Sankung Touray

GENDER MAINSTREAM FINAL WORK.

Topic: Gender inequality in the Gambia Hypothesis: Bringing the
perceptions, experience, knowledge and interest of women as well as men
to bear on policy making, decision, plan making and job opportunities
Methodology: critical literature analysis, DATA and Case study.

GENDER INEQUALITY is an analytic, social science tool that is used to

identify, understand, and explain gaps between males and females that exist
in households, communities, and countries, and the relevance of gender
norms and power relations in a specific context.
Since independence in 1965, numerous laws and policies have been passed
to advance gender equality and women's rights in The Gambia. However,
the representation of women in positions of power and decision-making
within public and private bodies and representative institutions at national
and local levels and within political parties remains low.

A casual look at introduced constitutional reforms worldwide in the past two

decades shows that the principle of equality between women and men is
increasingly being constitutionalized. The inclusion of women’s rights and
gender equality principles is a global trend. According to the UN Women’s
Constitution database, issues related to gender equality are typically
addressed through constitutional amendments and constitution-making
processes. These include general provisions regarding equality and non-
discrimination, gender-specific constitutional provisions on women's rights,
the right to reproductive healthcare, access to education and protection
from violence. These kinds of provisions draw on both international and
regional standards, including the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms
of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Protocol to the African
Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa
(Maputo Protocol). The United Nations at the 1995 Beijing Conference on
Women set a gender quota of 30% for women representation in decision-
making processes. The Gambia is a party to several of these international
legal instruments and commitments.

This gives a snapshot of women’s political participation in The Gambia. It

briefly reviews the applicable national legal framework, challenges, and
opportunities of constitutionalizing quotas.

The 1997 Constitution of the Republic of the Gambia (‘1997 Constitution’)

replaced the 1970 Constitution after the military coup led by former
president Jammeh. And for more than two decades, Jammeh used
constitutional amendments to influence the political process with huge anti-
human rights and undemocratic provisions.

Other relevant laws of The Gambia, including the Women’s Act 2010 have
general provisions to empower women’s political participation and
representation. The Gambia is one of few countries in Africa that have
enacted specific legislation to domesticate the provisions of both the
convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women
and the protocol to the African charter on human and people’s rights of
women in Africa. Better known as the Maputo Protocol in domestic law.

Despite the country’s willingness to advance women’s rights and political

participation, women remain underrepresented. For instance, out of 58
National Assembly members, only six are members of the nation assemble
or women lawmakers (with only three elected). Despite women making up
more than half of the Gambian population, women account for only 10
percent of parliamentarians, including the speaker of the national assembly.
The insufficient political representation of women in decision-making
processes is primarily due to political, social, and religious determinants,
including or decisive poverty. The legal framework in its present form is not
comprehensive in securing a substantive right for women in the political
realm. For instance, while section 15 of the Women’s Act provides a general
obligation to adopt temporary special measures, it did not make a definitive
prescription, for example, in the form of electoral gender quotas to reduce
gender gaps in representation. In addition, existing laws are grossly
inadequate given the socio-cultural barriers that are well entrenched in
society against women. A study on women’s political participation and
representation shows that patriarchal socio-cultural norms governing power
relations in The Gambia influence voters’ expectations and perceptions of
female politicians.
ANOTHER INJUSTICE GAMBIAN WOMEN FACE:
In terms of education access and financial freedom, women’s rights in The
Gambia are not equitable. Only 47% of Gambian women are literate in
comparison to 64% of men, so most women are at a disadvantage from the
start. In addition, 26% of Gambian girls marry before they turn 18, which
allows minimal time to for them to gain pre-marriage financial
independence. In 2009, 80% of women worked in the agricultural sector, but
only 30% received cash earnings in comparison to 43% of men. Under the
customary practice, instead of owning the land they cultivate, women
borrow it from their husbands. The women who own property cannot
receive more than one-third of the estate, as Sharia Law permits. This is a
challenge because most banks will not grant credit unless the applicant
owns land which puts women in enormously difficult situation. In most
households in the Gambia women are the once responsibly for all the
household works while men are mostly the breadwinners of the family that
provide for the family.
Level The Law Campaign
In 2018, Gambian Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubacarr
Tambadou, attended the Global Citizen Festival in New York to share The
Gambia’s commitment to the Level the Law Campaign. Two years prior,
Global Citizen started the campaign to outlaw discrimination against females
and gender-based violence by 2030. In response to more than 10,000 Global
Citizen tweets, Tambadou renewed the commitment to protecting women’s
rights in The Gambia, which vows to repeal all laws that promote gender-
based violence, prevent equal political participation and hinder reproductive
health.

A statement by Tambadou said that UNICEF organized training for Gambian

Law Enforcement Agencies on legislation about child marriage. Also, to
demonstrate The Gambia’s commitment to include women in justice
systems, half of the appointees to the superior Courts of The Gambia are
women. Additionally, four of the seven Court of Appeal judges are women,
with a woman serving as president. Finally, Gambia is drafting a new
Constitution that ensures more gender-responsive legislation. BUT THE
CONDITIONS REMAINS THE SAME SINCE THERE IS PARTRIACHY.
25.7% of women aged 20–24 years old who were married or in a union
before age 18. The adolescent birth rate is 67.5 per 1,000 women aged 15-
19 as of 2016, down from 86 per 1,000 in 2012. As of February 2021. In
2018, 10% of women aged 15-49 years reported that they had been subject
to physical and/or sexual violence by a current or former intimate partner in
the previous 12 months. Moreover, women of reproductive age (15-49
years) often face barriers with respect to their sexual and reproductive
health and rights: in 2020, 39.7% of women had their need for family
planning satisfied with modern methods.
As of December 2020, only 39.4% of indicators needed to monitor the SDGs
from a gender perspective were available, with gaps in key areas, in
particular: unpaid care and domestic work and women in local governments.
In addition, many areas – such as gender and poverty, physical and sexual
harassment, women’s access to assets (including land), and gender and the
environment – lack comparable methodologies for regular monitoring.
Closing these gender data gaps is essential for achieving gender-related
sustainable development goal (SDG) commitments.

SOLUTIONS TO GENDER INEQUALITY IN THE GAMBIA:

supporting women's leadership

would enable women’s representation and leadership appear to drive

better environmental outcome. both in the national and the community
level.

Empower women smallholders

Over the last few decades, 55 per cent of the improvement in food security
in developing countries has been driven by programs promoting women’s
empowerment. The Food and Agriculture Organization projects that if
women farmers had equal access to productive resources, their farm yields
would increase by 20 to 30 per cent. This could provide enough food to keep
89 to 90 per cent of the Gambian population from going hungry.

Fund women's organizations

Strong civil society organizations are a critical counterbalance to powerful

state and corporate actors. They bring the voices of those who best
understand their own experiences and needs into decision-making
processes and help to keep governments accountable to the people they are
meant to serve.

REFERENCES:
United Nations office for project services

World health organization

International labour organization

African development bank

Un women

Study.soas.ac.uk

Genderdata.worldbank.org