The main purpose of the launch of the African Academy for Women in Political Leadership is to put in place the capabilities, the networks, the sisterhood that is needed to advance women’s representation in political decision-making across the African continent”. For reaching this step, working with men under the framework of positive masculinity in changing their mindset is crucial.
During the opening ceremony, Former President of Centrafica, Samba Panza; former President of African Union, Dlamini Zuma; and former President of Ethiopia, Sahle-Work Zewde,were present.
Forty women with various rich experiences and from different high institutions in different African countries are in this first cohort.
In a press conference after launching, and after signing of a MOU between the President of the African Academy for Women in Political Leadership, Francis Gatare, and the Director Regional Programme for Africa, UNDP in Addis Ababa, Jide Martyns Okeke, journalists asked questions on the event and how African Academy for Women in Political Leadership will realise its Vision.
“I want to also thank the African School of Governance and the Africa Women Leaders Network for the partnership that we have been able to forge. For too long in Africa we tend to talk about the need to move from norm adoption to implementation. I think what we are witnessing today is that shift. We are actually implementing what the decisions that have been taken by our African Union Member States. Back to your question, why is this important? I think if you look at the entire continent of Africa today, Rwanda is an exception. And we do commend the government of Rwanda for its leadership. Rwanda has the highest representation of women in Parliament in the world, not just in Africa. But that same story cannot be said elsewhere. In West Africa, for example, it’s still about 14%. So how do we get to a point where we achieve gender parity? I think that is the most fundamental question. And for us to be able to achieve that, I think we need an ecosystem of support. So this academy represents that shift from norm formulation to implementation. But more fundamentally, it’s going to provide the capabilities, the networks, the sisterhood that is needed to advance women’s representation in political decision-making across the African continent”, said Jide Martyns Okeke.
And Francis Gatare added: “The African Academy for Women Leadership in Politics is a great partnership that the African School of Governance has with the UNDP, the African Union Commission, and the African Women Leaders Network. It’s very important for us at the African School of Governance because our mandate is to create a generation of African leaders who are ethical and who have a transformative mindset and have a commitment to the pursuit of excellence in the service of their communities and their countries. We all know that there is an under-representation of women in political leadership across the continent. And so this initiative is an opportunity to bridge the gap and narrow the difference between men and women representation in political decision-making. Therefore, as a school, it’s a great opportunity for us to exercise our mandate, which is educational, but also to exercise our mandate, which is to train a new generation of leaders, men and women, who have a certain mindset that is committed to transforming their countries and their communities. At the African School of Governance, we have two types of educational offerings. One is a degree program approach, where students on a full-time basis stay with teaching faculty and earn a master’s degree at the end of the time. However, we also have an educational program, which is what we call executive education, short courses. Therefore, this partnership is in that framework of the short course executive education offerings. We have various other executive programs. In fact, this is not the first partnership with UNDP. We have had one other program delivered before. And so we are very, very happy for this partnership because it’s enhancing ASG to execute its mandate. It’s a value chain. I think it starts with, first, finance. If you look at the average cost of embarking on a campaign in Africa just to win a parliamentary seat, it’s about $40,000”.
“And so financing is one constraint that needs to be addressed. I think the second is the need for us to really have this peer-to-peer learning. It is not a bad thing to lose an election. But what do you learn from that experience, and how can the knowledge of your failure be transposed elsewhere? I think this is really an important aspect, and this is what our academy would seek to address. The third point is really about the patriarchal nature of most African societies today. Despite the historical role of women leaders, whether it’s around decolonization, whether it’s around facilitating development, we still have a system that is deeply patriarchal. And that is something that requires a structural shift, not just in terms of putting in place legislations, but more importantly, working with men under the framework of positive masculinity in changing mindset. And I think this is really fundamental. So I think it’s a value chain. There are quite a number of factors that obviously would constrain women’s political participation, and that is what we really want to hear from these 40 exceptional women that have been selected for this academy. What are their stories? What are their challenges? What are their achievements? And how can they learn from one another? That is the main principle of this important academy, and that is hopefully what we want to try and fulfill after the next few days here”, added Gatare.
A mechanisms have put in lace to ensure participants continue to benefit through mentorship
It is important to know that beyond the four-week programming that is here, mechanisms have been put in place to ensure participants continue to benefit through mentorship, networking, and long-term leadership and development. Gatare is explaining:
“So this initiative is called an academy because it implies a certain permanence. There’s a permanence to it. Also, what we are hoping to achieve through this is to create a permanent network between participating cohort members. So as you would have seen from the profiles of the different members who are participating in this cohort, there are various edges from various countries, but also serving in different capacities in their respective countries. Each is coming with a very rich experience. So by putting them together, right, they are sharing their experiences and learning from each other, bonding friendships, friendships which will create lifelong networks to support each other through mentorship, through encouragement, through sharing experiences and support”.
He added: “But they are also being mentored by their senior colleagues, members of the Africa Women Leadership Network, who are committed to supporting this cohort and subsequent cohorts coming up. The teaching is going to be primarily conducted by the teaching faculty of the African School of Governance, sharing with them experiences from elsewhere, but also practical case studies that will help them contextualize what they are doing in practice also in theory and in case studies elsewhere. We are making them part of the African School of Governance alumni network so that they will have a certain permanence continuously connected with each other, connected with the teaching faculty and also our support network so that nobody will feel isolated and alone when they go back to their countries to support themselves”.
“Finally also, we want them to understand that running for office and obtaining authority and power is not sufficient. But what makes a difference is the character and the impact that the person makes with that responsibility they have acquired. So this will be continuously discussed through being part of the network. As you know, African School of Governance is hosting later this month on 25th and 26th of August, the Africa Mindset Reset Forum. So the dialogue that is going to be in that forum is exactly to enhance the conversations happening here now. Creating always intergenerational dialogue between senior leaders, emerging and aspiring leaders to have conversations and learn from each other. So there is a permanence to this and we will continue to create platforms for this kind of conversations to happen”
A journalist asked how are are the lessons distributed throughout the four weeks, and Jide answered:
“ I think what we have done is to identify, we co-created, let me give you a bit of context how we got here. So together with the African School of Governance experts from across Africa and beyond, as well as of course the African Women Leaders Network, we were able to design a curriculum, a four-week curriculum. And the curriculum really is about identifying some of the constraints, as I mentioned earlier, that women continue to face. Whether it’s around campaign financing, whether it’s around communication, whether it’s around how you do advocacy, or in fact how you’re able to change mindsets. All contributing towards one goal. How do you become successful in your political journey? I think that is, so we’ve crafted this curriculum. The first week would take the cohort through really some of the high-level conversations, as Francis mentioned, around some of the conceptual and historical relevance of what we’re trying to do. But we do not want this to just be academic. And that is why it’s important that we also hear the stories of the women that are in the room”.
“And those that have been successful beyond them. And that is why we have the African Women Leaders Network Elders that are also going to be providing mentoring. So this first week would be in person, where they would be meeting some of the faculty members of ASG, but also meeting some of the experts that we’ve assembled from across the world. But subsequently, they are now going to transition into a virtual learning experience. So week two, three, and four will be, of course, some of the same issues, but it’s going to be virtual. So that’s how we have, of course, that’s how we’ve designed the program. Why have we designed it in this way? I think the first constraint for us is financing. As you know, the development finance architecture is under significant constraint. And, of course, having the cohort in Kigali for four weeks would be cost prohibitive. And that is why it’s important that we try to optimize. But in future, we might consider, of course, a mixed methodology. We might, in fact, change. As you know, this is the first cohort. So there are quite a number of lessons that we’re going to learn from this experience that would be adapted and used to improve subsequent cohort as well. Is it free of charge? Yes. Is it free of charge? At this stage, yes. It’s being funded. It’s not free of charge, not necessarily, but it’s being funded by UNDP primarily. We do have limited resources. We think sustainability is important. And that is why perhaps let me use this opportunity to invite other partners. We are open to and receptive to more partners coming on board so that we can sustain the program. As Francis mentioned, the idea of permanence is at the heart of the program. But permanence can only happen when you have the right resources to sustain the program. And so, despite the fact that we do have a catalytic support now, we would certainly welcome partnerships for us to be able to sustain”, added Jide Okeke. (End)