CWP 4 - WOMEN, POVERTY AND HOMELESSNESS


resolutions, including the recent agreement of the Commission on the Status of Women on eliminating and preventing all forms of violence against women and girls.


Debate


Ms Ruth Nhinda, MP, Namibia, explained that poverty and abuse are the major causes of homelessness in Namibia, resulting in many women being unable to afford shelter in towns and being forced to live in shacks under inhabitable conditions. She also added that while the National Housing Enterprise provided houses for lower income earning people, there was still great inequality faced by women in her country.


Senator Naisula Lesuda, Kenya, reiterated that governments need to empower, educate and encourage women to participate in law-making processes. She also praised the UN for supporting women in the Kenyan Parliament by providing access to funds for their constituencies. Ms Moono Lubezhi, MP, Zambia, reported that in her country social media platforms are not accessible and that most women are living below $1 dollar per day. She argued that there was also a need to strengthen laws to ensure women gained access to funds and benefitted from property rights.


Mrs Marie-Aurore Marie-Joyce Perraud, Mauritius, outlined new


300 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue Four


initiatives that had been created to empower women. She also cited the example of new Ministries, such as the Ministry of Economic Development and Ministry of Business, which had been established to empower women and assist in starting their own businesses. Ms Gladys Brima, MP, Sierra Leone, expressed that women’s contribution to society did not match the benefits of their contribution. With many women relying on farming to survive, they were disadvantaged given: they lacked sufficient resources for farming; women did not own their own land; and women did not have control over land for economic use. Consequently, Ms Brima stressed


an urgency to legislate and design programmes which allow women to have access to land.


Hon. Rosemary Seninde, MP, Uganda, called for financial empowerment for women in order to assist them out of a “dependency syndrome”. She also stated there was a need to develop policies and programmes to help women to support their families and have access to land for economic gain.


Ms Christine Ombaka, MP, Kenya, accounted the numbers of women sitting on the streets with little access to schooling and living under the poverty line. She reported that many were living with HIV/AIDS but had no skills or knowledge to deal with such


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