Women should be active agents of peace, says renowned gender activist

TODAY MARKS the end of the Women in Parliament (WIA) 2014 Summer Summit hosted in Kigali. Delegates from 45 countries convened in Kigali for the three-day meeting to address the role of women in leadership positions and the need for women empowerment. 20 years after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Rwandan society has experienced an extraordinary process of state building. One of the important measures taken to reunite society was gender mainstreaming, particularly in politics where women are granted at least thirty per cent of posts in decision making organs under the constitution. As a result, 64% of Parliamentarians in Rwanda are women. Since the election of 2008, Rwanda is the first country to have a majority of women in its Parliament. The New Times’ Athan Tashobya met with Esther Silvana Koch-Mehrin, the Founder of Women in Parliaments Global Forum (WIP) who spoke about her views on the role of women in transforming the world, and her expectations from the 2014 Summer Summit. Mehrin also doubles as a German politician serving in the European parliament since 2004. Why was Rwanda picked to host the WIP 2014 summer summit? WIP wants to show the examples of leadership that give positive encouragement and create the motivation in other countries to try to get to that level of that country that is leading in a given area. And Rwanda was a very clear choice to show the world the journey this country has made from destruction to a leading country, especially when it comes to the participation of women in leadership. And 2014 is obviously a special year because we shall be able to participate and celebrate the 20th anniversary of Liberation and the 20th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide; it makes it more memorable to have the summer summit here. Rwanda reserves 30 % of the Parliamentary chamber of Deputies seats for women; would this be a key lesson for the summit to address gender based inequality in global decision making positions? During our discussions, we focused on the importance of constitution and legislation. And Rwanda will also serve as an important example of how successful women empowerment is. We had the speaker from the United Nations giving appraisal of the Rwanda example. And, we see other countries around the world following this as well. For example, Mexico most recently introduced an article in its constitution similar to the Rwandan one. What were the key concerns that the summit was addressing and are we looking at some policies being implemented? Most topics are obviously practical in the Rwandan context; regarding the role of women in building peace and reconciliation. We hope to transfer that to our respective countries. The strong message of the summit is that women do not have to be the passive victims of war but rather the active agents of peace. We are looking at the general aspect of the positive change in society when we have more women leaders. How would you rate the performance of women in decision making positions in relation to their male counterparts? You can see change in the political agenda when there are more women in decision making positions. And I suppose that different perspectives have different priorities. Women representatives will always bring strong focus on education, conflict prevention, keeping good health and others. Because for women, very often it means, when they have good health and peace in their families, they are free to do more productive services for society. Will this prevent other, bolder and imaginative, ways and means to ensure political empowerment of women? We will certainly see a big improvement. Because the situation we see in the world is not the best we wish to have. We have got many conflicts and violence and a lot of unresolved issues, which I believe could be addressed differently, and we definitely need women out there. Shouldn’t we be looking at women representation in a broader perspective like having men pushing for the rights of women? Women alone cannot transform society. We need strong male leaders. In WIP, we have 30 per cent of visionary men who are on our advisory board. We need these men as allies. I think having a balanced gender representation is something very positive. Representation is for the society and by the society. From your own perspective, what should be done to improve African women politicians’ capacities and overall performance? I think there are a lot of very capable women out there. All they need to do is not to be held back by any fear. To overcome those gender stereotypes, and restricting ideas, women should strive to explore and live their potential. What can be done to empower women is to empower men to accept women leadership; we need to empower both sides. And help to make women believe in themselves and their abilities. Could that be the reason you formed WIP? That is absolutely true. I believe in the power of networking, and if we have a big number of women leaders, coming together in such a big summit, then we can inspire more women to bring the kind of change that society wants to see. The stories and experiences are all similar, all over the world. What would be considered as the greatest achievement of WIP, in the two years of its existence? Well, I think it is still too early to speak of the achievements we have made since 2012. But the mission of the forum is to advance society by tapping the potential of women, and increasing the number of women in politics. What are your future prospects as WIP in relation to women empowerment and sustainable global development? We will have a gathering in different parts of the world, where there will be memorable events that go in line with our objectives and vision. We have a study with the World Bank and we will present our results at the end of this year, on the non-legal barriers for women in politics. And we will also look into the impact of women in different political positions. If you had the power to change something, what would it be? I would start with the gender stereotypes. It does not matter what chances you have in life, if you are born a girl or a boy you can still be the strongest transformer of the society. For political concrete action, I would love to see a mindset change in the society from referring to men as the only strong politicians.

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Women should be active agents of peace, says renowned gender activist