
Madam Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Practice Director, UNDP Democratic Governance Group;
Representatives of the African Union Commission
Representatives of the Regional Economic Communities
Officials of the Government of the Republic of Rwanda
My colleagues from the UN System
Resource persons and facilitators
Distinguished Experts
Ladies and Gentlemen

I am delighted to be with you this morning at the official opening of this important policy dialogue on “Gender Equality, Elections and the Management of Diversity in Africa”. It is indeed my utmost pleasure and singular honor to deliver a keynote address during this auspicious occasion where you will be exploring the relationship between democracy, elections and diversity management with special focus on gender equality in Africa with a view to informing institutional and policy reform at the regional and national levels. Before I proceed, allow me, Master of Ceremonies, to express my profound gratitude and heartfelt thanks to the Government of the Republic of Rwanda, for having accepted to host this forum.

The Forum itself is both timely and pertinent to Africa’s governance agenda and UNDP/RBA’s regional programming in support of the consolidation of democratic and participatory governance on the continent. It is timely as it is part of the preparations for the Eighth African Governance Forum (AGF-VIII) scheduled to take place in 2012 under the theme “Democracy, Elections and the Management of Diversity in Africa”. There is no denying that elections are the hallmark of democratization throughout the world including in Africa. However, elections face a number of challenges; one relates to elections and the management of diversity; and another to gender equality in both governance and development arenas.

It is also pertinent as it addresses two major challenges facing the African continent today namely elections and diversity management and gender equality and women’s empowerment particularly in the governance arena. Both issues resonate perfectly with UNDP/RBA corporate priorities which inform our regional programme in Africa. This programme has a clear focus on promoting gender equality with a view to achieving MDG3. The RBA regional programme also has a distinctive focus on promoting democratic, credible and transparent elections. It is, therefore, to these two issues (namely elections and diversity management and gender equality) that I will confine my brief remarks.

Master of Ceremonies
As an African, I can attest to the fact that it is good to celebrate democratic advancement on the continent to date. As part of this advancement, elections have now become an entrenched part of the continent’s political culture. Before end of this year, in the next couple of months, more than 30 Member States of the African Union (AU) will have held elections of various types. All the elections that have been held this year have been largely peaceful. This is good news that is worth celebrating. However, elections, alone, do not make democracy. Neither can democracy itself be equated with mere electioneering. Thus, elections, themselves, have remained a challenging process in Africa especially with regard to the extent to which they facilitate constructive management of diversity. When Cote d’Ivoire burned following its ill-fated elections of 2010, at the core of that violent conflict was mismanagement of diversity. Our continent is characterized by highly heterogeneous societies whose diversities cut across race, ethnicity, religion, region, language, gender, age etc. Let us not forget that elections are a high stakes contest for state power. Because of this, elections are conflict-ridden. Access to and control over state power is therefore mediated through electoral competition. This competition tends to ignite disputes, tension and at times violent conflict.

Electoral disputes and conflicts, in my considered opinion, are not counter-productive. They only become a negative phenomenon the moment they escalate into political violence claiming people’s lives. But as long as electoral disputes and conflicts are managed constructively, they do not pose danger to society. At the heart of constructive management of electoral disputes and conflicts is, of course, the existence of independent and impartial Election Management Bodies (EMBs) that guarantee the integrity of the elections within the confines of each country’s national constitution and electoral law and in conformity with international and regional norms and standards.
Elections can become either an asset or liability for a country depending on how identity is managed. However, in many of our countries, social identities continue to pose a challenge to democracy especially during elections. If social diversity is managed in a constructive, consultative and inclusive manner, it should not pose a major problem for elections.

But if diversity is managed in such a way that it promotes exclusion, marginalisation and discrimination, elections are turned into war by other means and thus become destructive. We have witnessed this trend in a number of African countries (such as Cote d’Ivoire in 2010) where the political leadership and other key actors politicize social identities for political gain. Ethnicity gets politicized. Electoral politics becomes ethnicised.

The end results are protracted violent conflicts, loss of lives, destruction of property and retardation of socio-economic progress all of which are inimical to the quest for sustainable human development and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Every time electoral violence erupts, one of the social groups that gets hardest hit is women as we witnessed in Kenya following its 2007 general elections.



Distinguished Guests
Allow me to draw your attention back to why we are gathered here today under this specific theme of gender equality, elections and the management of diversity on our continent.
Women constitute a majority of the populations of each one of the 54 member states of the African Union. Women shoulder the greatest burden of socio-economic activities in many of African countries. But Africa’s record in respect of gender equality and empowerment of women in the governance arena is mixed. And women remain marginalized in both governance and development spheres of our societies.

All this is despite various declarations and commitments taken by the African Union toward gender equality. These include the (i) the Constitutive Act of the African Union of 2000; (ii) the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa adopted by the 2nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union in Maputo, Mozambique on 11 July 2003 and (iii) the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa adopted by the 3rd Session of the Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 6-8 July 2004. These commitments are in line with MDG3 on the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women.

Allow me to commend the African Union for demonstrating visionary leadership in adopting these important instruments aimed at ensuring gender equality and empowerment of women. Be that as it may, the cliché that the taste of the pudding is in the eating holds true here. From where I am standing, it does seem that it has been rather easier for the continental body to adopt these gender equality measures but it is proving an uphill struggle to translate these instruments into practice in most AU Member States. While AU has a decision for gender parity (50:50 representation of women and men in key public institutions), a number of countries still lag far behind this target.  

Ladies and Gentlemen

Few African countries are exceptions to this general trend of gender inequality and disempowerment of women. Among these few exceptional cases is the Republic of Rwanda. Emerging from a dark cloud of protracted violent conflict and genocide that has claimed more than two million lives, Rwanda has made remarkable progress both in establishing a peaceful and stable society and promoting gender equality in governance and development. The Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda explicitly commits the country to 30% women’s representation in decision-making organs of the state. Of the 80 members of the National Assembly, 45 are women. Thus, Rwanda’s Lower House boasts an impressive 56% women representation, the largest representation of women in parliaments in Africa and the whole world. In its 26-member Upper House or Senate, 9 are women. This is 35% women’s representation. It is for this reason that Rwanda is one of a few models for promoting gender equality in Africa and I salute the country’s leadership for this remarkable success.


Dear Colleagues
I am particularly pleased to note the commendable achievements Rwanda has continued to make in curbing violence against women and girls where, working with UN System partners the Government of Rwanda has recently passed a law on gender based violence which envisions zero tolerance to violence against women and girls. It is also pleasing to note that critical steps have already been taken to implement this policy including through the establishment of the Isange One Stop Centers for Survivors of Child, Domestic and Gender- based Violence.

Furthermore important steps have been taken by the Government and its UN partners namely UNDP, UN Women, UNFPA and UNICEF to economically empower women in Rwanda. The creation of formal employment targeting up to 5000 poor and unskilled women through handicraft production and informal cross border trade is a case in point and will undoubtedly enhance economic security for women in the country whilst at the same time boosting regional integration.

In conclusion, Rwanda has shown to the world that Africa can achieve gender equality provided there is political commitment from all stakeholders especially the political leadership. It is also possible to use elections as a vehicle for promoting gender equality and Rwanda’s use of the Party-List Proportional Representation System combined with gender quotas is very instructive.

We are gathered here in this beautiful country, the Land of a Thousand Hills, to learn from Rwanda how it has achieved this celebrated success in gender equality. We are also here to share lessons of experience from each other as to how best to ensure that Africa achieves this noble goal in the not-too-distant future. We are here to engage in a constructive dialogue in order to build a better Africa for its peoples (both men and women) and the coming generations.  
 
I WISH YOU FRUITFUL DELIBRERATIONS OVER THE NEXT TWO DAYS.

I THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION.