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Gender and Governance

“The most memorable moment in my journey with Gender Links is when I won a commendationaward the regional GJLGS in South Africa in 2011. The recognition made me feel that thestruggles I go through to transform the council and ensure that gender is considered throughoutall the work of the local authority is worth it. Receiving the commendation award gave meconfidence, not only in my work but also in other areas of my life, because I realised that if Icould get one thing right, then I could get many other things in my life right.” Anna Murigwa,Rusape, Zimbabwe

“We knew GL was doing good work in gender and local governance but reading the case studymakes one appreciate your interventions even more. A number of factors make your experiencevery valuable as a learning for policy makers and others. Linking the SADC Protocol to your

work at the local level clearly demonstrates how the gap between international commitments and actions at nationallevel could be overcome. The fact that you are bringing the Protocol down to the first level of public administration iscommendable. We also appreciate that the case study highlights your programming approach which is evidence based,multi-pronged and with very clear intentions and strategy to meet women's strategic needs.” Ngoné DIOP, Chief GenderEquality and Women in Development, UN Economic Commission for Africa, which selected GL's Gender and LocalGovernment Project as one of seven best practices of mainstreaming gender in local government in Africa for a forthcomingpublication.

“International Women Development Agency's partner in the Pacific, Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF)- Pacific participated in the Gender Links Training of Trainers on gender in Local government in Johannesburg in 2010.They have used Gender Linkds/UNHABITAT resources as the basis for adaptation for Pacific gender local governmentactivities/workshops etc. As part of our FLOW project, in partnership with CLGF we would like to explore the conceptof similar Centres of Excellence which Gender Links piloted and implemented (we think as part of your MDG3 fundprogram) as well as learn from Gender Links as a best practice organisation. We would also like to look into possibilitiesof an exchange and sharing resources in the future.” Emily Miller, Senior Program Manager, International Women'sDevelopment Agency Inc.

Faith Manana and Mbabane ward 1 election nominee, Gabsile Siyaya-Mamba - Ezulwini, Swaziland. Photo: Thandokuhle Dlamini

By Sifiso Dube ~ Governance Manager

Anna Murigwa, Rusape,Zimbabwe

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FACT FILE

MALE3696

FEMALE4833

TOTAL8529

BUDGET

Content

89%

Design

89%

Documen-tation90%

Facilitation

90%

Group work

88%

Output

87%

Outcome

86%

Learning

90%

Networking

88%

Admin

88%

Reports135 (COE reports)

Books2 - Mozambique COE Manual and

Lesotho COE Manual

• Gender and governance is now firmly on the agenda of local government.• A potential of 310 councils will complete the COE process by end of 2014• Application of the COE process has improved good governance in the target localities and has become a flagship

training model for gender mainstreaming.• Nearly 500 best practices on gender in local government have been shared at the six national and three regional

summits held to date.• A team of gender champions and gender focal persons have been identified to carry the work forward in some

countries.• Political environment - it is sometimes difficult to facilitate workshops in countries that have elections for example

in Swaziland elections in November 2012 brought the COE process to a temporary halt.• Funding capacity - some countries are more expensive than others implying a need to rigorously fundraise in those

countries. For example Mauritius COE workshops cost ZAR6000 while Mozambique COE workshops cost ZAR55000per council.

• Fostering partnerships and making use of our networks makes the work on the ground easier like in Namibia wherepartnerships have been built with local government associations.

• The annual regional summits as well as the in-country summits are drawing in more and more councils and improveevidence quality.

• Using the council officials to cascade the COE process creates multiplier effects and builds sustainability.• Sharepoint for real time instant communication, decisions are now made faster.• The TOTs are easing the work load on country managers helping the programme to concentrate on partnership

building.• In country funding is really helping us do more and gives us as GL room to put a little bit more in countries where

there is no in-country funding yet like Zambia and Mozambique.• In-kind support is still high in all countries, like in Mauritius where all councils pay for catering and venue and GL

comes in to facilitate the workshops.

Country Bots Les Mad Mau Nam SA Swa Zam Zim TotalMoz

No (new COE councils) 22No of Centres ofExcellence

No of beneficiariesand budgetHow rated by bene-ficiaries in evaluations- average scores

Outputs

Outreach

Outcomes

Main risks

Lessons

Innovation

How VFM is beingrealised

20 46 9 9 19 13 12 21 21 190

15 55 88 21 19 25 23 19 30 42Events for theGovernanceprogramme

Action Plans124 consolidation

workshops

Policy briefs2

No of MOUs withpartners

• 24 statements ofcommitments

• 6 MOUs with localgovernmentassociations

Other eventsattended

113

Media mentions

89

Website hits

27 855

Commentarieswritten

3

No ofphotos

377COE Events

4 7 23 8 0 10 3 1 8 6 70Non COE events

19 62 111 29 19 35 26 20 38 48 407Total events

SynopsisDescribed in a recent evaluation as GL's “signatureprogramme” the governance programme grew from strengthto strength in 2012. The programme is tapping into thelocal government niche though the rich profiles of its localgovernment partners and the passion for gender equalityby the gender champions, officers and focal persons ineach locality. The programme is moving in a complimentaryapproach where each locality learns from another localityin various fora building a model which is sustainable andentrenched in local government institutions. The programmebased on research and advocacy on gender and localgovernment is implemented across 10 Southern Africancountries; see http://www.genderlinks.org.za/page/gender-and-governance.

Following the research on gender and local government,the governance programme aims to promote equalrepresentation and effective participation of women indecision-making. The programme works from the groundupwards to effect change through gender mainstreamingat the local government level. Through this uniqueapproach, the governance programme is implementedthrough the Centres of Excellence (COE) process;see: http://www.genderlinks.org.za/page/centres-of-excellence. The COE model embeds gendermainstreaming at the local level through sustainedinterventions in 190 localities (soon to be increasedto 310) across ten countries in the SADC region.

The COE's link the concepts of gender, the SADC Protocolon Gender and Development and the local actions tomainstream gender in local service delivery whilstmonitoring and evaluating the progress made in this aspect.The local action plans on gender are a blow by blow seriesof commitments on service delivery by the councils linkedto the 28 targets of the SADC Protocol on gender anddevelopment.

Objectives:The governance programme aims to achieve the following:• Combine an evidence-based approach of gender

mainstreaming with policy, action planning and on-the-job training framed around the 28 targets of the SADCProtocol on Gender and Development through the COEprocess.

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• Developing gender action plans initially at provincial,regional or district level.

• Popularise and enhance application of the SADC GenderProtocol through the village workshops that accompanythe COEs and incorporating the Protocol targets into thelocal action plans.

• To provide a knowledge generation and learning platformthrough show casing good practices on gender responsivelocal governance shared at the country and regionalannual summits.

• To build a sustainable model of cascading the COEprocess through working closely with gender officers,gender focal persons and gender champions in each ofthe localities.

BackgroundIn 2003, GL undertook the firstcomprehensive study on the impactof women in politics in SouthernAfrica. “Ringing up the Changes,Gender in Politics in Southern Africa”found that despite the lip service paidto decentralisation and its importancefor women's political and economicempowerment, local government is

a sadly neglected area in gender and governance discourse.Between 2006 and 2008, GL conducted research in tenSouthern African countries in the series, At the Coalface,Gender and Local Government. This research yielded thefirst comprehensive data on women's representation andparticipation in local government in the region.

The COE process that initially was six-stages, has beenexpanded to ten stages to include cross-cutting moduleson climate change and local economic development. Theold process was merged with the new process resulting inupdating Action Plans of the councils. Through supportfrom the parent Ministries on local government and gender,

as well as support from local authority associations, thegovernance programme has signed six MOUs with

associations, and one with a Ministry of Gender.This has provided access through the governanceprogramme and has been implemented in variouslocalities.

Using the evidence-based approach, thegovernance programme provided a platform for

knowledge generation and sharing through the GenderJustice and Local Government Summits held in six countriesin 2012 that preceded the regional summit held inJohannesburg. Prior to this platform, an in-depth processof monitoring and evaluation was conducted in the differentlocalities to measure progress made within a year. Theprogramme reached a total 190 councils in 2012 implyingthat this incremental process will reach a total of 310councils by the end of 2013.

Delivery - activities and inputsThe process involves obtaining political buy-in; conductinga situation analysis; community mobilisation; buildinggender analysis skills linked to action planning;implementing the plan; additional communication, IT andcampaign skills; verification, monitoring and evaluation;

Sifiso Dube ~ Governance Manager Nomthi Mankazana - ProgrammeOfficer

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documenting and sharing good practises at the countryand regional Summits. The process is described in detailwith profiles of each COE mapped by google earth athttp://www.genderlinks.org.za/page/centres-of-excellence.GL has developed a generic COE manual with country-specific case studies, translated into several local languages- see http://www.genderlinks.org.za/page/governance-training.

The COE process expanded from six to the ten stagesis shown in the table below. Key changes include:• Content of the action plans broadened to include local

economic development including care work (theunwaged work of women) and climate change.

• The strategic communications module now has a specificmodule on IT aimed at ensuring proficiency and capacitybuilding in this area.

• The targets of the planning framework have been alignedto the SADC Protocol on Gender and development.

• Monitoring and evaluation is strengthened through

administering scorecards at the beginning and end ofthe process. GL now proposes to strengthen this evenfurther by monitoring the prevalence and attitudes towardsGBV at the beginning and end of the process. The aimis to show that community by community can achievethe SADC Gender Protocol target of halving genderviolence by 2015.

The key activities of the Governance Programme are asfollows:

The ten stage process is built on key principles ofpolitical support, evidence based approach, communitymobilisation, context specific interventions, capacitybuilding, application of skills a, monitoring andevaluation and knowledge creation.This is a hands on approach of applying the COEmanual through real life examples and skills transferto council officials.The gives leverage of the COE process through buildingsustainable models and ownership of implementingthe ten stages.

This is a networking activity which brings a criticalmass in the best practices done by local authoritiesand aligned to the SADC Protocol. The summits providea vivid interface between council action planning andcommunity benefits.This provides linkages to COE capacities and theProtocol expectations as well as an interface with thecommunity in terms of the Protocol at work.The women in local government campaigns helpswomen to access information and to use ICTs forcampaigning whilst simultaneously holdinggovernments accountable in providing an enablingenvironment for women to contest and the protocoltargets.

ActivityCOE Process

Capacity Building

Cascading the COEs

The SADC Protocol Summit

Monitoring & Evaluation

Advocacy and campaigns -women in local government

Description & Inputs RationaleThe process involves obtaining political buy-in; conductinga situation analysis; community mobilisation; buildinggender analysis skills linked to action planning;implementing the plan; additional communication, IT andcampaign skills; verification, monitoring and evaluation;On the job training of council officials and political leadersbacked by the Training of Trainers model

Through the various cascading models and Training ofTrainers in each country that GL is working, this is creatingmultiplier effects of the COE process by strategic allianceswith Local Government ministries, local associations andGender ministries. GL is working with local governmentassociations across the region on innovative strategies forcascading the COEs, including working through genderfocal points of the associations and peer support.This is collection of good practices on gender mainstreamingin different localities through an evidence-based approachof the Protocol at work. Knowledge is shared and learningdone through peer and external review.

On-going of monitoring through update of council actionplans and verification exercise which collects evidence onthe ground to support council efforts.Imparting campaigning skills to women in local governmentaspirants and office holders through the COE process andraising awareness of the SADC Protocol target of 50%women in local government by 2015

Gender Links had made me realise theimportance of gender issues; in the past,I used to take these issues lightly. Now Iplan to make sure that by mid-2012, all myprogrammes will be in line with the tenstages of the Centres of Excellence - Naledi Masipa, Polokwane, South Africa

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The research of gender and local government shows that these are the closest tothe people and yet gender neutral approaches have derailed development progress.Councillors assessing the gender compliance of their own councils and developingcontext specific action plans. Through capacity development linking servicedelivery to gender equality and the national policies, the local authorities can nowlink the local plans to the national plans.Women councillors occupy less visible roles within council and there is minimalattention to particular needs as women decision- makers. Through the COE processthey gain on-the-job skills and support in gender analysis, planning, budgeting,designing and implementing campaigns. Through telling their own stories in theGL Women in Politics making a difference, they have made their voices heard,locally, nationally and regionallyThrough the Training of trainers workshops where officers can make input andadjust content in local challenges such as conflict resolution, climate change andlocal economic development to suit their contexts. The workshops also providea networking approach through peer learning and knowledge exchange.

Creating agency to survivors of gender-based violence who are mostly womenthrough healing by writing of “I” stories which are first-hand accounts that givea human face to the raw data of GBV.

Taking the SADC Protocol on Gender to the community through village levelworkshops on the SADC Gender Protocol (Stage 3 of the COE process) andcollection of changing lives stories of community members who have had theirlives changed through the COE process and SADC Protocol.

Target groupLocal authorities

Women councillors

Local Gender Champions

Survivors of GBV

Local communities, womenand vulnerable groups

Programme Intervention How the target group has benefited the marginalisedCapacity development

Capacity development andprofiling women councillorsnationally, regionally andinternationally

Capacity development and skillsin new challenge areas forlocalities such as climatechange, LED and conflictresolution.Baseline data on prevalenceand extent of GBV at the locallevel through interaction withsurvivors of GBV.Knowledge and awareness ongender equality and relevantinstruments.

Targets

OutputsThe outputs of the governance programme include:• 190 Councils joined the process; 310 COEs targeted up

to 2013• 124 Gender Action Plans with Gender Based Violence

Plans developed• Six country summits held in 2012 in Botswana,

Madagascar, Mauritius, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambiasee http://www.genderlinks.org.za/page/gender-justice-and-local-government-summit-2012

• One regional Summit held in 2012 in Johannesburg.• 703 people reached at the summits in 2012 and 350

best practices presented.• 151 local government COEs verified as part of the

monitoring and evaluation exercise.• Gender Based Violence Indicators Research conducted

in Mauritius, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana• 1000 COE Manuals developed in Portuguese for

distribution in Mozambique.• 1000 COE Manuals developed in Southern Sotho for

distribution in Lesotho.• Five MOUs signed with Local Government Associations

to date• Ten country offices operational and registered across

ten SADC countries.

Outreach

With 407 events involving 8529 people (44% of thesemen), the governance programme reaches the largestnumber of direct beneficiaries of any of GL's fiveprogrammes. As borne out by testimonial evidence in thisreport, hundreds more have been touched by the work ofthe COE's that includes community mobilisation.

Over the years, I attended severalmeetings, workshops and conferenceorganised by Gender Links. One of mybest experiences was the annual LocalGovernment and Gender Justice Summitthat took place from 28 to 30 March 2011at the Kopanong Hotel and ConferenceCentre, Benoni, Johannesburg, SouthAfrica. With more than 265 participants

from ten southern African countries, the event served asa vehicle to end gender violence, and empower womenacross the region. Countries shared experiences amongstothers, in how to deal with gender violence, prevention,response, support, 16 days of campaigns as well asempowerment of women. Most of all, I enjoyed networkingwith delegates and especially with members of the mediafrom the region.

Pearl Coetzee, Namibian Press Agency

independent progress review: “As far as the evaluatorcould determine from the literature review and websearches, GL's work on gender and local government isthe most extensive and in-depth attempt to work in asystematic way with local government in mainstreaminggender anywhere in the world.”

GL also makes use of several other tools to create rippleeffects in this work, for example the list serve and website,which has used google earth to map every one of theCOE's on the GL website. The programme received 89media mentions during the year under review, in the tencountries of operation. Good news from local governmentspreads through the well- established networks at recordspeed, as illustrated by the response to the increase inwomen's representation in Mauritius in the November2012 elections.

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The councils that GL is currently working with cover apopulation of nearly 22 million. The impact of genderresponsive governance in these communities reaches muchfurther than just the councils. According to the DFID

12345678910

Local government COE population

CountryBotswanaLesothoMadagascarMauritiusMozambiqueNamibiaSouth AfricaSwazilandZambiaZimbabweTotal

COE Population173 806275 888665 039

1 126 9931 231 607212 196

6 575 2482 117 8404 438 5614597360

21 414 538

Elections as well as supporting these women who havebeen elected, encouraging those that lost or want to standnext time. Above all we need to encourage those womenwho have been elected to support each other as womenand to form their own support groups, and where possiblecross party caucuses, so that they are not split and dividedso that only men rule. This will of course take time butthis is great start. Let's make the most of it.”

Jane Valls, Women In Networking, Mauritius.

“A big congrats. I sent this to our UN Women country rephere and to the coordination expert because it is anexcellent example of how quotas can leapfrog womeneven in one election from low numbers to extremely highones!!! Great story and case study. Now you can begin totrack the changes a critical mass of women will bring tolocal government!” Pat Made, Zimbabwe.

“Let's join Mauritian women in celebrating their victoryin elevating the gender status of their female councillorsfrom 6% to 30.5% during the 2012 local governmentelections. Mauritius is now in the 8th position on SADCscore-card and on course to reaching the 50/50 mark andmore before 2015! For details see attachment. Greatachievement for entering the New Year with!” - SaraLongwe, Zambia, followed by several responses from hernetworks such as this: “Just more engagement to make this2013 a year for big change in women's live and speciallystatus. Congratulations to our Mauritian sister.”

Djingarey Maiga, Zambia.

“Congratulations! Thank you for sharing this importantnews with us. GL can legitimately claim to have changedthe course of history in Mauritius. Nothing is impossible.You now have a new baseline from which to demonstratehow the involvement of more women in local governanceleads to better developmental outcomes. I have no doubtthat the 50-50 target is in reach. Two more election cycles?No matter, it is a long march and worth the journey!”

Mike Macdonald, DFID, UK.

When news broke that women's representation in Mauritiushad increased from 6% to 31% following the quotaintroduced in 2012, GL received a barrage of E Mails fromthe region and across the globe:

«Merci pour tout le travail de terrain et de lobby! Je suistrès consciente que sans votre dur labeur je ne serai paslà où je suis aujourd'hui. (thank you for your grassrootswork and all the lobbying ! I am aware without your hardwork I would never have been here today).”

Tania Diolle; New Elected Councillor atMunicipality of Quatre-Bornes; Mauritius

“On behalf of WIN and WIP, we would like to send ourwarmest congratulations to you on “a great job well done”!While WIN and WIP have certainly made a contributionand added to the voice of women's' organisations presentand past claiming their rights, Gender Links has beenfundamental in providing the research and data uponwhich these campaigns have been founded. All womenwill benefit from this ground-breaking election. But wemust not stop here. These advances can be taken awayfrom us if we are not careful and we must now all lobbiestogether for the same gender neutral quota for the General

Mary Coopan, former GL Mauritius governance manager, Minister of Localgovernment Louis Herve Aimee and GL Francophone Director Loga Virahsawmy.

Photo: Colleen Lowe Morna

News on the Mauritius quota spreads with the speed of light

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OutcomesGL's governance programme has two major outcomeindicators. At the marco-level GL seeks to contribute tothe SADC Gender Protocol target of gender parity in local

government by 2015. At Council level, GL has devised a25 point Score Card for measuring the gender awarenessof Councils that is used to benchmark progress.

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Proportions of women’s representation in local government as at May 2012

Swazila

nd

South

Afri

ca

Zambia

Tanza

nia

Botsw

ana

Mad

agas

car

Leso

tho

Mau

ritius

Moz

ambiqu

e

Namibia

Zimba

bwe

18

23

19

42

38

19

49

Region

36

6 6

34

6

Women's representation in local government: Due tothe dearth of data on women's representation in localgovernment in some countries, GL has struggled to establishthe overall regional figure. The August 2012 SouthernAfrica Gender Protocol Barometer put the regional averageat 22%. Swaziland suffered a blow when women's

representation in urban councils declined from 18% to14% in the October elections. But Mauritius registered amajor gain with the implementation of the quota thatearlier led to an amendment to the Constitution to allowfor affirmative action.

Watch Organisation (MWO) and Women in Networking(WIN) Mauritius amended its Local Government Law aheadof the elections. The Act requires that political parties fielda minimum of one-third of candidates of either sex for thegeneral municipal and village council elections. Articles 12- 13 of the Southern African Development (SADC)Community Gender Protocol aim to achieve equal repre-sentation and participation by women and men in all areasof decision-making including the use of affirmative actionmeasures as provided for in Article Five.

Mauritius had reservations about signing the Protocol becauseits Constitution did not allow for affirmative action or positivediscrimination. The Constitution had to be amended for thecountry to adopt the local quota. This opens the door to thesigning of the Protocol.

On the ground, GL got on with the business of trainingwomen for political office. I took my pilgrim stick cascadingthe Centre of Excellence process to villages in early March2013. I saw the change. Women village councilors broughtnew items on the agenda. I told them that with more womenat village and municipal levels, the landscape of rural andurban Mauritius will change and gender will bemainstreamed in the everyday lives of citizens

Nothing succeeds like success - Quota victory in MauritiusBy Loga Virahsawmy, GL Francophone Director

Yes we made it ! I am saying “we” because this quota victoryis a commitment from many quarters: government, genderactivities and all those who believe in gender justice andin true democracy. The work started well before the 2010general elections when gender activists asked for atleast one woman out of three in each Constituency.

The marches, the bill board campaigns, media campaigns,radio and newspaper interviews did not go into the ears ofa deaf. In a press release following the November electionsGender Links congratulated the Prime Minister of Mauritius,Dr. the Hon. Navin Ramgoolam and Minister of LocalGovernment, Louis Herve Aimee for this four-fold toldincrease of women in local government in the December2013 Elections. The New Local Government Act makesprovision for 30% of all local government candidates to beeither women or men. Mauritius rose from 14th among theSADC countries to 6th place. GL CEO Colleen Lowe Mornacommented: “The challenge now is to follow through thisphenomenal breakthrough. What is unique about theseelections is that voters affirmed candidates. This reflects ahigh degree of mobilization, conscientisation and politicalcommitment by all.”

This change did not happen on its own. More than twoyears ago, I wrote an article in the GL Opinion andCommentary Service that struck a chord with Minister Aime.“The article came at a crucial time, as there was somegrumbling going on with regard to the participation ofwomen, as contained in the new law. Some people saidthat it would be difficult to get so many women candidateswhile others wondered whether the measures wereconstitutional. The optimistic and upbeat way that the articlewas written was definitely a great help,” he commented.In 2011, following intense lobbying by the Southern AfricanGender Protocol Alliance in Mauritius led by GL, Media

Woman Activist and Shenaz Sooba, the leader of the women activists in Ward 4Port-Louis. Photo: Jagoo T

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the different stages of the COE model, and take fullresponsibility for certain tasks with the support of the GLCountry Managers. GL is in the process of analysing datacollected from the verification in February ahead of theSADC Gender Protocol@Work summit. Preliminary datasuggests that the average score for the COE councils acrossall participating countries increased to 58% up from thebaseline score of 47% when the programme started.

Councils' ownership of the COE process: During theverification exercise, council management and politiciansworked hard to ensure that they had evidence for theprogress on gender mainstreaming. Local government hasshown a significant improvement in entrenchingmainstreaming into service delivery. Material signifyingcouncil's ownership such clear inscriptions on councilsreceptions, calendars and equipment on zero tolerance togender inequality show a step forward.

Progress in implementation:The projects submitted at the2013 summits suggest that there is progress inimplementation of the Protocol. This is also borne out inthe Independent Progress Review (IPR) of GL's PPA fundingconducted by a DFID consultant in October 2012.

Gender responsive governance

GL aims to enrol at least one third of the 977 Councils forits COE process by 2015. So far GL is two thirds of theway towards meeting this target, aided by a cascadingmodel that involves designating gender champions andgender focal persons in each council. These now drive

Buy in: Xai-xai Mayor Rita Bento Muianga and Mevasse Sibia Mozambique CountryManager during verification visit. Photo: Caitlin Bentley

Changes in well-being:Another positive change in the communities visited is thatwomen are engaging in non-traditional trades. Womenown businesses, they are employed in mines, drive buses,and win local government tenders in various areas. InArandis town council, a woman-owned business had won“cleaning the mine tender” for the first time. The womenare using their incomes to improve the conditions of livingof their families.

The story of Connie Mmanni Molathegi from Botswanaillustrates these changes. This mother of five children wason welfare programme offered by Lobatse town councilto destitute in the town. She went to the “Mayor's HighTea” for 300 women to talk about gender equality withMayor Caroline Lesang.

In an example of how the campaign to recruit genderchampions at the local level is resulting in gender responsivegovernance, the local council trained this woman and shesuccessfully established a catering business that meets theneeds of her family. The photos demonstrate graphicallythe change in her life.

Connie Mmanni Molathegi’s original shack before getting support.

Source: GLPPA Independent Programme Review, September 2012.

have now improved their documentation of service delivery.Councils now keep records of sex disaggregated data onhousing, community meetings and employment. Councilsare also keeping partnership records with local businessand civil society partnerships. Below is testimonial evidenceof changes in service delivery gathered during the DFIDIPR:

Holistic approach to reducing GBV: COEs are increasinglyinvolving the community in reducing GBV throughawareness campaigns and provision of shelters to victims.The GBV action plans are being implemented by councilsthrough partnerships with police, community police andcivil society.

Improved documentation of service delivery: Throughthe technical expertise of gender focal persons, councils

Connie Mmanni Molathegi’s new house built with proceeds fromher catering business.

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The council reaches the vulnerable people in thecommunities through Alliance of Mayors Initiative forCommunity Action on Aids (AMICAALL). AMICAALL islike the health department in the municipality and it is atthe local level. - All the mayors are in the executivecommittee - Our core business in prevention and mitigationof impact of HIV and AIDS. We also provide early childhoodcare and education for children less than 6 years. (Genderfocal person, Siteki town council, Swaziland).

“This led me to begin working with other women in mydistrict, to sensitise the community on climate changeissues; especially on how they can protect their environmentfrom the effects of the changes in weather patterns. Someof the women in Capricorn have started writing about theirlife experiences, and we aim to compile these stories intoa book.” (Naledi Maphisa Gender Focal point CapricornMunicipal Council CoE, South Africa).

“We had kids that were on streets but I am working witha lady to put street children back in school. We don't havemany street kids now in Keetmanshoop, may be just oneor two. Sometimes the kids are running away from homebecause of problems. But when you put them in hostelsthen they can concentrate.” (Fiina N. Elago, MayorKeetmanshoop, Namibia).

We have also realised that the police station is too far fromthe residential areas. The police stations are only in town.Whenever the women and children are facing thesedifficulties they have to walk long distances to the policestation. It is not always that they will afford taxi money.We the council in consultation with our constituencycouncillor donated a plot. We took the initiative of buildinga police station in the community. (Mayor Outjo MunicipalCouncil, Namibia). Care givers in Outjo, Namibia. Photo: Gender Links

GCs who can now implement the SADC Protocol villageworkshops. This enables the community to learn aboutthe protocol and to hold the councils accountable onservice deliverables.

Peer learning: Twinning arrangements between councilshave facilitated peer learning. Smaller councils are beingadopted by bigger councils e.g Karibib plans were drawnwith the help of Swakopmund council in Namibia. Thisshows multiplier effects in gender mainstreaming andsustainability. Peer learning is witnessed in COE roll outas well as during the SADC Protocol summit.

Youth involvement - junior councils: Succession planningis emerging in some countries with the strengthening ofjunior council leadership. This transformative model of

leadership encourages the youth to implement in theprotocol through equal participation in the recreationfacilities and early involvement in local economicdevelopment. Namibia and Zimbabwe have shownsupport of the junior council model. The leadershipand energy shown by the junior councils encouragesthe succession planning and ownership of goodgovernance models by the communities.

Strengthening rural participation: Rural COEs havejoined the gender equality agenda through enforcinggender equality within rural service delivery. Previouslymarginalised, the rural council now compete at almostsimilar ground with urban councils throughcommitment and clear cut plans. For example, Zvimbarural council has shown that gender mainstreamingis possible even in the villages through the commitmentof the focal person and the support of the council.

Dedicated gender structures: To facilitate a smooth flowof gender mainstreaming, most councils in the COE processnow have dedicated gender focal persons who are twinnedwith gender champions to facilitate political buy in. Somecouncils have dedicated gender committees which areselected by departments.

Gender budgets: COEs have planned for gender budgetsin their annual budgets. These budgets are mainly forawareness campaigns, health campaigns, 16 Dayscampaigns and HIV/AIDS campaigns. This shows thecommitment by councils to implement the protocol andreduce inequality in their localities.

Improved community outreach: Councils are reachingmore to the communities through capacitated GFPs and

Gregoruis Eiman, Junior councillor, COE workshop, Keetmanshoop, Namibia. Photo: Gender Links

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One of the most visible achievements concerns ensuringthat women and men gain access to land (evidence provided)and keeping sex disaggregated data on land. Womencouncillors pointed to many well documented examples ofissues they have raised in the Council, as well as thoseraised by women in the community, as examples of women'sparticipation in decision-making. ZRDC has photocopiedthe pamphlet on the provisions of the SADC Gender Protocolmany times over. From the initial stage three villagecommunity workshop, the SADC Gender Protocol is nowmentioned at all community gatherings. Minutes of councilmeetings, budget consultations and other gatherings showgender responsive governance at work in concerns overwater, sanitation, roads, boreholes, dams, schools,deforestation, electrification and mining.

Councillors in ward seven and nine have initiated gardenprojects to empower women. During a late afternoon visit,the women members of the Tirivamwe (we are one) Co-operative demonstrated how they have reclaimed a onceempty bush and turned it into a garden under crop rotation.Produce is sold, and some used to feed orphans andvulnerable children.

A unique feature of the Council is that it is cross-referencingits gender policy with other council policies, and settingaside a budget for this purpose. For example, Zvimba hasallocated $500 for this purpose. In ward nine, women havewon contracts to provide Okay bazaars with candles, andto sew school uniforms. The council often rents out thecommunity hall for weddings. Women in the communitydo the décor and catering, earning extra income. Theirfavourite slogan is “down with poverty, forward withknowledge”.

On Valentine's Day last year, the Council ran a day ofvoluntary counselling and testing for couples, thanks to agender aware HIV and AIDS policy that is targeting men.The Council's 2013 budget makes a provision for refreshercourses and kits for care givers, the majority of whom areunpaid women. The SADC Gender Protocol has strongprovisions around the appropriate recognition of care work.

If you find yourself in Zvimba district in the MashonalandWest Province of central northern Zimbabwe, you mightjust meet the Zvimba Queens. No they are not beautyqueens! The Zvimba Queens are the council's newly formedwomen's soccer team with a budget of $3990 out of the$28,580 allocated by the Council to promote gender equalityin the 2013 budget. For a rural council, this is a smallfortune, and a firm indicator that it's no longer business asusual where gender is concerned!

Zvimba became a Centre of Excellence for Gender in LocalGovernment in October 2011. In less than two years, theCouncil's gender score has risen from 64% to 80% (thisscore will be independently adjudicated at the March 2013SADC Protocol@Work summit). During GL's verificationvisit, Gender Focal Person Fainesi Shamhu presented a fatfile of evidence that included a gender policy and actionplan (formally adopted by the Council in December 2012,a gender statement to go with the 2013 budget, genderdisaggregated employment statistics, job adverts encouragingwomen to apply, minutes of community meetings).

The council combines a strong evidence and policy-basedapproach with visible and practical interventions that involvewomen and men. Gender Champion Tsitsi Mugabe, whoalso represents rural women in the Women in LocalGovernment Forum, provides political leadership. Mugabeand Shamhu went through the COE Training of Trainerprocess. They conducted their own situation analysis of theCouncil.

In a relatively short space of time, the Council can point toseveral “before” and “after”. Before the Council had nogender policy. Many other COE's have gone straight to anaction plan without a policy. Zvimba has customised theZimbabwe Local Government Association (ZILGA) GenderPolicy to its needs, with many references to the provisionsof the SADC Gender Protocol.

For example, the policy quotes the SADC Gender Protocoltarget of 50% women in decision-making by 2015, throughaffirmative action measures if necessary. The council isunique in that it has a relatively high proportion of women- 38% (the overall average of women in local governmentin Zimbabwe is 18%).

There has not been an election since the adoption of thegender policy, and women still only chair two of the sevencommittees (28%). However, women now constitute 42%of the vice chairpersons. The Gender Committee hasrecommended that Council adopt a 50/50 rule for chairingof committees, and that where the chair is male, the deputymust be female. Presently, Mugabe chairs the strategicallyplaced planning committee, while Councillor MargaretHoshiki is vice chairperson of finance. Women in manage-ment have increased from 25% to 33% over the last year.The council now encourages women to apply for posts(evidence provided) and the gender committee is involvedin selection processes. Recently the Council recruited afemale manager to run its Banket Town Board.

Rural council walks away with best council award in Zimbabwe

GL Zimbabwe Country Manager Priscilla Maposa (left) and DFID's Caroline Hoy (right)sample the produce from Ward Seven gardens. Photo: Colleen Lowe Morna

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Strengthening leadership: The COE verification has yielded rich testimonial evidence of women at the local level becomingfinding their feet and their voice - becoming drivers of change. The following examples come from GL's rich ChangingLives, and Women in Politics Making a Difference series.

Annick Hontonirine Rabearisoa, Mayor, Bongatsara,Madagascar: I first heard of GL through ClaudiaRakotonirina, Madagascar Programme Assistant, at aUNESCO meeting. Claudia did an overview of GenderLinks activities in Madagascar. Bongatsara, 15 kms fromthe capital, joined the COE process. I put in place a SteeringCommittee on Gender. This is the basis for the Plan ofAction. I am committed to implementing the ActionPlan.

In Madagascar we talk a lot about SADC and how SADCcan help Madagascar to get us out the political crisis, butnever on the Gender Protocol. Yet the contents of theGender Protocol should be our life blood.

Gender based violence is rife in my locality and yet peoplewas afraid to talk. This has always been taboo until GenderLinks gave the training. To expose the problem also meanswe are giving voices to the voiceless and especiallyencourage women to talk on GBV. The Council has putin place a Centre d'ecoute et conseil juridique (a listeningcentre with legal advice). Each time I take a decision forthe benefit of my community I run the risk of being takento court. I listen to grassroots women and men and this isthe basis of my work. I deal a lot with litigation of landownership.

Access to land is a basic human rights. When women havea piece of land for themselves, this is empowerment andgiving them back their stolen dignity. My best experiencehas been to give women their ownership title for a pieceof land and helping them to become owners of their ownland. Gender Links helped me to get confidence in myself.Look at me now: I am not only a politician doingtremendous work for my community but I have gone along way. I know what is happening in other Africancountries and I learn from that.”

Catherine Chapeshamano, a councillor for Matanda wardin Kafue district

“I am 54 years and I am a widow. I am a trained Secretaryfrom Zambia Institute of technology and I am also abusiness person. I first met Gender Links in 2008 whenKafue district council was given a chance to be participatein the gender and local government research. I alsoparticipated in the strategy workshop in 2009. I joined theTraining of Trainer workshop in South Africa with my otherfemale councillors. Since then, as a council we have agood working relationship with Gender Links. This keepson growing stronger each and every day. As the onlyfemale councillor in Kafue district, I have been advocatingfor greater women representation, women must have anequal presence and voice in the Zambian politics.

Female politicians face stigma from male members of thepolitical party to which they belong to hence, underminethe women to reach or maintain the leadership roles.Political leaders should be aware that as women are alsocapable of becoming leaders It is very sad that I am theonly female councillor meaning, women's voices are notheard. Attending the summit in Johannesburg is theexperience that I will never forget. I did not win anyawards, but I am glad I had a chance to learn from otherpeople from different countries. It was the experience thatI am proud of and I still treasure the moment. The summitis a way forward to meet the 28 targets of the SADC Proto-col on gender and development by 2015. I have acquiredskills, values, knowledge and attitude through Genderlinks. My public speaking has greatly improved; I articulateissues on gender very well. I have learnt how to trainpeople on issues of gender, monitoring and evaluationtraining has helped me track projects that I do in thecommunity. I believe that M and E is vital as it will helpassess the performance.”

Council chairperson Catherine Chapeshamano taking to GBV community coordinatorduring a COE visit project that reflect gender awareness in Chipongwe village,Kafue. Photo: Gender Links

Verification, Madagascar. Photo: Gender Links

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Demanding accountabilityAs GL Board member Sara Longwe explains, through the COE process, women and men at local level demand accountabilityand performance by their governments.

Secondly, there is always a need for 'pull' from the bottomas well as 'push' from the top. 'Centres of excellence' atlocal level can provide this opportunity to take action andto put gender issues on the agenda. In this endeavour, thestate's accession to the Protocol provides a legalenvironment and justification for action. By the sametoken, local action puts a demand on the centre for nationalpolicies and action which are not only required by theProtocol, but also needed to generalize the successes beingachieved at the local level.

But this COE role can only be fully realised where thesecentres have a high level of ability to recognise genderinjustice, and to mobilise for collective action to overcomeit. Then they will be truly excellent. Sara Hlupekile Longwe,GL Board Member, Zambia

Working with “Centres of Excellence” within localgovernment provides a 'bottom-up' approach in theimplementation of the SADC Protocol on Gender andDevelopment. This cannot be easily or entirelyimplemented by central government. There are two mainreasons why an entirely 'top-down' approach is insufficient.

Firstly, there is the problem of lack of political will.Whatever a state party may have agreed in the Protocol,there remains a high degree of patriarchal opposition topolicies of gender equality within both the political andadministrative levels of government, especially in areassuch as marriage and family rights, and sexual andreproductive rights. There is therefore some doubt aboutthe amount of 'push' that gender policies can receive fromcentral government.

Next steps• To cascade the 10 stage COE process to reach 310 target

councils.• To hold Summits based on the SADC Protocol on gender

and Development in 10 countries and 1 regional summitheld in Johannesburg.

• To expand the local economic development module toinclude entrepreneurship training for survivors of GBV.

• To align old Gender Action Plans to the new Action Plansusing the 10 stage COE process.

• To support partners in the 50/50 campaign in at least fourcountries that have local government elections in 2013.

• To build capacity of genderfocal persons and championsin different localities to faci-litate the COE roll out.

• To collect qualitative evidenceof change in different localitiesthrough the Changing livescase studies and women inpolitics making a difference.

• To support survivors of GBVthrough enhancing agency andthe healing by writing processin 10 councils per country;100 in total.

• To build new partnerships withlocal government associationsand parent ministries throughMOUs and joint interventions.

• To document good practicesin target localities throughknowledge generation, learningand innovation.

ChallengesThe major challenges of the governance programme are:• Political will and support of the COE process - Local

government is a highly contested terrain therefore politicalnavigation skills are important. The COE process hasachieved this through the first stage consists of gettingbuy-in at decision-making level in the councils andassisting councils to develop and commit to a plan forthe ten stage process. The sixth stage provides a platformfor public adoption of the action plan devised, and signingof a statement of commitment to implementation.

• High costs of hosting the COE workshops - Hosting COEworkshop is usually high in most of the SADC countries.Cascading models have emerged from different countrieswith the key personnel in councils taking up some of theCOE stages thereby easing the burden on countrymanagers.

• High costs of holding the Local Government Summits -Most of the logistic costs in the Summits have been borneby GL. Through political will and buy-in, councils havestarted to bear some of the Summit costs thereby enhancingownership.

• National processes such as elections -GL has had to playa role in increasing women's representation in localgovernment through 50/50 campaigns and impartingcampaigning skills to women in politics.

• Partnership building and growth - The main partners forthe governance programme are the Local GovernmentAssociations who provide access to the councils. Tostrengthen this relationship, GL has signed MOUs withfive of these associations where roles and responsibilitiesare defined. This provides the governance programmewith a direct access line to the parent ministries andsubsequently national processes.

Winning the warcommunity by communityThe GBV indicators study,and a related one onpreventing GBV, has ledGL to conclude that:•The findings of the

indicators researchneeds to be canvassedand used to strengthennational and local actionplans to end GBV.

•These need to be cas-caded much moresystematically to thelocal level;

•The emphasis needs toshift to prevention ofGBV and empoweringwomen rather than justreacting to growinglevels of GBV.