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The annual Gender Justice and Local Government Summit continues to grow from strength to strength. Two hundred participants attended the inaugural summit in 2010, 231 in 2011, while 280 participants are taking part in the 2012 event held in Johannesburg April 23-25.
This summit is also unique in that for the first time, it was preceded by six in-country summits and awards. Gender Links (GL), the convenor of the regional summit, conducted six in-country summits in Botswana, Madagascar, Mauritius, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Some 703 people participated in the national summits. Winners at the national level are competing at this week's regional summit.
Commenting on the achievements of the summit in three years, the deputy chairperson of the GL board, Scholastica Sylvan Kimaryo, said dialogue between men and woman was the missing link in achieving gender equality.
"We need to promote dialogue, because legislation alone is not enough. The presentations on areas of excellence made today(Monday) at the summit show a vast improvement that gives me hope that the goal can be achieved by 2015," said Kimaryo.
She said it was also heartening to note that civil society, which has often been perceivedto work against governments, is collaborating with governments to promote gender equality in the region.
Gender Links Lusophone Director Eduardo Namburete said apart from being a celebration of success, the summit provides a space for self-assessment by municipalities and individual participants, as well as space for exchanging experiences with one another.
"The summit is an opportunity for self assessment especially by councils, because it gives them a platform to see whether they are on track by looking at what other councils in other countries are doing.
"It is also an opportunity for constant learning, because we keep on learning new things at every summit, especially as we near the 2015 gender protocol target," said Namburete who is also a GL board member. One of the 28 targets of the 2008 SADC Gender Protocol calls for equal representation of women in all areas of politics and decision-making by 2015.
Namibian Gender Justice and Local Government Manager Sarry Xoagus-Eises who has attended all the three meetings since 2010 said the summit is relevant to gender activists in local government systems, because it provides them with...