Anjoman'Akona Rural Municipality
Anjoman'Akona Rural Municipality
The rural Municipality of Anjomanakona is located in the Haute Matsiatra region. The commune is made up of 11 fokontany (villages) and covers an area of 104 km². The commune joined the center of excellence process in 2011. With 55% of the population being women, the commune's inhabitants mainly live off agriculture and livestock farming. Anjomanakona has 11 public primary schools, one public secondary school, and one high school. The main challenge facing the commune is communication, as it is not yet connected to the telephone network.
Introduction
The municipality of Anjoman'Ankona is located in the central part of the highlands, in the district of Manandriana, Amoron'i Mania region. Previously, gender issues were not taken into account in the policies of the municipality of Anjoman'Ankona. At the community level, men and women have different roles: women are expected to take care of the home and are overburdened with domestic work compared to men. Decision-making power lies with men: they are the ones who actively participate in various community meetings. The majority of women remain marginalized and ignored, all household property is registered in the name of men, and there is also very little participation by women in the development process. Since 2011, the municipality has been chosen as a Gender Links (GL) center of excellence. Following approval by the council members, a partnership agreement was signed between GL and the municipality with a view to promoting a gender-based approach at the municipal level. Various reasons prompted the municipality to integrate the gender approach into its policy, namely: exchanges and sharing with GL officials and other municipalities that are already centers of excellence, recognition of shortcomings in municipal management, and the desire to eliminate discrimination in the development process so that everyone can participate. The integration of the gender approach is very important for this municipality in order to promote the effective participation of women in the development process and bring about changes in perceptions or the modification of stereotypes regarding the respective roles of women and men in society.
