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The story of all women is similar as if prescriptions of violence have been commandeered and synergised for maximum impact. Female genital mutilation, domestic and sexual violence are serious problems that transcend economic, social, ethnic and geographical lines. Development which is about facilitating the meeting of these needs should then be centred on how norms and rights would enable meeting women’s needs and fulfil their potential.
Civil society consultation, Ethiopia
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The leadership should be more transparent, whether it is about spending, budgeting or planning.
Radio discussion, Zambia
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We are the future leaders of today, tomorrow and beyond 2015, and our rights [to expression] have to be heard.
14-year-old girl, Lusaka Secondary School, Zambia
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It manifests itself through rent-seeking behaviour which raises the transactions costs on many public and private activities. Corruption not only raises the costs of doing business and leads to squandering of public resources, but it is also corrosive to the national psyche. It erodes the culture of trust that is necessary for the deepening and broadening of markets. Therefore, combating corruption and promoting good governance should be an integral part of the post-2015 development framework.
National consultation, Malawi
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The only way of sustaining benefits from the exploitation of non-renewable resources is to make sure that benefits from these resources are invested into alternative capital, such as human capital and infrastructure to ensure that the productive capacity of the economy is not declining as the resources get depleted.
National consultation, Tanzania
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56 A M i l l i o n V o i c e s: The World We Wan t | A Sus tain able Fu t ure w it h Digni t y f or All
Ethiopia, Seychelles and Uganda have made impressive gains in increasing the number of women in national parliaments and decision-making positions, but this is not true for all countries. The majority of women in Africa are poor and not economically empowered, still suffer from violence and abuse, and are not well represented in various governance structures where their voice would matter. In other parts of the subregion, particularly in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Burkina Faso, Sudan and Uganda, issues of unfair treatment, including sexual violence and gender discrimination due to repressive cultural practices, came strongly from women’s groups and CSOs. Transparency and governance at the core
Good governance and responsive governments are recurring themes in most of the consultations in the region. Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa have democratic governments that are decentralized to various degrees, but there were concerns raised about a lack of effective policy implementation and instruments to safeguard public interests. Most participants draw attention to the lack of transparency and accountability, including a lack of accountability for members of parliaments to the communities they represent, and very weak accountability mechanisms for national and subnational budget allocations and expenditures. Poor service delivery in the provision of social services (health, education, water and sanitation), especially in rural areas and peri-urban areas, is seen as partly a result of poorly implemented decentralized administration. Decentralization, including fiscal decentralization and devolution of power for service delivery, is seen as particularly important among participants in Benin, Malawi, and Uganda. Opening up space for effective and increased citizen participation is another area of focus in the national consultations. Participants, particularly at subnational levels and from minority