Women’s Emancipation: An Ever-Refining Goal

While the disparagement to the rights of half section of the society by no means amounts to emancipation, the Eritrean people, who paid huge sacrifice for human dignity and emancipation, has registered alongside its just cause for national independence a quantum leap towards ensuring the rights and equality of women. Women’s rights in Eritrea is not a theo¬retical move in which human rights is referred in the country’s political program to its aesthetic values, but rather, it is a constituent of national security that has unequivocally been in effect. Gender equality—cultural legacy that has been handed down since the days of liberation struggle— is a characteristic political treasure of which the Eritrean people takes due pride. Based on this historical milieu, the question of women remains in ef¬fect amongst the building blocks of national precepts. Having issued na¬tional regulations that proclaim equal rights of women, real measures are now effective in the effort to put in force the participation and rights of women in a number of sectors. On top of ratifying laws and policies, such a goodwill and consciousness is indisputably an affirmative action. How¬ever, women’s emancipation need not be taken as a concluded chapter on account of the Government’s commitment and the society’s recognition of the rights and equality of women. This same ultimate goal yet requires constant agitation and streamlining. To this end, a controlling mechanism must be set in order for the consciousness and accomplishments scored thus far not to assume reverse gear.

Besides, as women merit the acquisition of competitive capacity and skills so as to reasonably exercise their rights, all Government sectors and the society are responsible for giving primacy to the task of upgrad¬ing women’s capacity, and thus, appreciate its headway in terms of con¬crete outcome. Any development drive that lacks full popular participa¬tion is not only gradual, but also is unwarranted. Needless to say, the entire society is invariably beneficiary once women’s all-round participa¬tion is fulfilled and the productivity of the respective society redoubles. Such a move, therefore, is a critical factor in the development of national economy and the attainment of collective vision.

And hence, the task of guaranteeing women’s rights and equality is not to be left well enough for women alone; but the onus is that of the entire society. In light of this fact, all Government institutions and the society at large ought to play active role for guaranteeing the question of women’s emancipation, as well as to map out action programs and carry out man¬agement decisions as per these grand goal.