By Bacha Zewdie
One of the factors that drag a
country’s socioeconomic and political development is the various types of
discriminations, violence and deprivations committed against women. This
affects half of the society from learning, working and contributing to the
prosperity the entire community. Furthermore the gender based violence,
discrimination and harmful traditional practices committed against women also
render them as potential burden to the society by incurring economic, mental
and physical problems against them.
With this in mind, the first
Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP I), had given due attention to extricating
women from all these hindrances and empower them as capable forces of
development. This macro level long term plan which was implemented for five
years from 2010 – 2015 had set goals in various sectors that are believed to be
vital in transforming the lives of women. Among the salient issues that were highlighted
in the plan are creating jobs for women in agriculture and non agriculture
sectors, promoting girls education, and fighting harmful traditional practices,
among others.
Accordingly though the
implementation of the plan, it was possible to engage about 8.6 million women in
agricultural and non agricultural works. 11.11 million women were also given
land ownership certificate. To minimize labor load, 3.4 million women were provided
with access to alternative energy and other adaptable technologies.
The increased participation of women
in the industrial sector has significantly contributed in trimming women’s rate
of unemployment while raising income for many others. In the sector of micro
and small enterprises it was possible to train about 1.13 million in business
management, 2.2 million in micro and small enterprise, and 1.8 million in self
help organizations. By forming linkage with credit and saving agencies 6.62
million women and 80,148 associations that they formed have benefitted from
access to loan. Accordingly they have
taken Birr 2 billion loan and saved Birr 2.82 billion.
The measures taken to eliminate obstacles that prevent women participation
in education have succeeded in increasing the number of girls school
participation. Accordingly during the GTP I period girls primary school
enrolment rate has grown up by 92.1%…, secondary school enrolment rate by 36.9%…
and higher education enrolment rate by 32%…
The strategy
implemented to eliminate
harmful traditional practices against women, was also instrumental in
addressing the rate of female genital mutilation, abduction and early marriage,
among others. The major activities carried out in this regard include raising
the awareness of the society, changing their attitude, increasing women
participation in education and strengthening law abiding system.
These being commendable
achievements, there are some hindrances that need serious consideration in the
future so as to further boost the role of women in the overall development of the
country. Limitations in coverage and quality of agricultural extension service
for women, shortage in farming and agricultural product processing,
technologies that simplify women’s labor load and considers their interest, refusal
of some women to accept land use right offer, and unfavorable supply of loan
for some poor women were observed to be potential threats that could hamper the
smooth progress in the field.
In addition, girls’ school
dropout rate, poor performance of girls in higher education, adaptability of
higher educational institutions for women, harmful traditional practices
against women like early marriage and physical assaults are among the problems that
need attention in the future. Thus, extending the good deeds registered to
greater level and eliminating the problems identified from the grass root is
the plan for the next time.
In the country’s political arena,
involvement of women has reached 27.8% at Federal Parliament, 20.6% at
legislative and 9.2% at executive bodies. Though a good beginning, the figure indicates
that a lot remains in bringing more women to leadership at each level. On the other hand, the weakness of women
organizations in securing their rights and benefits has posed negative impact.
Gender based oppression and
partiality in the field of politics is a deeply ingrained problem of the
country. This has kept its women passive and voiceless further leading them to all
the other social and economic problems. To break this historical obstacle and maximize
political participation of women gender issue was given attention by the
government since 1992. At that time women affairs office which was subordinate
to the Prime Minister’s Office was established. Women’s affairs departments
were also instituted in regions and federal ministries. The Council of
Ministers endorsed the first national women policy in 1992. The Ethiopian
constitution that was endorsed in 1994 has also included articles that duly recognize gender equity. Particularly, article
35 and 9 sub articles have contained legislative decrees that ensure the benefits
of women in political, economic and social affairs and protect them from various
forms of discrimination and abuse.
Thus, participation of women in
different activities of election has grown up to some extent in the federal and
regional elections. For instance, the number of women voters during the fourth
general election was 15,252,240 (47.8%) and out of 6,979 candidates, 1,000
(12.4%) were women. National Electoral Board is also working to ensure the involvement
of women with disability in election. For example, during the fifth general
election, different trainings were offered to women with disabilities according
to their problems so that they can make informed decisions.
Women are also being benefited by
being organized in development teams. Through the development teams women are
organized to solve their social problems, accelerate their economic activities and
protect their local peace and security. They also share ideas on different
issues like health care, sanitation, maternity care and income generation.
These organizations brought about several benefits. The major one is attitudinal
change among the community regarding the capability of women in outdoor
responsibilities. Through this, women can emancipate themselves from economic dependency, and subsequently
from all kinds of hindrances against their full scale contribution to the
development of their nation.
- Sources
– Amharic versions of
·
Report
of GTP I & plan of GTP II
·
‘Tiwlid’
magazine volume 1, No. 1, February 2016
·
‘Ethical
Service’ magazine volume 1, No 1 January 2013.
·
MOE
Annual GTP Report.
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