Summit 2016-Qomo Qomong Council COE

Entry 13723

Qomo-Qomong Community Council is found within one rural villages in the Quthing district and this rural council has participated in the making of the national gender strategy for local government in 2007.In terms of the council’s gender policies, they are well known but there is still a lot more to be done. There are nine male councillors and two female councillors within the council. The two women were part of the women in politics workshop that was held at Qomo-Qomong Council. The council is working to increase the number of women involved and also include participation of youth and people living with disabilities (PWD).There are three committees within the council, however none of those are being chaired by a woman. The Qomo-Qomong Council still has a lot to do in terms of balancing because it lacks youth and PWD representation.Since there are only two female councillors in the council it is quite difficult to influence women in all the decisions made in the council. Between 26% and 50% women participate in the public consultations, mostly in HIV/AIDS campaigns and job creations within the council.Of the total workforce, the council has employed 50% men, 33% women and 17% people with disabilities. The council has no women in the management and are hardly part of the council’s decision making. The council is still working towards increasing the proportion of women, youth and PWD involved.There are provisions for maternity leave and for paternity leave. Maternity leave lasts for three months and paternity goes on for a month. The council does not have a sexual harassment policy. Cases of sexual harassment have to be reported to the police.Qomo-Qomong allocates a substantial budget to gender-related projects from 2015 to 2016.

Category	Budget 2015	Budget 2016
Resources allocated to promoting gender equality in decision-making and public participation	$2 500	$2 500
Resources allocated to gender-responsive local economic development	$80 000	$170 000
Resources allocated to promoting gender/youth/PWD responsive projects on climate change	$15 000	$15 000

 Since the council is situated in a very rural area there are places where women can place their stalls. This is part of the local economic development plan by which women are given stalls to start up their businesses. This also helps to boost the country’s economy.There is no policy established on climate change but the council is aware of the climatic variations. Hence it has employed 36% women and 45% men to work on the policy to combat climate change. In addition, there are only two people involved in the planning, management, and maintenance of water and sanitation. There is only one woman and one man.Click here to read more about Qomo-Qomong Council.