134 Kariseb/Implementation of article 9 of the Women’s Rights Protocol in Namibia General Recommendation 23: Political and Public Life adopted in 1997. The CEDAW Committee defines political participation as referring ‘to the exercise of political power, in particular the exercise of legislative, judicial, executive and administrative powers’.6 This is the context within which the concept is appreciated and used throughout this article. It is also important to note that ‘domestication and implementation’, as understood for purposes of this paper, is of a relatively narrow scope, aiming at measuring the general provisions of article 9 of the Women’s Rights Protocol against the proliferation of female representation, particularly at parliamentary level. The paper begins with a brief background on the interpretative context of article 9 of the Protocol, followed by a general discussion of the applicable domestic and international legal framework relating to women’s political participation. In the third part, the paper addresses the status of women within the political and decision-making processes and organs in Namibia by decoding the practical domestication and implementation of article 9 of the Women’s Rights Protocol in the Namibian legal landscape. Fused within this discussion are the overall challenges and opportunities for women within the political landscape. The paper then ends with a brief conclusion. 2 CONTEXT AND CONTOURS OF ARTICLE 9 OF THE WOMEN’S RIGHTS PROTOCOL While internationally women’s rights protection had taken root primitively since 1945, and more robustly since the late 1970s, the same could not be said of a regional specific women’s rights framework in Africa. The promulgation of the Women’s Rights Protocol in mid-July 2003 gave an end to this regional deficit. The Protocol remains a product of the extensive mobilisation and advocacy efforts of women’s rights movements on the continent.7 Viewed by many as filling the voids and shortcomings left by the pre-existing women’s rights instruments, the Women’s Rights Protocol seeks to address the geographical peculiarities of African women, taking into account context and elements of cultural relativism that have been the hallmark of African society. With far-reaching provisions, previously not covered under established international human rights instruments, the Women’s Rights Protocol details substantive human rights provisions for women, covering civil and political, economic, social and cultural rights, including environmental rights. Sadly, the Protocol falls short of enjoying universal ratification having only gained the support of 40 6 7 General Recommendation 23: Political and Public Life, CEDAW Committee (31 January 1997) UN Doc A/52/38 para 5. F Viljoen ‘An introduction to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa’ (2009) 16 Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice 12.