GOVERNANCE

Governance is critical if we want to invest in women and remove their democratic exclusion when it comes to power, decision making and influence. The participation of women in decision making positions generally plays two roles: empowerment of women and achieving gender parity. Women while being care takers, conventionally also play the role of advocates for women's rights compared to their male counterparts. Therefore, the women's leadership agenda sets the basis for more inclusive and participatory governance models that should ensure women utilize their potential to contribute meaningfully to development and change especially in the political and strategic public spaces.

Women's involvement in governance, leadership and making decisions is crucial in their communities as most of the issues dealt with at local government and parliamentary levels are those directly affecting women such as health, education, shelter, water sanitation, roads, markets and general livelihood. However, the low representation of women in governance and leadership at political and public administration levels has led to less participation of women in decision making on issues that directly affect them.

Maboshe Memorial Centre - MMC therefore, will prioritize advocacy and creation of mentorship platforms for new thinking from different spaces in order to increase the participation of more women in governance and leadership in public and political spaces. Actions will be coordinated that will harness the voice and agency of women and girls in order to enhance their advocacy skills for policy and legal framework and also leadership campaigning capacities. It is envisaged that more women will find themselves on the public and political decision making tables in order to ignite the passion in women and girls to advocate for their own issues.

Specifically, Maboshe Memorial Centre - MMC will advocate for more focus on functional literacy programmes targeting women as well as campaigning for free secondary education. In addition, Maboshe Memorial Centre - MMC will closely work with and build capacities of the media on gender and the positive portrayal of women leaders in order to generate positive attitude by members of the public towards women's leadership. Thus, when women are well represented in decision making positions, they will not only advance women's rights but also for the rights of all[1].It is expected that through this intervention, Maboshe Memorial Centre - MMC will contribute to ensuring that women are well represented in governance and leadership.

LONG TERM OUTCOME

• Increased representation of people with disabilities in political and public decision-making positions
• Enhanced academic qualifications and leadership/campaigning capacities of potential female leaders
• Gender increasingly mainstreamed in public institutions and political parties
• Positive attitude by members of the public towards women's leadership