The media is one of the most important yet difficult areas of work for advancing gender equality. Women in the media are either missing, or they are represented in ways that reinforce their traditional roles and/or objectify their physical attributes. The media can be part of the problem, but it can also be part of the solution in changing attitudes and behaviours, paving the way for its audience to understand the importance of gender equality. Unless “the media promotes gender equality in the workplace and also in the way women are represented, both within the working environment and in the representation of women” then women cannot play their full role in society.

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Peace support operations seek to create conditions for long lasting peace in conflict and war-torn conditions. Peacekeepers provide security and peacebuilding support to help countries make the transition from conflict to peace. Such efforts are supported by the military, police and civilian personnel. It is crucial that gender perspectives be integrated into all elements of peacekeeping policy including security reforms, disarmament processes, and the operations of the police, military and in elections.

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The Post-2015 SADC Protocol on Gender and Development is set to take forward the progress achieved in the last 15 years in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the 2008 SADC Gender Protocol. The new agenda paves the way to closing the gender gaps in the region’s response to HIV and AIDS. The Post-2015 theme of “leaving no one behind” places greater emphasis on interventions rooted in inclusivity and equality.

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The global commitment to ensuring universal access to affordable, good quality healthcare remains strong with new targets being set through the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs). The SDGs cover a wider range of health issues than the preceding the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

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In the SADC region as elsewhere, there is beginning to be a paradigm shift on Gender Based Violence (GBV) from response to prevention. In July 2017, UN Women convened a meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa that brought together several practitioners and experts on GBV across the globe. The take home message from the three-day conference was the need to rethink and asses existing GBV prevention and response strategies and focus more on evidence-based interventions through collection of reliable data.

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Despite some progress recorded over the past nine years in improving the economic status of women in the region, recent studies show that the gender gap is widening and contributing to the slow progress on human development being in the region. The Gender Inequality Index assesses disparities between the sexes in health, education, political participation and economic empowerment. It shows that, in countries with less inequality, such as Botswana, Mauritius, Namibia and South Africa, women obtain 96% of men’s human development. The same is not true in more unequal countries, where gender gaps persist in access to economic assets, workplace participation, entrepreneurship opportunities, and benefits from natural resources and the environment. According to estimates by UNDP, a 1% increase in gender inequality reduces  overall human development by 0.75% (UNDP, 2016).

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The right to education is an inalienable right for all. The definition of education to include primary, secondary and tertiary is now extended to include literacy. This is a welcome change because it includes adult learners. The expanded conceptual framework for education provides opportunities to link with other key development priorities such as climate change, peace, justice and building a critical citizenry. The challenge is integrating these concepts into the formal school curriculum as well as developing non-formal learning programmes that may be accessed by people out of the formal school system.

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A strong and vibrant democracy is only possible when all levels of government and leadership are fully inclusive of the people they represent. No public or private office is inclusive unless it has the full participation of women. This is not just about women’s right to equality and their contribution to the conduct of public affairs, but also about using women’s resources and potential to determine political and development priorities that benefit societies and the global community. Women have proven abilities as leaders and agents of change, and their right to participate equally governance is essential for a healthy democracy and sustainable development.

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Constitutional and legal rights provide the foundation for a rights-based approach to achieving gender equality. The chapter highlights progress made in the last year based on the Post-2015 SADC Gender Protocol. The revised Protocol has strengthened rights language, especially in relation to child marriages, and other harmful practices, but avoided being too prescriptive on sensitive subjects like custom and culture. Zambia completed its constitutional review process in January 2016, and this included alignment with the SADC Gender Protocol.

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Now in its ninth edition, the 2017 Barometer is the first assessment of the Post-2015 SADC Gender Protocol. Moving with the times, the Alliance has expanded the two key main yardsticks in the Barometer: the SADC Gender and Development Index (SGDI) and the Citizen Score Card (CSC). The Barometer incorporates many MERF and SDG indicators, as well as its own unique measures of voice, choice and control. The Barometer also introduces the Gender Responsive Assessment of Constitutions and Laws conducted by Alliance experts and networks around the region. A wealth of data, insights and analysis awaits all readers of the Barometer, that will also be made available online and in multi-media formats. The “SADC we want” is one in which citizens engage; step it up for gender equality, and make sure we achieve Planet 50/50 by 2030!

Download the Barometer 2017 Executive Summary. Visit the Barometer Data Portal to view data reports.

Download summaries of each chapter below or buy the chapters.

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While notable efforts to address GBV have occurred across the region since the publication of the 2017 Barometer, at times progress seems invisible and unquantifiable. Globally, GBV awareness raising campaigns such as the 16 Days of Activism and One Billion Rising continue to draw attention to the scourge. Simultaneously, the NGO sector, government, academia and international development partners continue to emphasise the need for evidence-based and theoretically-grounded interventions.

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Despite some progress recorded over the past ten years in improving the economic status of women in the region, recent studies show that the gender gap is widening and contributing to the slow progress on human development in the region. The Gender Inequality Index (GII) assesses disparities between the sexes in health, education, political participation and economic empowerment. It shows that, in countries with less inequality, such as Botswana, Mauritius, Namibia and South Africa, women obtain 96% of men’s Human Development. The same is not true in more unequal countries, where gender gaps persist in access to economic assets, workplace participation, entrepreneurship opportunities, and benefits from natural resources and the environment.

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“Schooling is not the same as learning. Worldwide, hundreds of millions of children reach young adulthood without even the most basic life skills. This learning crisis is a moral crisis. When delivered well, education cures a host of societal ills.” This quote, from the World Bank’s World Development Report 2018, recognises the need for urgent action to change and improve education globally.

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A strong and vibrant democracy is only possible when all levels of government and leadership are fully inclusive of the people they represent. No public or private office is inclusive unless it has the full participation of women. This is not just about women’s right to equality and their contribution to the conduct of public affairs, but also about using women’s resources and potential to determine political and development priorities that benefit societies and the global community. Women have proven abilities as leaders and agents of change, and their right to participate equally governance is essential for a healthy democracy and sustainable development.

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Constitutional and legal rights are a crucial indicator of the level of respect for human rights in a country and they provide context in its developmental trajectory. Development cannot occur without human rights and protection of women’s rights plays a significant role in any country’s development process. This chapter highlights progress made in the last year based on the Post-2015 SADC Gender Protocol. With its improved rights language, stakeholders expected the 2015 Gender Protocol to stimulate positive advancements in women’s rights protections. However, the region shows mixed progress, with countries stalled in certain instances. The courts have continued to play a vital role in upholding women’s rights and compelling SADC Member States to do more to protect women’s rights.

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2018  marks  the  tenth  anniversary  of  the  SADC  Gender  Protocol  and  the Barometer. A wealth of data, insights and analysis awaits all readers of the Barometer. Visit our Surveys and Reports page. Case studies of the SADC Gender Protocol @ Work provide qualitative insights on how the SADC Gender Protocol is used as a tool to promote gender equality The “SADC we want” is one in which citizens engage; step it up for gender equality, and make sure we achieve Planet 50/50 by 2030!

Download the Barometer 2018 Executive Summary (English) or  in French or Portuguese. Find out more about the #SheDecidesSouthernAfrica campaign in English, French and Portuguese.

You can purchase the full barometer in our eShop by clicking on add to cart.

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Windhoek 10 August: Gender activists from around the region will launch the tenth edition of the SADC Gender Protocol Barometer and the #SheDecidesSADC campaign at Hage Lodge on 13 August, ahead of the Heads of State Summit.

“For every step forward on gender equality we have witnessed a step backwards,” noted GL CEO and co-editor of the annual state-of- women in Southern Africa report. “In the year that saw women across the world and our region march for equality, our strong message is that it’s time for women to claim their space, and make their own decisions about their bodies, their work, their relationships and their lives.”

The Barometer uses two yardsticks: the empirical SADC Gender and Development Index (SGDI) and the perception based Citizen Score Card (CSC). The regional SGDI has in the past year gone down from 61% to 59% and the CSC from at 65% to 62%. At 63% and 71% for the SGDI and CSC, Namibia scores fifth out of the 15 SADC countries. Namibia, the new chair of SADC, received the Gender is My Agenda Campaign (GIMAC) Award in 2017 for its efforts to promote gender equality. One more SADC country needs to sign the updated Post 2015 SADC Gender Protocol for it to go into force. As the new chair of SADC, it is hoped that Namibia (which has still not signed) will do this.

Key findings include:

• Over the last decade eleven countries in the region have undertaken Constitutional reviews. All but two (Botswana and Seychelles) now have specific references to promoting gender equality. But five countries (Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius and eSwatini) have “claw back clauses” giving precedents to customary provisions that may undermine equality.
• In the attitude survey that accompanies the report, 55% of respondents said that people should be treated the same whether they are women or men, yet 56% said that a woman should obey her husband!
• Despite boasting the only country in the world with a constitution that recognises sexual orientation (South Africa) only three other countries in the region (Mozambique, DRC and Seychelles) have decriminalised homosexuality. But the Botswana High Court ordered the government to change the gender of a transgender woman on her identity documents. Swaziland had its first Pride March.
• Women’s representation in parliament in SADC is at 26%, one percentage point lower than at baseline in 2009, but two percentage points higher than the global and Sub-Saharan average of 24%. Women’s representation in cabinet in the region is lower at 20%. This is also true in local government (23%).
• The 30 July Zimbabwe elections, with four women presidential candidates, will be remembered for women finding their voice, but failing to make any significant electoral headway. Young women broke new ground by demanding a 25% quota.
• Out of the 15 SADC countries, 13 now have equal enrolment at primary school (compared to five at baseline); 8 at secondary school (compared to seven at baseline) and 11 at tertiary (compared to 7 at baseline). But more than 20% of children between ages seven and 14 spend their days working instead of studying in nine SADC countries.
• Over the decade women’s representation in economic decision-making has increased by a mere two percentage points from 19% to 20%. Employers in all SADC states pay women less than men. At 54%, the difference between women’s and men’s average earnings is highest in eSwatini, and lowest in Botswana (12%).
• GBV Baseline Studies show that at least one in three women in the region have experienced GBV in their lifetime. Emotional abuse, the most prevalent form of GBV, is the type of GBV least likely to be reported to the police. Sexual and physical abuse are grossly under-reported. There is little or no government support for prevention and places of safety.
• Maternal mortality across most of SADC, with the exception of Mauritius and Seychelles, is unacceptably high and declining too slowly to meet even the SDG target of 70 per 100 000.
• Only South Africa and Mozambique have legislation that allows abortion on request. In late 2017 Madagascar passed the Reproductive Health and Family Planning Law after a clause that would have legalised abortion had been removed. Angola has withdrawn a bill that was passed in early 2018 that would have made abortion illegal after women marched against it.
• In the past year there has been significant focus on menstrual health and hygiene. The Botswana parliament voted to provide free sanitary ware in schools. Tanzania has removed taxes on sanitary ware. But the Tanzanian government sparked an outcry when in a public address in June 2017, President John Magufuli reinforced a ban on teenage pregnancies.
• Though new infections of HIV and AIDS are declining, at the current rate of decline the region will still have at least 570,000 new infections annually (more than double the target). Gender inequality is still a strong driver of the pandemic: 59% of new infections in Southern Africa are women, but 53% of AIDS-related deaths are men. Young women 15 to 24 years old are only 10% of the total population but 26% of new HIV infections.

Globally, the #SheDecides movement has drawn renewed focus to the imperative of enabling women, and particularly young women, to have control over their own sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing. The movement is galvanising support across the globe to Stand Up, Speak Out, Change the Rules and Unlock Resources. The Barometer launch will also coincide with the launch of the  #SheDecidesSouthernAfrica campaign.

At the local level 363 Centres of Excellence for Gender in Local Government councils are championing gender equality at the local level. Seven countries held SADC Protocol@work summits between November 2017 and June 2018, with Swaziland and South Africa holding a joint summit. These yielded 406 best practices on how the SADC Gender Protocol is being applied, especially at the local level.

The launch will take place on the eve of Women’s Day in South Africa – the commemoration of the the 1956 march of approximately 20 000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to petition against the country’s pass laws that required South Africans defined as “black” under The Population Registration Act to carry an internal passport, known as a pass.

All 15 SADC Member States except Mauritius have signed the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, but only ten have signed the amendment to align it to the Sustainable Development Goals. One more country needs to do so for the amendment to go into force.  This is likely to be Namibia, which is hosting the 2018 Heads of State Summit.

The Alliance is a coalition of gender networks in the fifteen SADC countries that campaigned for the adoption, ratification and revision of SADC Protocol on Gender and Development (Protocol).The Protocol is a unique sub-regional instrument that brings together the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Africa Union (AU) Agenda 2063 and Beijing plus 20  and enhance these through specific targets.(For more information contact Lucia Makamure on alliance@genderlinks.org.za or Colleen Lowe Morna on 082-651-6995).

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Johannesburg, 07 August: Gender activists from around the region will launch the tenth edition of the SADC Gender Protocol Barometer and the #SheDecidesSouthernAfrica campaign at Constitution Hill on 8 August, the eve of Women’s Day.

“For every step forward on gender equality we have witnessed a step backwards,” noted GL CEO and co-editor of the annual state-of- women in Southern Africa report. “In the year that saw women across the world and our region march for equality, our strong message is that it’s time for women to claim their space, and make their own decisions about their bodies, their work, their relationships and their lives.”

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Representatives from Capricorn District Municipality are attending a joint South Africa and Swaziland Gender Justice Summit and Awards. The event is held on 09 and 10 May 2018 at Matsapha in Swaziland.

The aim of the summit is to share best practices on issues pertaining to gender and gender based violence. The summit is attended by representatives of organisations such as Capricorn District Municipality led by Cllr. Jara Masubelele Limpopo department of Health (district level), South African Local Government Association and representatives from some of CDM’s local municipalities. From Swaziland organisations that are represented, led by Cllr. Bongani Mkhatshwa are Gender links Swaziland, Swaziland Local Government Association, twelve of the thirteen town councils in the Kingdom of Eswatini.

Speaking during the event Cllr. Bongani Mkhatshwa representing the Mayor of Matsapha Town Council & Minister of  Housing and Urban Development in Swaziland, Phiwayinkhosi Mabuza said that he is sure that they will all learn from each other and improve on how they do things. The theme of the summit is “Local Action for a strong 2030  A- Gender in Southern Africa”.

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2013: Pearl Mabaso is the owner of Pearl’s Boutique based in Mbabane Market opposite the Municipality Council of Mbabane specializes in sewing church gowns for the two mainstream dominions which are the Zion church and the Jericho (Red-Gown Sect). Apart from those, Pearl’s boutique also specializes in sewing African attires.  

She did her training in sewing of which after receiving that training, Pearl has purchased more industrial sewing machines compared to the domestic sewing machines that she had prior to this. Because of this, she has started conducting sewing lessons because there are more sewing machines available than those that she needs. In addition, before the training, Pearl was sewing in a small office which she rented at the Old Bus Rank in Mbabane and she now has a bigger sewing space where she also conducts the lessons at the Mbabane Market.  

The market for this kind of business is already congested since a lot of dressmakers now realize that there is a great market in this business and are therefore focused on dressmaking. It is therefore there was a challenge for Pearl to establish and maintain her clientele. Through word of mouth and the good quality of her products, Pearl has managed to maintain her customers. Pearl also experienced a shortage of funds to start up her business, she did not receive funding from external sources than her own pockets.  

After the training, Pearl was able to managed her business and she is also able to use the computer for basics. For marketing her business, she uses the easiest way to communicate with her customers by the use of making phone calls as well as the social media through WhatsApp as it is most effective to her client base.  

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