Dear Mr President, we want a space on the table!
Mr
President, My name is Zoila, i wrote you a letter few days ago. I do not
know if you have received it, but i will keep on writing. This time, i
want to tell you that We women from mining communities want a space on
the table. We want to be part of the decision making processes
particularly in the ministry of energy and minerals. Most decisions are
made without women involvement and it results into bad policies and
practices. And when i say women involvement, i do not mean women from
urban areas who do not understand our situation clearly, i do mean women
who come from mining communities, who understand our situation and
priorities and who represent the reality, not the assumptions. These
women can only be found from areas such as Kalalani, Mirerani, Namtumbo,
Londoni, Sambaru, etc etc..
Mr president, please do not misunderstand or misconstrue the
meaning of Involvement or engagement. I mean we want to participate from
the beginning to the end. From deciding when, where, who and how the
mining projects should take place on our ancestral land, to be part of
the activities, and benefit from the land we cultivate. We want to be
part in deciding how the benefit from our mining resources should
benefit women and we want to be part in deciding who we will work with.
Tell your people that we do not want that "consultations" they call
community involvement. Tell them we want women to be thoroughly involved
and they choose who they would want to represent their issues and
priorities on the table.
Mr President, we may not know how to read and write, but we know
what we want and how we can get them. First, we want fairness, and this
starts by involving women, working with women, facilitating women,
understanding women's power and so on. We are not powerless, but we
choose to be quite and use our power wisely. And this time we want to
prove this by having a space on the table, because we want to contribute
to this countries' development.
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