Women MPs urged to turn gender commitments into action

National Assembly speaker Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has urged women parliamentarians to use their legislative and oversight powers to turn regional and international gender commitments into concrete national laws and policies.

Speaking at the Joint Women Parliamentary Caucus (JWPC) conference in Windhoek on Friday, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said women’s representation remains uneven, with women making up 42.3% of the National Assembly but only 16.6% of the National Council as of January.

“This disparity is a call to action. It is a clear signal that our journey towards gender-equal representation and gender-responsive governance is far from over,” she said.

The two-day conference is focused on strengthening the JWPC’s institutional structures and improving parliamentarians’ understanding of Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) model laws.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said members should review the caucus’s strategic plan and annual work plan, assess its financial position and consider adopting its constitution.

“The adoption of this constitution will be a historic milestone, providing the institutional framework necessary to hold ourselves and future generations of women parliamentarians accountable to a shared vision,” she said.

She urged members of parliament to focus on how regional frameworks can be incorporated into national legislation.

“We must move beyond acknowledging our regional and international commitments, such as the SADC protocol on gender and development, and master the art of domesticating them through the parliamentary law-making process and executive oversight,” she said.

The conference brings together government stakeholders and civil society organisations to discuss challenges affecting women, girls and people with disabilities.

“The success of this conference will be measured by the actions that follows – through the policies we change, the budgets we influence and the lives of women and girls we improve,” she said.

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