DAR ES SALAAM, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The East African Community (EAC) has said women constitute more than 50 percent of the population of the EAC and therefore hold the key to the region's economic success, the EAC said in a statement late Monday.
The statement issued by the EAC headquarters in Tanzania's northern tourist city of Arusha said the observation was made by the EAC Secretary General, Peter Mathuki, at the opening session of a two-day Annual Women's Conference organized by EAC Secretariat in collaboration with the Arusha-based Tengeru Institute of Community Development as part of the 2022 International Women's Day celebrations.
Mathuki said Article 5(e) of the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC stipulates gender mainstreaming in all its endeavors and enhancement of the role of women in cultural, social, political, economic and technological development.
"We need to include women as active participants in decision-making at both the national and regional levels. The purpose of this is to ensure that decisions are inclusive and reflect the desires of the entire population," said Mathuki.
He said at the national level, the constitutions of the respective EAC member states guarantee one-third majority for women in elective positions and this has considerably increased the number of women legislators in elective positions across the region.
He said that the EAC member states have also institutionalized gender equality with each having autonomous ministries responsible for gender with their respective policies, strategies, action plans and gender focal persons to promote, coordinate, implement, and monitor gender equality and equity.
The conference that ends on Tuesday brought together stakeholders representing civil society organizations and private sector bodies, the Tengeru Institute of Community Development, UN Women and other development partners, the East Africa Youth Network, women's groups and associations, and students from the region, said the statement.
The EAC member states are Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. ■