Swaziland

News Item:  Gender Equality and Empowering Women

GENDER equality is critical for Swaziland to harness the full potential of all her citizens to be able to reduce poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals. However the reality is that discrimination against women is still pervasive in many areas of society.

Like with HIV, poverty wears the face of a woman. Of the 69% of the population living under the poverty line, 63 % are women. The feminisation of poverty has a direct impact on the quality of life of the population as well as the next generation, especially because an estimated 10% of the population is now made up of orphaned and vulnerable children, a number that continues to grow exponentially as a result of the HIV epidemic.

Pervasive gender inequality and the violation of the rights of women that accompany it is evident in laws that treat women as minors and second class citizens as well as in social norms and customs that deprive women the right to make independent decisions. Patterns of violence and abuse are common while traditional leaders who are responsible for the governance and administration on Swazi Nation Land (SNL) where more than 70% of the population lives, are reluctant to promote the rights of women in their communities.

Even though Swaziland has acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the fact that this protocol has still not been domesticated means that essential policy and legal reforms that are essential for correcting the status of women are not enacted.

UNDP has teamed up with the European Union and the Government of Swaziland and civil society partners to undertake a comprehensive programme of advocacy to sensitise key policy makers on the importance of domesticating the Convention on the Eradication of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

UNDP has contributed 351,000 Euros while the EU has put in 1 million Euros. With the approval of the Government, UNDP is the managing agency for the project implementation.

Drawn up a comprehensive plan for implementation and domestication of CEDAW, which will look at conducting law reform to be in line with CEDAW, supporting economic empowerment for women looking at technical assistance to institutions that deal with gender

The project aims at the social transformation of key institutions and to raise the profile of gender empowerment issues in the public arena.

A key area for advocacy is the sensitisation of policy makers, especially royal advisors who are influential custodians of customs, some of which contribute to minority status of women. Similarly targeted will be ministers and senior government officials, as well as legislators and traditional leaders.

The project also seeks to strengthen capacity of the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus as well as key state and non-state actors to play an effective role in eliminating gender discrimination and ending violence against women. Since HIV is an important aspect in the life of Swazi society, the programme has mainstreamed HIV in all activities as well as to address the escalating culture of violence against women, especially the stigmatisation of women living with HIV and AIDS.

A key component is to support the ministry of justice to undertake an audit of existing legislation and regulations of CEDAW to identify laws that need reform for the country to comply with CEDAW.

The project also seeks to support civil society including social partners to advocate for the implementation of CEDAW and the African Women’s Human Rights Protocol in relation to government policy and practice and to promote public accountability in the elimination of discrimination against women.