About 50.8% of Zambia’s population are women. Sadly, women are lagging behind in many ways. Their representation in political decision-making structures is dismal. Their voice is hardly heard. As the country is heading towards yet another general election during which political actors will be presenting their policy agendas to the electorate, the women movement of Zambia has resolved to set their own agenda. Instead of waiting to hear what political actors are going to do to address the needs and aspirations of women, the Zambia Women Movement has decided to undertake this unprecedented approach to present the political fraternity with what the real issues are from their (Women) perspective. This is a clarion call for more inclusive development and governance processes that will ensure that the aspirations and interests of women in Zambia are addressed and prioritized through policy, strategies and resource allocation. It is a real agenda setting led by the women of Zambia.
Through this Women’s Manifesto initiative, political parties and candidates are called upon to demonstrate their commitment and readiness to put at the centre of their development agenda, the issues that affect women. The Women Manifesto is a persuasive collective voice of the Zambian women. This collective voice deserves a listening ear and a caring heart from those that truly believe that sustainable development is inclusive development and that women’s needs count in that regard. Furthermore, the Zambian women, through this Manifesto, are also calling upon other actors that have the mandate, the power, the will and the interest to make a difference in the lives of the women of Zambia. This call to action transcends elections. Beyond August 2021, this Manifesto will be a benchmark to ascertain and take stock of the promises that political actors have made towards women. This is a tool for accountability.
The drafting of the Women’s Manifesto, as a collective voice of the Zambian women, was both holistic and consultative. Democracy Works Foundation (DWF) and Zambia National Women’s Lobby (ZNWL) jointly led this initiative and facilitated consultative meetings of a wide range of women groups and organisations across all ten provinces of Zambia. These consultative meetings took place both at provincial and national levels. This Manifesto therefore reflects the diverse sectors in which women are involved in. These sectors include civil society, political parties, public institutions, private sector as well as the business sector.
The development process of this Women Manifesto coincided with the political parties’ own processes of developing their own respective election manifestoes. The Women Movement took advantage of this perfect coincidence to already present the preliminary findings arising from the consultative meetings to a selected number of political parties even before this Women Manifesto could be completed. These political parties included the Democratic Party (DP), Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD), Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), New Hope Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), Patriotic Front (PF), Socialist Party (SP) and United Party for National Development (UPND). Four of these parties (FDD), New Hope MMD, PF and UPND) work with DWF within the framework of the Southern Africa Political Parties and Dialogue (SAPP&D) programme. The other three (DP, MDC and SP) work with the Young Women in Action (YMA) another partner organization in this initiative. The Women movement noted with delight that during these engagements, the parties mentioned committed to consider the issues raised by the women as they (political parties) advanced in their manifesto development process. The hope of the Women movement of Zambia now is that these parties have indeed included the women aspirations in their election manifestos.
