BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE– Who runs the world?
The European Union (EU) has revealed its hopes to see more women in the 12th Parliament.
Alessia Bursi, the Head of Cooperation for the EU Delegation in Eswatini, said in the Kingdom, the female population was 51.6 percent, making women and girls the majority in the country.
However, she said gender gaps were prevalent in the most critical sectors of the societies, such as political empowerment, economic participation and opportunity where women’s voices and participation were very much required now more than ever.
Bursi mentioned that women in power new data show progress but wide regional gaps, she said the data tells them that women are still the minority of Heads of State and Government. They are still deeply under-represented in government leadership, at less than one in four Cabinet Ministers, with men continuing to dominate critical portfolios such as the economy, defense, and energy.
She said there was a need for full representation in the country and a need for the equal participation of women in all its processes. Yet, continued violence and threats online and offline against women leaders, candidates, and voters blight the potential for their voices and knowledge to bring the change that is so urgently needed for economic and social recovery.
“The world cannot afford to continue this injustice. We need a paradigm shift that brings true equality in Eswatini; we have seen women play crucial roles in supporting their households and communities to achieve food and nutrition security, generating income, and improving rural livelihoods and overall well-being,” she said.
In addition, she said their contribution to the economy was also enormous, she noted that about 70 percent of the Eswatini population was living in rural areas, where women were the main drivers of development. She added that more than 90 percent of caregivers were women, most of whom were unpaid.
Furthermore, she said women and girls continued to face persistent structural constraints, which include the strong elements of patriarchy, lack of economic resources, including access to land, access to education, as well as a discriminatory legal environment.
Therefore, she said women in Eswatini needed to be empowered so that they become aware of the importance of the socioeconomic and political contribution they could make to the country’s progress.
With the national elections taking place later this year, she expressed hope that emaSwati would vote for women and they would see more females in Parliament than before.
Courtesy Pics of EU in Eswatini
