Accra — On the eve of her meeting with Africa’s only female head of state, Vice President Kamala Harris said Wednesday that having more women in power is a key ingredient for a healthy democracy. Her meeting comes as the White House hosts its second‑ever Summit for Democracy in Washington.
Harris emphasized that in a vibrant democracy, women winning positions of power should be a common occurrence, not a rare and newsworthy event like her own ascension. As she prepared to meet Thursday with Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, she spoke with female entrepreneurs and leaders in Ghana’s capital and announced more than $1 billion in private‑sector‑led funding to advance women’s economic participation in Africa.
In response to a question from VOA, Harris said women’s leadership is fundamental to a healthy democracy and that she often raises the topic in high‑level meetings. “In every bilateral conversation I have with almost any world leader, that is a topic that we raise because we do believe it is in the best interest of prosperity and security for the globe,” she said. She added that it is not about pushing women into power; in a healthy democracy, more citizens feel empowered and more women gravitate toward higher office.
“When it comes specifically to this continent and the correlation between that and women’s empowerment, there’s no question that when you have transparency, accountability, rule of law, and equal rights defended and protected, you will see greater empowerment of all people, including women—especially where there have been extreme disparities,” Harris explained. “So there’s a correlation there, and we’ll continue to work on it knowing they’re interconnected.”
That is one of the aims of the largely virtual summit in Washington, co‑hosted by Costa Rica, the Netherlands, South Korea and Zambia. In Zambia, the Carter Center, founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, will host a summit‑related program this week. David Carroll, director of the democracy program there, told VOA that inclusivity is key. “Healthy democracies are ones that are inclusive,” he said on Zoom. “They are ones that have transparency, that respect core fundamental freedoms and rights, and hopefully they are also able to deliver for their people in ways that really meet the needs of their populations.”
Carroll added, “Another central element of the problem is democracies need to be respectful of core rights. They need to be as inclusive as possible. They need to ensure broad respect, but they also need to deliver for their populations.” This is an uphill battle, especially amid what President Joe Biden has described as a global tug‑of‑war between democracies and autocracies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Data recently released by civil‑society group CIVICUS shows that 43 of the 120 nations invited to the summit “severely and routinely” restrict civic rights. According to their data, six countries have seen backsliding this year, including Ghana, the United Kingdom and Greece. “In too many countries that have been invited to the Summit for Democracy, governments are stifling civil society and going to extreme lengths to silence their critics,” said Marianna Belalba Barreto, civic‑space research lead at CIVICUS. “Without freedom of speech and the right to peacefully protest, democracy cannot function effectively, as people lose their most important tools to hold governments accountable and promote change.”
Comments are closed for this story.