Women Participation in the Life of Society - Assignment Example

Women Participation in the Life of Society Any healthy and good society is not complete without the contribution of women. As a cell to the body system, women form the basic unit of a society. Even though women are believed to be created by God as a companion to man, women form the most inherent part of any distinct society but unfortunately this has not been the case over the past few years in many parts of the world. Over the past years women have not been given equal participation in various aspects of social life but with better education provision to women and dynamic change in technology, this has changed. For a couple of years women have been treated with inferiority and thus their work was to stay indoors and provide care to the young children. This was until the 20th century where this stopped and now most of the women are considered as potential breadwinners and massively contribute to the development of the society. This is evident in almost all parts of the world but I am going to consider developing East and West African countries over the last years (Bessie & Ekechi, 24). Though most of the East and West African countries are Islamic states where women’s behaviour’s and roles are defined and governed by strict Islamic laws, numerous women efforts have emerged and seen the developing of these nations economically and all fields of life. For instance, Liberia which was previously rules by male presidents is now ruled a female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who has brought a lot of change. Besides bringing economic and national development, she has also brought gender parity where the women are given the same chances. She also chairs the AU thus representing the women in making important decisions concerning Africa. Though most of the East and West African countries are Islamic states where women’s behaviours and roles are defined and governed by strict Islamic laws, numerous women’s efforts have emerged and seen the developing of these nations economically and all fields of life (Bessie & Ekechi, 28). Compared to the last ten years where no legislator positions were given women this is a significant positive change and participation of women in critical decisions. This is because women were affected most during the pre-Islamic ages where Arabia which is considered as the origin of Islam was wrapped by evil deeds, immorality and wicked thoughts. Women during this period were treated like animals, misused as sex toys and most of them taken as slaves. However, with the introduction of education of education and end of slavery in the 20th century, many women have been educated over the last ten years and through this, most of these nations have tremendously developed in most aspects of life (Bessie & Ekechi, 32). Since the emergence of AIDS as a killer disease in most of countries in the world, women have been in the frontline in controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS. Compared to the previous years in Africa where women receive minimum education facilities, the recent change in technology and provision of better education has helped in the control. Since Africa has the highest number of infected cases of HIV/AIDS, then there was need to provide more sexual education to women in order to curb this spread. The spread of HIV/AIDS has been reduced through the provision of education to women which has helped in many ways. This is through sexual educations, campaigns and forming of organizations to achieve a world free of the killer disease. Various organizations were formed to raise awareness of this disease, educate and sensitize African women especially those living in the rural areas where they get minimum access to this sexual education. For example SWAA foundation based in Dakar, Senegal is an example of the women organizations groups that have been created to curb the spread. Its major role or objectives being to mobilizing the rural communities through strengthening the capacity to mitigate prevent and control the impact of this epidemic. This has seen the reduction of those affected by HIV/AIDS. This is opposed to the previous years where there were no women foundations or groups. Over the recent years development of agriculture has also been realized in various parts of the world through the contribution of women. This has helped in the betterment and improvement of economy in the different African states. Most of the West and East African nations rely on agriculture, thus the need for extra labour and skill to ensure realization of this. Though women are not physically strong and equal to the men, women form the backbone of most of the nation’s economy. This is evident where in most countries the majority of the small scale and small hold farmers comprises of the women. State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) is a study report that was carried out and reveals that given equal resources, women can yield equal if not more yields as compared to men (Bessie & Ekechi, 41). This has brought about economic and national development as compared to the previous years where women were not allowed to own land or participate in such hectic commercial jobs. National and economic development has also been realized over the recent years since currently women can do any jobs that their male counterparts can do. This has therefore increased the amount of skilled labour in any enterprise. As compared to previous twenty years, many African nations had fewer skilled women in the working sector. Thus with the increase of skilled women over the years with the increase in technology, economic development has therefore been realized. Women also over the recent years have played an important role in providing ample and improved health care in any society. Through the various female groups and organizations, many campaign programs have been initiated to ensure the cleaning of environment to improve the living standards of people. Prof Wangari Mathaai, the founder of the Green Belt Movement is an example of the dedicated women to save the world from globalization. The Green Belt Movement founded in 1977 is an example of organizations by women that tries to empower women to help in conserving the environment. This has helped in national development as compare to the previous twenty years where we didn’t have such courageous women participated in such national development programs (Bessie & Ekechi, 45). Through all these examples, we therefore see that over the recent years there has been a dynamic change in women’s participation in economic and national development in various parts of the world with increase in technology. Work cited Bessie, House-Midamba and Felix K. Ekechi. African Market Women and Economic Power: The Role of Women in African Economic Development. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2009. Print. Read More