The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

Numerous declarations have addressed the need to advance women’s rights and status in Africa. In August 2007, for example, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Declaration on Gender and Development reaffirmed a minimum goal of 50 percent women’s representation in parliament. Despite ongoing public support for these sorts of measures, however, the status of women, particularly in areas of politics and governance, has seen only nominal improvement. In Botswana and Lesotho, women represent only 11.1 and 25 percent of parliamentarians, respectively, which places them toward the bottom rankings for SADC countries. This problem exists primarily because political parties, which play a central role in identifying and training political leaders, do not see the value in women assuming party leadership positions or running for elected office.

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