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Mauritius: Breaking the boys' club
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L'Express (Port Louis)
20 September 2007
Posted to the web 21 September 2007
Loga Virahsawmy
Port Louis
After 42 years of operations, the Mauritius Council of Social Services (Macoss), the umbrella organisation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), finally has a woman at the helm. Manda Boolell is indeed making history as the first woman in this position.
A gender activist who has fought for gender equality for the past 20 years, Manda Boolell decided to challenge the lion in its den. She stood as candidate in the annual general elections of Macoss in August 2007 and topped the list.
Since independence, Mauritian women have come a long way. Although at snail's pace, some have made it to the top in the economy. They have climbed the social ladder in politics although the road is still very thorny.
However, in sectors where one would think women would easily find a foothold, it has also been a challenge. It is said that women are best in the social field and yet Macoss has remained a male dominated institution for many years.
Women have been socialised to believe that they are good to serve tea at board meetings but not to chair boards.They are good social workers but not to chair Macoss. According to Manda Boolell, "although women are very much involved in social work they tend to look at the sector more as caring than a leadership one. The problem is the multiple roles of women. Compared to women who have to ask for permission at work on family grounds, I have never seen a man leaving the office because his children need him or he has to go home to cook ( )"
The new head of Macoss has indeed a herculean task ahead. It took the organisation 42 years to have a woman at its head. Manda Boolell believes: "Women bring unique attributes when they are at the head of organisations. They have a different style of management, they are more caring and pay more attention to their environment. They may be complementary to men but their outlook is different."
Dana Chengen, former chair of Macoss does not share this view. He believes that "being a man or a woman will not make any difference in the work of Macoss". However, he agrees: "It is about time there are more women in strategic positions. There are lots of women doing social work and they capable of shouldering heavy responsibilities. Manda Boolell has been a member of Macoss for several years and she has proved herself in all the projects she has been involved in. I have no doubt that she will do a good job."
The new chairperson promises that she will make sure that Macoss supports any plan of action to put an end to violence against women and children.
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She says that her main task is to review Macoss itself. "It is about time that the voices of NGOs are heard. This is why the project on strengthening the NGO sector in Mauritius - a collaboration between the UNDP and the ministry of Social security - is so close to my heart. If I get the support and collaboration of one and all, we should be able to put the gender agenda on top of the list and get more women in positions of decision making." The challenge now is to help women realise their full potential and train other women to become leaders.
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