o_1915f04bi181p2m9qs12em17oea.pdf

Culture & Society
African Femi
long
way over the past half century or so. In
organisations were often tied to the patronage
politics of the single-party state and tended to
focus on welfare, domestic and developmental
concerns whilst avoiding political engagement.
At the grassroots level women’s groups produced
handicrafts, promoted literacy, farmed, engaged in
income-generating projects, and engaged in cultural
activities.
This began to change in the 1990s as women’s
international women’s rights agendas as well as
by the United Nations, African Union, Southern
African Development Community and other subregional
organisations.
The 1985 UN Conference on Women held in
Nairobi and especially the 1995 UN Conference
on Women in Beijing served as catalysts for many
organisations and activists. International donors,
weary of state corruption and waste, began to shift
resources towards non-governmental organisations,
including women’s associations.
At the same time women activists became
involved in democratization movements, which
in turn opened up political space for women’s
mobilization. One-party systems gave way to multi-
taking a lead in changing
has
often been seen as a
Western concept, but
‘Feminism’
African women are
rest of the world.
We often hear a raft of statistics that
both celebrate and lament the status
of women. While some indicators of
gender equality have improved, others
continue to shock and disappoint,
different discrete areas can often
prove a troublesome task.
For instance there is news that
South African women hold 40% of the
country’s parliamentary seats while it is
also alleged that in Gauteng province 1 in 4
women have been raped.
However, in this context, the more
movements have made globally often go
unnoticed. Far from following a trajectory that
seeks to ‘catch up’ with Western feminism,
several African countries and social groups
have forged their own conceptions of equality
and provided models for the rest of the world
to follow.
Women’s movements in Africa have come a
Page 52 The Parade - Zimbabwe’s Most Read Lifestyle Magazine
August 2014