Gender Quotas, Democracy and Women’s Representation in Africa: Some Insights from Democratic Botswana and Autocratic Rwanda

The ‘fast track’ approach for increasing women’s representation in politics through the adoption of electoral gender quotas has replaced the ‘incremental approach’ (waiting for cultural, political and socioeconomic developments over time) in recent years. Scholars have disagreed whether increasing women’s representation in sub-Saharan Africa where legislatures are weak and executives are strong is meaningless or may even undermine democracy; or increasing women’s representation results in significant substantive or symbolic representation effects. This article compares two divergent cases: Botswana, a stable multiparty democracy in southern Africa and Rwanda, an increasingly authoritarian single party dominant state in east Africa. In Botswana, gender quota campaigns have raised awareness but have been unsuccessful in achieving quotas, and women’s parliamentary representation is low and continues to fall. In Rwanda, a constitutional gender quota, including reserved seats combined with voluntary party quotas for women have resulted in a majority female lower house of parliament—the only such parliament in the world. These cases suggest that a democratic state is not necessarily more likely to adopt gender quotas or have more women in parliament than a less democratic one and that there are other factors that are more important in determining both. Moreover, in single party dominant systems with limited democracy, like Rwanda, elected women are able to represent women\u27s interests. And campaigns to adopt quotas, even when unsuccessful as in democratic Botswana, can contribute to substantive and symbolic representation effects even with only limited descriptive representation. Thus, the conditions under which and the ways in which women\u27s interests are represented must be understood broadly

Whole-Exome Sequencing Identifies Homozygous AFG3L2 Mutations in a Spastic Ataxia-Neuropathy Syndrome Linked to Mitochondrial m-AAA Proteases

We report an early onset spastic ataxia-neuropathy syndrome in two brothers of a consanguineous family characterized clinically by lower extremity spasticity, peripheral neuropathy, ptosis, oculomotor apraxia, dystonia, cerebellar atrophy, and progressive myoclonic epilepsy. Whole-exome sequencing identified a homozygous missense mutation (c.1847G>A; p.Y616C) in AFG3L2, encoding a subunit of an m-AAA protease. m-AAA proteases reside in the mitochondrial inner membrane and are responsible for removal of damaged or misfolded proteins and proteolytic activation of essential mitochondrial proteins. AFG3L2 forms either a homo-oligomeric isoenzyme or a hetero-oligomeric complex with paraplegin, a homologous protein mutated in hereditary spastic paraplegia type 7 (SPG7). Heterozygous loss-of-function mutations in AFG3L2 cause autosomal-dominant spinocerebellar ataxia type 28 (SCA28), a disorder whose phenotype is strikingly different from that of our patients. As defined in yeast complementation assays, the AFG3L2Y616C gene product is a hypomorphic variant that exhibited oligomerization defects in yeast as well as in patient fibroblasts. Specifically, the formation of AFG3L2Y616C complexes was impaired, both with itself and to a greater extent with paraplegin. This produced an early-onset clinical syndrome that combines the severe phenotypes of SPG7 and SCA28, in additional to other “mitochondrial” features such as oculomotor apraxia, extrapyramidal dysfunction, and myoclonic epilepsy. These findings expand the phenotype associated with AFG3L2 mutations and suggest that AFG3L2-related disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis of spastic ataxias

Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. Methods We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors. Results Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Conclusions Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe

Digital engagement methods for earthquake and fire preparedness:a review

Natural or human-made hazards may occur at any time. Although one might assume that individuals plan in advance for such potentially damaging events, the existing literature indicates that most communities remain inadequately prepared. In the past, research in this area has focused on identifying the most effective ways to communicate risk and elicit preparedness by means of public hazard education campaigns and risk communication programmes. Today, web- and mobile-based technologies are offering new and far-reaching means to inform communities on how to prepare for or cope with extreme events, thus significantly contributing to community preparedness. Nonetheless, their practical efficacy in encouraging proactive hazard preparedness behaviours is not yet proven. Building on behaviour change interventions in the health field and looking in particular at earthquakes and fire hazards, the challenging RISK team has reviewed the currently active websites, Web, and mobile applications that provide information about earthquake and home fire preparedness. The review investigates the type of information provided, the modality of delivery, and the presence of behaviour change techniques in their design. The study proves that most of the digital resources focus on a single hazard and fail to provide context-sensitive information that targets specific groups of users. Furthermore, behaviour change techniques are rarely implemented in the design of these applications and their efficacy is rarely systematically evaluated. Recommendations for improving the design of Web- and mobile-based technologies are made so as to increase their effectiveness and uptake for a multi-hazard approach to earthquake and home fire preparedness

“A lot of headwraps” : innovations in a second wave of electoral gender quotas in sub-Saharan Africa

Over the last more than two decades, political parties and governments across sub-Saharan Africa have adopted electoral gender quotas for parliament at an astonishing rate – and with remarkable success as many sub-Saharan African countries have catapulted to the top in terms of women’s representation in a single or lower house of parliament. During a first wave in East and Southern Africa, quotas were adopted in the aftermath of conflicts and in the course of political transitions as mobilized national women’s movements, influenced by an international women’s movement and international norms, took advantage of political openings to press for the adoption of quotas through new constitutions or new electoral laws. In some cases a clear diffusion effect was at play between political movements that closely influenced one another. During a second wave mostly, though not only, in West Africa, quotas are again being adopted as women’s movements, in collaboration with regional, continental and international organizations, similarly press for an increased representation of women during constitutional reform processes or through revisions to electoral laws. During this second wave, creative quota designs have emerged as parties and governments have sought to strengthen existing electoral gender quotas or adopt them for the first time. This paper examines some innovations in quota design and quota use in three sub-Saharan African cases that are part of the second wave, including the move to gender parity and the possibility of an only ‘temporary’ special measure

“Did You See What Happened to the Market Women?” Legacies of Military Rule for Women’s Political Leadership in Ghana?

In the first 35 years of independence, Ghana experienced long periods of military rule - from 1966 to1969, from 1972 to 1979 and from 1981to 1992. Under military rule, neither women nor men are elected to political office and because the military is generally a male-dominated institution women have few opportunities for leadership. In Ghana, market women were a particular target of military rulers and a woman judge was among three judges brutally killed during the last military regime. This does not mean, however, that military regimes do not seek to mobilize women to their own ends and/or co-opt women/gender and development discourses. This can be accomplished through the establishment of state sanctioned (often ‘first lady-led’) women’s associations, such as the 31st December Women’s Movement, to the detriment of any other women-focused civil society organizations and activism. This essay seeks to interrogate the impact of military rule in Ghana on women’s political leadership. In 2015 scholars reported an ongoing ‘pervasive sense of insecurity’ and fear during presidential and parliamentary elections that discourages many women in particular from contesting elections. To what extent has the legacy of decades of military rule contributed to a sense of insecurity and fear, impacting the prospects for women’s political leadership, in particular in parliament where candidates must stand for election? This essay provides a preliminary reading on this topic.   Héritages du régime militaire pour le leadership politique des femmes au Ghana Résumé Dans les 35 premières  années de l’indépendance, le Ghana a connu de longues périodes de régime militaire. Sous le régime militaire, ni les femmes ni les hommes ne sont élus à aucun poste politique. En raison du fait que l’armée est généralement une institution dominée par les hommes, les femmes avaient peu de possibilités pour le leadership. Au Ghana, les femmes du marché étaient des cibles pour les leaders militaires et, en conséquence, une femme juge a fait partie  des trois juges qui ont été brutalement assassinés pendant le dernier régime militaire. Toutefois, ceci ne signifie pas que les régimes militaires ne cherchent pas à organiser les femmes à leurs fins et ou à coopter les discours sur les femmes/le genre et le développement. Ceci est réalisé à travers l’établissement des associations de femmes reconnues par l’Etat (souvent sous la direction de la Première Dame), telles que le groupe 31st December Women’s Movement, au détriment de tout(e) autre organisation de la société civile ou militantisme concentré(e) sur les femmes. Cet article cherche à mettre en cause l’impact du régime militaire au Ghana sur le leadership politique des femmes. En 2015, des chercheurs ont rapporté l’existence continue d’un « sentiment d’insécurité répandu » et de peur durant les élections parlementaires et présidentielles, ce qui décourage les femmes, en particulier, de se présenter aux élections. Dans quelle mesure l’héritage des décennies de régime militaire a-t-il contribué au sentiment d’insécurité  et de peur, affectant, en conséquence, les perspectives de leadership politique des femmes, particulièrement, en ce qui concerne les élections parlementaires?