Sara Longwe - Feminist, gender activist

By SITEMBILE SIWAWA
AS a young girl having just reached puberty, Sara Longwe took her father to task when he beat her because she had been strictly counselled never to allow any man even if it was her father to touch her body.
Uh! It was unheard of to set up a family tribunal to take a father to task to explain why he should beat his supposedly ‘grown’ daughter.

Another interesting episode in her career was when she resigned from her job as a young teacher at Kamwala Secondary School in Lusaka after she was denied maternity leave.
In another run in with authority was as a teacher at Kabulonga Secondary School, she insisted on wearing trousers to school which was not allowed.
The issue was escalated to the office of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, which now forced her to form a lobby group called Zambia Association for Research and Development (ZARD) in 1984.
The lobbying group succeeded in forcing Government to introduce maternity leave for female teachers and in ensuring Zambia ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
The list of battles for equality which started at personal level is endless and no wonder she describes herself as, ‘a radical feminist activist’.
Sara Longwe said “I have always looked out for rights and to ensure they are not violated. If anyone violates them, I take them to task.”
It is clear that the fight for gender equality in the country gained momentum during her days and as Zambia celebrates her golden jubilee this year, Ms Longwe pondered on feminine activism in the country since independence.
“As the old breed of activists, a lot was achieved during our time. We managed to fight for women’s right to maternity leave, access to bank loans, and the idea of mother’s day in all institutions, the list is endless,” she chuckled.
It is rather true that the freedoms women and girls are now enjoying can be attributed to these women who fought tirelessly at the expense of their families and a sexist society..
Perhaps they managed to achieve a lot because of their combined efforts and oneness.
“Activism of yester years was about fighting for solidarity and fighting is about numbers,” Ms Longwe expressively said.
However, after 50 years of independence, only a handful of women have benefitted from this hard fought for activism.
It is only middle-class women in the urban areas who have greatly benefited because perhaps they do not understand what gender equality is all about.
That is why Ms Longwe said the ‘patriarchal system’ that still exists in the African set-up is the major hurdle feminine activism is still facing.
“It is now time for present day female activists to take their messages to the rural women because they are still lagging behind on gender equality due to the patriarch system of doing things,” she stressed.
It is however true because the Zambian Constitution borders mainly on customary laws hence the public outcry for a new one.
“That is why we need a new constitution because our laws still discriminate against women. For example, a girl is not protected from early marriages because our laws allows a girl at 18 years to be married and many other oppressive laws,” Ms Longwe lamented.
And to consolidate her efforts and works, she made sure her three daughters were inspired and socialised to understand that there should be equality between a man and woman in every society.
Hence the need to introduce feminists teachings to girl children at a tender age in order for them to grow up knowing the value of equal opportunities and progress for both men and women.
To crown all her achievements, Ms Longwe was once awarded with the Africa Prize for Leadership in New York City in United States of America.
During her youthful days of activism, Ms Longwe had an opportunity to work with women movements such as Zambia National Women’s Lobby, Non-Governmental Organisation Coordinating Council, and Women in Law in Development in Africa and the Women in Law in Southern Africa.
At an international level, she has worked for FEMNET and Ubuntu based in Spain.
After her primary and secondary education, Ms Longwe who is married to popular columnist Roy Clarke later proceeded to the University of Zambia where she studied for a Bachelor of Arts in Education.
After resigning from her teaching, she did career guidance and further exposed herself to gender and development studies during the course of her duties.
She is not short of fun whenever time allows, and she describes herself as a darts, hockey fan.
“I always play dart, hockey with my family and friends when I am free. Sometimes I also enjoy watching movies from the cinemas and plays from theatres,” she said.As expected by society, everyone needs to have a spiritual aspect but alas, Ms Longwe is of the view that churches still preach messages that are discriminatory against women.
“They still consider women as second-class citizens who should be bulldozed around,” Ms Longwe concluded.
 

'Counsel men before getting married'

By SITEMBILE SIWAWA
RESIDENTS of Lusaka’s Chawama township have observed that the failure to counsel men before they get married has significantly contributed to the rise in gender-based violence (GBV).
Speaking during The Good Husband campaign evaluation meeting during the week, Brighton Chongo said pre-marital counselling for men is a remedy for GBV in society.

The Good Husband campaign was launched last year in December and will run for three years with a hope of transforming violent men.
However, Mr Chongo said it is unfortunate that many cultures in Zambia do not counsel men before marriage.
He said “as men we always think we can gain respect from our wives and children by beating them.”
And another resident Evaristo Lesa added that the manner in which some marriages are contracted is also contributing to GBV.
Mr Lesa said young people are now having children outside wedlock and are forced to get married thereafter without counselling.
He said that “young couples have no one to counsel them and they do not know how to resolve issues in their home and end up fighting.”
And Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) executive director Patricia Ndhlovu said since The Good Husband campaign was launched it has been received with enthusiasm by the residents.
Though much more sensitisation is needed to make good husbands and reduce GBV in the country.

“And that is why we have decided to donate soccer balls and chess boards to deter men from being found in bars but rather; participate in sporting activities,” she said.
She added that her organisation will be holding monthly evaluation meetings on the same programme in order to access the progress.

State urged to develop midwifery related policies

UNITED Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) country representative Mary Otieno has called on Government to develop new policies related to midwifery to reduce maternal mortality rate.

Dr Otieno said the current proportion of births attended by skilled personnel is significantly low at 46.5 percent.
She said the figure at which Zambia now stands is below the World Health Organisation standard of six midwives per 1,000 live births per year.
This is according to a statement made available to Femail to commemorate the International Day of Midwife which was celebrated on Monday May 5.
“Skilled midwifery personnel ensure skilled delivery at birth which is critical to reducing maternal mortality in Zambia, and as such, it is critical that Government and stakeholders prioritise improvement of existing as well as developing new policies in relation to midwifery,” emphasised Dr Otieno.
Meanwhile, Dr Otieno has praised government for progress made in reducing maternal mortality rate from 591 per 100,000 live births in 2007 to 483 per 100,000 live births in 2010. “However, these figures remain high, one of the highest maternal mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa,” she said.
And Dr Otieno said UNFPA in partnership with Government will employ three strategies to increase availability of midwifery services in Zambia.
“The first is education, where scholarships are provided to midwives to attend midwifery school and we will also support nurses who would like to proceed to midwifery profession,”
“The second is regulation of midwifery by supporting development of the curriculum, guidelines and standards for midwives”.
While the third strategy is to support the Midwifery Association of Zambia.

Theresa Kambobe, veteran scribe, gender activist ponders on Zambia's 50 years

Theresa Kambobe (white) during a conference on women in Dakar Senegal


“IT IS disheartening to note that after 50 years of independence, no single woman heads a media institution in Zambia, despite the many capable, intelligent and educated women we have around.

“There seems to be a glass ceiling that has proved too hard to crack and we must do everything possible to break it,” stressed Theresa Kambobe.
This statement is true; that after 50 years of independence, Zambia cannot boast of having a single woman to head a media institution.
And as Zambia embarks on celebrating her golden jubilee, veteran journalist, gender and human rights activist Theresa Kambobe had an opportunity to give an insight on her experiences as well as her challenges as a scribe.
Ms Kambobe, who once worked for the Zambia Daily Mail, Times of Zambia and the then Zambia National News Agency (ZANA) in the 1980s, said in those days, being a journalist was thrilling because she had an opportunity to travel far and wide as well as meeting different people.
The journalism of yester- year is somewhat different from now because there were plenty of institutions to work for, but few scribes, alas for the modern ones! “Journalism is a great career. It is versatile and exposes you to many influential people.You get to travel a lot,” she said.
It was during her execution of her duties that she got actively involved in gender activism by joining the Zambia National Women’s Lobby through her writing.
As she expedited her activism, she used to contribute articles to the Zambia Daily Mail Femail page which was created some time back, though she was faced with scorn by her peers.
Ms Kambobe recounts:“I was scorned by my peers that the Femail page I was contributing stories to was not serious and that news pages were considered most important.” One can certainly attest to the importance attached to the Femail page in most newspaper organisations by the number of days it is published.
That is why Ms Kambobe was quick to point out that there is need to first start by sensitising the media on gender equality to do away with the mindset that is still lingering, 50 years after independence.
And it is this mind that has continued to hinder women journalists from taking over as media heads.
“I remember covering world conferences on women as a reporter, but the one that stood out the most was the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. When we came back to Zambia, we made a lot of noise and carried out very forceful campaigns.
“This happened during the period when there was a new government and many women movements took advantage of this wind of change to advocate for women’s rights and by ensuring that they took part in the political affairs of our country,” she recalled.
The Beijing conference and the wind of change helped Zambian gender activism gain momentum and eventually saw many more women take part in decision-making.
However, Ms Kambobe lamented “the activism that we started then is no longer as vibrant today as we celebrate 50 years of independence. I keep wondering where we have gone wrong because every time we make a positive stride, we fall back”.
She further lamented “most non-governmental organisations have aligned themselves with political parties and that is why they have lost credibility and every time they speak, people think they are speaking for a particular interest group.”
Ms Kambobe feels there are a lot of real issues that women movements can align themselves to, such as water and sanitation, and poverty which is greatly affecting women.
“There are real issues affecting a number of women, especially the peri-urban and rural women, who have not befitted much from gender equality crusades than always talking about politics,” she reckoned.
Ms Kambobe retired from active journalism and it was somewhat a blessing in disguise because of the few challenges she encountered after she got married.
“I used to work late nights and by the time I got home, I would find my children would be asleep; that was why I was tasked to cover courts,” she said.
Apart from advocating for women’s rights at home, Ms Kambobe had a chance to work in Senegal, Sudan and the United States (New York) where she participated in peace-missions.
She trained women in various skills from war-torn countries. She also trained and lobbied traditional leaders in Sudan to desist from marrying off young girls.
She, however, managed to reconcile her roles as a wife, mother and career woman because of her loving and understanding husband.
“I can call myself a lucky woman because my husband knew from the start the kind of a job I was involved. I think people should have relationships where there is understanding,” Ms Kambobe said.
Ms Kambobe, who is a devout Catholic and a member of the Women’s League; loves to farm and rear chickens during her spare time.

There’s need to recognise gender roles - chief

By SITEMBILE SIWAWA

Chief Mumena of the Kaonde speaking people of Solwezi

   


CHIEF Mumena of the Kaonde-speaking people of Solwezi has says failure by people to stick to their God-given roles has contributed to gender inequality in society.

The traditional leader said conflicts always arise when one gender tries to overrule the other.
He said culture should be able to reconcile gender roles and bring equality between men and women.
Chief Mumena was speaking in an interview with Femail after Gender and Child Health Minister Inonge Wina officiated a consultative meeting for traditional leaders on Gender Equality Bill and Children’s Code Bill in Lusaka during the week.
“My ascendency to the throne was purely through my mother’s roots and that is why we need to recognise women in totality,” he stressed.
He is also of the view that gender-based violence has become rampant in urban areas than rural areas due to failure men and women to recognise their roles.
“Failure by women and men to respect each other’s roles has become a recipe of anarchy,” the traditional ruler said.
And Mr Mumena has expressed disappointment over the cultural norms and values that have been neglected by society.
He said “in as much as we are part of the global village people should not neglect their culture and values because we are where we are because of that.”
He further said Africa always has something good to share with the rest of the world.

WORLD LEADING EXPERTS GATHER TO TACKLE No.1 KILLER OF WOMEN AT WORLD CONGRESS OF CARDIOLOGY

Facts on cardiovascular disease


By SITEMBILE SIWAWA

WORLD leading experts met at the world congress of cardiology in Melbourne, Australia during the week with a call to end discrimination against women when it comes to management and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

The congress started sittings on the 4 and closed on the 7 of May.

Director of cardiovascular health programmes at World Heart Foundation Julie Anne Mitchell said that despite the fact that half of 17.3 million deaths from cardiovascular disease each year happen in females, women are still discriminated.

Ms Mitchell said women are more likely than men to be under-diagnosed and under-treated mostly because the presentation, progression and outcomes of the disease are different and less understood in women than men.

She said “although there has been progress in raising awareness about cardiovascular in women and studying the specifics of the disease, the gap is still too wide.”

This is contained in a statement made available to Femail during the week by spokesperson for gender discrimination in cardiovascular treatment Karen Silwa.

Ms Mitchell said the leading experts at the congress are further calling for research, better information for healthcare professionals and women and tailor made treatments to bridge this gap.

“To celebrate ‘wear red day’ for women, new research is presented on women’s heart health alongside examples of work being undertaken in several countries to improve recognition, prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease,” she said.

And she has since called on women to be wary that cardiovascular disease is a number one killer.