By Sifelani Tsiko
Harare, Zimbabwe (Jan 9 2007)

THE recent appointment of highly respected Tanzanian foreign minister Asha-Rose Migiro to the No. 2 job at the United Nations marks an important turning point in the growing number of African women who are breaking into influential leadership positions nationally and internationally.

Africa has scored a first following Migiro's appointment which most analysts say is a major milestone for a continent which is pressing for an affirmative action policy that guarantees at least 30% representation of women in decision-making mechanisms at all levels.

"You know people undermine women," South Africa's U.N. Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo was quoted saying. Women are multi-tasked people. They can do many things. She has experience in managing a whole foreign affairs (ministry). ... And African women are even better - watch out!"

Migiro (50) becomes the second woman to be appointed to a top U.N. position by UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon.
Before her appointment to the UN, she was minister for community development, gender and children for five years and worked as a senior lecturer on the University of Dar-es-Salaam's law faculty.In January 2006, Migiro became Tanzania's first female foreign minister.
Migiro will be the second woman to be deputy secretary-general, a post created by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan and first held by former Canadian Defense Minister Louise Frechette.

Ban called Migiro a 'highly respected leader' who has championed the cause of the developing countries and displayed 'outstanding management skills."

I intend to delegate more of the management work of the secretariat as well as socio-economic affairs and development issues under a clear line of authority to ensure that the secretariat will function in a more effective and efficient manner, Ban said in a statement.

Commentators say this is a major achievement for African women that will open floodgates for the appointment of qualified African women to high level regional and international positions.

"Its an appointment based on merit," says a Zimbabwean-based woman activist. "Choosing a woman should not be because one is a woman but one must be qualified and suitable for a particular position.

"This is a major milestone for Africa where the majority of women are still facing numerous hurdles when it comes to their advancement."

Even UN spokeswoman Michele Montas told reporters Ban "underlined the fact that she (Migiro) was not named because she's an African and because she's a woman, but essentially because of her qualifications."

This outlines a marked shift in the changing perceptions on women worldwide even though women activists say that much more still needs to be done to ensure the 50 percent representation which women worldwide are demanding for women in decision-making positions is attained.

Montas said Migiro was the chair until recently of the regional conference for the Great Lakes Region in central Africa "and she has shown definitely that she has the ability to manage."

She added that Ban went through a long selection process "and I think his decision is based on her abilities to do the job."

Migiro's appointment, analysts in Zimbabwe say, is a moment to rejoice and must be recognised as an opening in the continent's history that should generate more debate about the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the quota system.

Woman need to be seen as a real participants in the development process not as spectators. Her appointment shows how more and more African women are becoming visible both on the national and international scene, says Veronica Maphala, an advocacy officer of a Harare-based NGO.

Liberia's Mama Ellen (Johnson-Sirleaf) broke the glass ceiling by becoming Africa's first elected president and here we are today celebrating another achievement (Migiro's appointment, she adds.

Africa leads the developing world in the ratio of women holding legislative positions –16 percent according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Analysts say in Africa, only three countries (Mozambique, Rwanda and South Africa) have attained the goal of having at least 30 per cent of the seats in national parliaments filled by women, in line with the UN target of 30 per cent for women in decision-making bodies.

Africa's most senior female politicians include South Africa Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Zimbabwe Vice President Joice Mujuru, Mozambican Prime Minister Luisa Dias Diogo, Liberia President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and a premier in Sao Tome.

Women in Rwanda top the world ratings of women in the national parliament with 49 percent representation compared to a world average of 15,1 percent.

Female representation in national parliaments across sub-Saharan Africa now equals the world average of 15,1 percent.
Modern Africa's first female president was Liberia's Ruth Perry, appointed but not elected head of a transitional state council in 1996 while Central Africa Republic's Elisabeth Domitien became the first woman to serve as prime minister in 1975.

In 1994, Dr Wandira Kazibwe was appointed Uganda's vice president.

According to a Africa Renewal report, out of 16 female ambassadors to the US, eight are African and seven of them are from Southern Africa.

 In 1997 SADC member states adopted a declaration on gender and development that required each country to reach at least 30 per cent female representation in decision-making by 2005.

Although only three countries have achieved the SADC target, on average women comprise 20 per cent of the region's legislators, second only to Scandinavian countries, where the average is 38 per cent, notes Gender Links, a Southern African non-governmental group.

 Africa Renewal further notes that women who have entered into leadership positions attribute their success to factors such as access to education and work opportunities, good mentoring by both men and women, support from family, employers, supervisors, teachers and colleagues, and successful lobbying by gender activists.

But analysts say the quota system alone does not work but only levels the playing field on which women battle for equality.

Hurdles facing women are still numerous and critics say 'it is women and women alone who can bring meaningful change,' and not gender policies on their own.

The elevation of women to influential positions is meaningless unless it is accompanied by the commitment to lift the lives of the majority of their lot in Africa.

Migiro must work with African women in mind and thrive to end gender stereotypes and prejudices.