SOUTHERN AFRICA: Maureen asks SADC to recognise women's role in development

MAUREEN Mwanawasa has said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) should take women's economic participation as one of the keys to sustainable development.

Addressing the SADC high level policy meeting under the theme: ‘Why SADC should focus on ICBTs: Advancing trade and women's empowerment' in Harare Zimbabwe, Maureen, a former first lady, said Informal Cross Border Trade (ICBT) was one way of empowering women economically by ensuring that they have access to education and training, and productive assets including land, credit and time serving technology.

She, however, observed that women were exposed to sexual harassment and abuse at borders due to corrupt practices when clearing goods for purposes of paying customs duty and taxes.
Maureen urged SADC leaders to use the same political energy seen during political elections for economic emancipation.

“Even the women who never had an opportunity to excel high in education should be given an opportunity to have access to financial resources that would assist them engage in business under ICBTs,” Maureen said.

Quoting from the Economic Justice Network report of 2007, Maureen said it was estimated that 60 per cent of trade in the SADC region border on ICBTs, more then 50 per cent of informal traders rely on ICBTs as their own source of income while 22 per cent out of 24 per cent of people in the region engage in ICBT to supplement their formal income.

She said ICBT was one of the tools to poverty alleviation and ICBTs should not be viewed as a problem but as a solution and should not be treated as mythical minority.
Maureen said ICBTs counteracts regional trade imbalances and increases extra regional export capacity.

“While we have decided to address the ICBT issues to SADC, the women in ICBT must have the will and courage to stand out from traditional mould and be in the forefront of reforms which can create a more sustainable model of trade across our borders,” she said.

Maureen said SADC should be motivated by acknowledging that women represent half the market population and their business issues should be embraced accordingly.

“SADC should promote the participation of women in trade negotiations as well as work to enforce trade policies through research, training, advocacy and net-working,” Maureen said. “SADC should encourage and facilitate the formation of women in business association and networks.”

Maureen also observed that one of SADC's biggest constraints to development was inadequate physical and economic infrastructure, adding that tax exemptions mostly benefitted multinational investors.