After an audience granted by the chairperson of the Assembly, Veronica Macamo, the representative of UN Women in Mozambique, Valeria de Campos Mello, said “We shall continue to help where possible. We want to strengthen the capacity of the Assembly in implementing laws concerning gender, and the dialogue between the Assembly and vulnerable and HIV-positive women”.
UN Women’s main contribution to the Mozambican parliament to date was assistance in drafting the law against domestic violence, which was passed in 2009. UN Women plans to meet with Mozambique’s Office of Women Parliamentarians to discuss further cooperation in detail.
Macamo asked Campos Mello for assistance from UN Women in updating the law on inheritance (the current law discriminates against women, and is a hangover from the days of colonial rule). Macamo said she wanted to ensure the passage of a new inheritance law before her term of office end sin 2014.
She stressed that Mozambique has made great steps in the advancement of women. Not only is the chairperson (speaker) of parliament a woman, but so are two of the three heads of the political party parliamentary groups, and over 30 per cent of the 250 deputies are women.
Macamo stressed that working from a gender perspective does not mean marginalising men, but creating an environment in which there is equality of rights and opportunities between men and women.
Post published in: Africa News