International Journal of Education, Culture and Society

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Political Participation of Rural Women in Decision-Making at the Local Government Level in Zimbabwe

Received: 27 August 2016    Accepted: 08 September 2016    Published: 22 September 2016
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Abstract

The participation of women in local governance can be enhanced in all three essential areas: as voters, policy-makers and as members of decision-making bodies. There is need for policies that involve empowering local authorities and communities to develop strategies that combine the empowerment of communities and rural women. In order to be able to identify the needs of the community and to best promote social and economic development, local authorities need the input of their constituents to be able to best identify those areas that need addressing. Local authorities must encourage the involvement of the community and community organisations in local governance. The representation and participation of women in local governance is directly linked to the advancement of women and is a basic requirement in the journey towards gender equality. To ensure that the decisions that affect women’s lives are taken seriously, women should not be passive bystanders in their own development but should be proactively involved to ensure that the socio-economic patterns that marginalise and keep them dependent are changed.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijecs.20160102.12
Published in International Journal of Education, Culture and Society (Volume 1, Issue 2, October 2016)
Page(s) 33-43
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Participation, Local Authorities, Decision-making, Rural Women, Local Governance, Gender Inequality

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Author Information
  • Department of Peace and Governance, Bindura University of Science Education, Bindura, Zimbabwe

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  • APA Style

    Jeffrey Kurebwa. (2016). Political Participation of Rural Women in Decision-Making at the Local Government Level in Zimbabwe. International Journal of Education, Culture and Society, 1(2), 33-43. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20160102.12

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    Jeffrey Kurebwa. Political Participation of Rural Women in Decision-Making at the Local Government Level in Zimbabwe. Int. J. Educ. Cult. Soc. 2016, 1(2), 33-43. doi: 10.11648/j.ijecs.20160102.12

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    AMA Style

    Jeffrey Kurebwa. Political Participation of Rural Women in Decision-Making at the Local Government Level in Zimbabwe. Int J Educ Cult Soc. 2016;1(2):33-43. doi: 10.11648/j.ijecs.20160102.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijecs.20160102.12,
      author = {Jeffrey Kurebwa},
      title = {Political Participation of Rural Women in Decision-Making at the Local Government Level in Zimbabwe},
      journal = {International Journal of Education, Culture and Society},
      volume = {1},
      number = {2},
      pages = {33-43},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijecs.20160102.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijecs.20160102.12},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijecs.20160102.12},
      abstract = {The participation of women in local governance can be enhanced in all three essential areas: as voters, policy-makers and as members of decision-making bodies. There is need for policies that involve empowering local authorities and communities to develop strategies that combine the empowerment of communities and rural women. In order to be able to identify the needs of the community and to best promote social and economic development, local authorities need the input of their constituents to be able to best identify those areas that need addressing. Local authorities must encourage the involvement of the community and community organisations in local governance. The representation and participation of women in local governance is directly linked to the advancement of women and is a basic requirement in the journey towards gender equality. To ensure that the decisions that affect women’s lives are taken seriously, women should not be passive bystanders in their own development but should be proactively involved to ensure that the socio-economic patterns that marginalise and keep them dependent are changed.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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    AB  - The participation of women in local governance can be enhanced in all three essential areas: as voters, policy-makers and as members of decision-making bodies. There is need for policies that involve empowering local authorities and communities to develop strategies that combine the empowerment of communities and rural women. In order to be able to identify the needs of the community and to best promote social and economic development, local authorities need the input of their constituents to be able to best identify those areas that need addressing. Local authorities must encourage the involvement of the community and community organisations in local governance. The representation and participation of women in local governance is directly linked to the advancement of women and is a basic requirement in the journey towards gender equality. To ensure that the decisions that affect women’s lives are taken seriously, women should not be passive bystanders in their own development but should be proactively involved to ensure that the socio-economic patterns that marginalise and keep them dependent are changed.
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