VZCZCXRO9566
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLU #0328/01 1001153
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 101153Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY LUANDA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3852
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LUANDA 000328 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KWMN AO
SUBJECT: ANGOLA: GRA CELEBRATES WOMEN'S MONTH 
 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  The role of women in Angolan society was a 
GRA focus during the month of March.  The GRA organized 
workshops and seminars, conducted domestic violence awareness 
campaigns and carried out a special electoral registration 
campaign exclusively for women during March, using many of 
these events to also promote the work of the MPLA,s women,s 
civil society organization, the Organization of Angolan Women 
(OMA).  Nonetheless, with female representation in Parliament 
and the Angolan cabinet at less than fifteen percent, Angola 
still has much work to do to meet its SADC commitments of 
thirty percent participation of women in Government, 
Parliament and the judiciary.  End Summary. 
 
Marco Mulher: March is Women's Month 
--------------------------------------- 
¶2. (U) The GRA traditionally focuses on issues such as gender 
equity, poverty, domestic violence and other problems that 
affect women during the month of March.  Dubbed &Marco 
Mulher8, the GRA and its civil society partners also 
highlighted the role of women in society and government.  In 
addition, Angola sent a high level delegation of women, led 
by Minister of Planning Ana Dias de Lorenco, to participate 
in the International Conference on Women held in Spain on 
March 7th and 8th, 2007. 
 
Getting out the Women,s Vote 
---------------------------- 
¶3. (U) In a tie-in to the voter registration campaign, and in 
response to a lower-than-anticipated rate of women 
registering to vote, the GRA offered registration days 
exclusively for women.  March 8th, International Women's Day 
and a national holiday in Angola, was exclusively dedicated 
to the registration of women, and over 14,000 women voters 
were registered on the holiday.  For the first time since the 
registration process began, stations were opened on Saturdays 
to give women additional opportunities to register.  The 
government reported that over 80,000 women - mostly in Luanda 
- registered to vote during "Marco Mulher."  (Note: 
Comparison data was not provided for women during previous 
months.  End note.) Anecdotal reports from civil society 
registration observers state that registration stations were 
full of women on Saturdays, and that stations also began 
allowing men to register on Saturday's towards the end of the 
month.  The GRA has said that efforts to register women and 
special registration opportunities will continue throughout 
the registration process, currently scheduled to end on June 
15th, 2007. 
 
Women's Month or OMAs Month? 
----------------------------------- 
¶4. (SBU) The Angolan Women's Association (OMA), which is also 
the women's arm of the MPLA, commemorates its founder,s day 
on March 2, and uses the month of March to highlight its 
programs and encourage female participation in politics. 
Some opposition parties expressed resentment of what they 
perceived as the MPLA,s monopoly on women,s outreach. 
Female FNLA members complained to Poloff that the GRA devotes 
more time, resources, and publicity to OMA's day than to 
Women's Day, and joked that "March isn't Women's month, its 
OMA's month." 
 
¶5. (SBU) The newly-formed multi-party Forum of Female 
Politicians also had some difficulty in reaching out to women 
during Marco Mulher.  The Forum was begun with the support of 
the International Republican Institute (IRI) in January 2007 
as a means to strengthen women as a political force.  It is 
comprised of representatives of all major and several smaller 
parties except for the MPLA.  The MPLA has been invited to 
all of the Forum,s events but has thus far declined to 
participate. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Forum applied for but was unable to secure 
permission from municipal governments to distribute 
information on women's rights at local markets on two 
separate occasions.  By coincidence, on one of those 
occasions the MPLA was allowed to staff a table in the same 
location petitioned for by the Forum.  MPLA representatives 
told Poloff that establishing a table at the market was a 
great way to reach out to new members. 
 
Women Facing an Uphill Battle 
------------------------------ 
¶7. (SBU) Despite the dedication of an entire month to 
highlight women's issues and rights, Angolan women are far 
from attaining status equal to their male counterparts. 
Female political leaders told Poloff that women are 
underrepresented at all levels of government, despite being 
generally better educated than a male population that spent 
more time on the battlefield than in the classroom.  In the 
political sphere, Angola has yet to meet its signed 
commitment to the Southern African Development Community 
(SADC) which stipulates 30% participation by women in 
 
LUANDA 00000328  002 OF 002 
 
 
Government, Parliament, the Judiciary and public 
administration.  The Angolan Cabinet currently has 14% female 
representation and 12% representation in Parliament.  The 
judicial sector has even lower representation, as only 6% of 
the positions in the sector are occupied by women.  On a 
positive note, however, Angolan women continue to receive 
equal access to education and health care, where such social 
services are available. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Many factors contribute to the absence of a greater 
number of women in Government and Public Administration, as 
well as in politics.  Carolina Fortes, MPLA Central Committee 
member points towards cultural habits, which cast women in 
the role of homemakers, as the main reason for women not 
dedicating themselves to active public lives.  Of the 126 
political parties in Angola only one, the Liberal Democratic 
Party (PLD), has a female leader, and the majority of its 
rank and file members are also female.  PLD President Analia 
Pereira told Emboffs that other major parties have failed to 
strongly address issues that matter to women, such as 
education, health care, childcare, and small-scale poverty 
reduction programs that have impact at the local level. 
Nonetheless, an IRI public opinion poll released in December 
2006 said that 51% of Angolans would vote for a female 
candidate. 
EFIRD