HER JOURNEY

Laeticia Mukurasi – A Triumph for Women’s Rights: An African Story

Laeticia Mukurasi, a passionate advocate and change agent for women’s rights, has carved a notable legacy in the field of gender and development. With an academic foundation from esteemed institutions like the University of Sussex and Manchester Polytechnic, Mukurasi has championed women empowerment, gender mainstreaming, and human resources development, influencing policies on international, regional, and national levels.

From the Ground Up

Beginning her career at Fibreboards Africa Limited, Mukurasi donned the hat of Manager for Human Resource Development and Administration. Notable for her innovative practices, she laid the foundation of the company’s first personnel policy and fostered a harmonious relationship between management and employees, propelling the company’s image to greater heights.

A Force at the United Nations

Her invaluable insights and leadership skills paved the way to the United Nations Development Programme/UNIFEM Tanzania Country Office, where she served as Assistant Resident Representative. Mukurasi, during her tenure, was instrumental in fostering gender sensitivity and mainstreaming best practices. Her achievements, lauded as some of the best in the Africa Region, included establishing effective partnerships and encouraging awareness about the importance of gender considerations and planning.

An Era of Transformation at the African Development Bank

Mukurasi’s journey at the African Development Bank (AfDB) witnessed her ascending roles from a Senior Gender Specialist to the Chief Gender Specialist. Her accomplishments, notably the development of the Bank’s acclaimed Gender Policy and Plan of Action, earned worldwide recognition for integrating gender concerns into various sectors and themes.

In addition to policy-level achievements, Mukurasi steered a transformative wave of institutional change at the AfDB. She was a key member of teams advocating for reforms aimed at creating an enabling environment for gender equality and women empowerment, leading to significant strides in institutional practices.

Freelance Consulting: A Legacy Continued

Currently, as a Freelance International Consultant in Gender and Development, Mukurasi continues to fortify her legacy. Her contributions extend to technical support, capacity development, and gender analysis for UN Agencies, Government, and Non-Governmental Organizations. Her recent work includes the preparation of critical reports and training workshops aimed at gender mainstreaming and awareness.

A Noteworthy Literary Voice

Mukurasi’s literary works, like “A Triumph for Women’s Rights: Her African Story,” echo her commitment to gender equality. Her publications, tackling pertinent subjects like Women’s Participation in Employment and Land Rights, continue to guide and inspire the discourse around women empowerment.
Shaping the Landscape for Future Generations

With an unwavering belief in equality and a formidable background in promoting the interests of women, Laeticia Mukurasi continues to shape the landscape of gender and development. Even in the face of evolving global challenges, Mukurasi has consistently upheld her commitment to fostering a world that is balanced and fair.

An Exemplary Role in Policy Making and Implementation

Mukurasi’s dedicated service at the AfDB and UNDP/UNIFEM showcased her expertise in not just creating, but also implementing strategic policies and practices that advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. These policy-making and implementation experiences combined with her unwavering passion, make her a force to be reckoned with in the world of gender and development.

Continued Impact through Consultation

Her transition into freelance consulting has not diminished the impact of her work. On the contrary, it has allowed her to broaden her reach, imparting her knowledge and experience on a global scale. Her consulting work has benefitted numerous UN agencies, governmental and non-governmental organizations, resulting in significant progress towards gender mainstreaming and sensitivity.

Influential Publications

Her contributions to academia and literature are equally noteworthy. Her authored and co-authored books and articles have not only highlighted key issues but also suggested viable solutions for improving gender balance. These literary works continue to influence policy makers, activists, and scholars worldwide, emphasizing the importance of gender equality and the crucial role it plays in sustainable development.

A Pillar of the Community

Beyond her professional achievements, Mukurasi’s dedication to societal progress is evident in her community work. She has been an active participant in the Association of Tanzania Employers, the Industrial Court, and the Tanzania Trade Union, JUWATA. In these roles, Mukurasi has consistently advocated for gender equality and women’s rights, further solidifying her reputation as a community leader and a beacon for gender equality.

Laeticia Mukurasi’s journey is a testament to her dedication, perseverance, and commitment to women’s rights and gender equality. Her life’s work embodies the Goldenwoman spirit, demonstrating that the fight for equality requires constant vigilance, resilience, and an unwavering belief in the cause. As we celebrate her achievements, we look forward to her continued impact and the inspiration she provides for future generations.

Goldenwoman.org is proud to feature Laeticia Mukurasi, a shining example of leadership and dedication in the quest for gender equality and women’s empowerment. Her indomitable spirit, relentless pursuit of justice, and tireless efforts have brought about remarkable progress, impacting countless lives along the way. Her story serves as a reminder that every step taken towards gender equality is a stride towards a more balanced and equitable world.

Book reviews

Review by Dr. Hellen Bisimba

“The author has come out as a voice on issues over which there is silence in many places. Reading this narration will make all those who are evaluating the 25 years of the Beijing Platform for Action sink and think deeper, not by searching the documents in organizations but by looking beyond, in a qualitative manner how such documents are being lived and implemented” Read More...

Dr. Hellen Kijo Bisimba
Human Rights Activist
Review by Wendy Hollway

“We may know that women’s development seems to have stalled, across rural Africa and beyond and also in the global organizations that are formally committed to rectifying this situation. Here we find out how this happens. This book provides an enlightening study of an attempted organizational change and the powerful resistance to it”.

Wendy Hollway
Emeritus Professor of Psychology
Review by Eddah Sanga

Reading A Triumph For Women's Right Her African Story facilitates a deep understanding of why documenting our stories is more important today than it was in the past.

The writer, who is known as a prolific writer on gender issues has authored and co-authored several books and articles in which she criticizes how men use their power against women.

In this book, the author, Laeticia Mukurasi narrates how she struggled to bring about an understanding to her bosses at the African Development Bank with whom she worked for twelve good years, that her work was meant to "promote gender equality and women empowerment issues in the bank"
Unfortunately, this notion did not augur well with her bosses who saw her as a feminist pursuing a feminist agenda and not s gender agenda in the bank.
The twelve-year journey was, therefore, a living testimony to the struggles long and bitter many women are forced to go through in many organizations. Reading on, it is evident women have still a long way to go before they can realize equity in rights, access for resources and power, and of course for dignity and respect.
The book brings to the fore how some men didn't have an understanding about women's year in 1975, decade doe women in 1985 and Beijing Platform for action in 1995, women were ridiculed and given a blanket name of "Beijing".
The author puts succulently how, knowing she was working with a very crucial financial institution that would make a difference to the majority of women in Africa, it was important to fight tooth and nail to raise her voice as a gender specialist in fulfillment of African women's expectations, needs and aspirations.
I recommend reading the book to discover the author's unique experience in the women's struggle. It inspires, resonates strength, agility and confidence. Her lone voice may be a voice in the wilderness, but if we combine our voices with hers we shall be instituting what Malcom Gladwell said, "The tipping Point". And this will definitely make a difference.

Eddah Sanga
Journalist, Human and Women Rights Activist.
Review by Anabahati Mlay

As the Author narrates her own experiences as the Gender Specialist of one of the most powerful institutions, The Africa Development Bank, she also carries the readers through a history of the development of women rights in Africa from the time of the Beijing declaration.

One cannot ignore the competencies and passion that the author had for gender mainstreaming which makes the book an authority in the gender mainstreaming arena.

For a young feminist with a profound interest in gender mainstreaming this book is a manual to understanding why despite all the declarations and agreements meant to bring about gender equality, despite nations being signatories to instruments that are meant to bring about gender equality and institutions having gender policies and other instruments, gender equality has not been realized even in leading organizations.

The author has explored the root causes of gender inequalities, pointing out the lack of true intentions and both political and will power by individuals, leaders and institutions to bring about gender equality but rather paint a picture that shows adherence only to be seen as part of the efforts and sometimes as a way of attracting funding.

In this book you will feel the author frustration, and at times anger, which most gender specialists experience as they try to implement their mandate in male dominated work places. She has voiced her concerns on the issues of misinformation or zero information among people on gender equality and gender mainstreaming which makes the job of Gender Specialist a daily struggle of power with leaders and even colleagues as their job is seen by many as that of a trouble maker whose only intentions are to disturb the status quo which needs to be disturbed anyway.
It is a clear indication that despite all the strides made in gender equality from the Beijing gender agenda there is still a lot to be done to achieve true gender equality both in the society and in our institutions. This has been the biggest challenge faced by gender specialists in most organizations and it’s not news that most of female feminists are always titled as angry women or angry activists hence their job is not given the right weight in terms of resources and not treated as a core part of most organizations.

The book has also showcased how failure to implement gender equality at big institutions end up affecting women up to the grassroots. In narrating her own ordeal the author speaks for a lot of women who faces discrimination at the work place but only a few find the courage to speak up because of the pre- existing biases and unfair treatment standards that are set in many institutions despite having gender policies which in reality are only shelved instruments. She also shows how not placing gender equality at the center of our institutions rob women the right to access to different services which are already available for them.

This is not just a book about laeticia struggle as a gender specialist at the African Development Bank but rather an analysis of how far we have come in implementing the gender agenda . It is not a throw of tantrums by an angry woman but a well researched and well put account on gender mainstreaming and the problems faced by women at the workplace everyday with proposed solutions and ways to accelerate the process by starting having true intentions and political will to do the same.

It is a must read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding in the subject of gender mainstreaming.

Anabahati Mlay
Female Future Programme Coordinator- Association of Tanzania Employers.
Review by Nicholas H. Mbwanji

Laeticia, congratulations for bringing to the surface your plight while working at the African Development Bank. Hopefully many women, and men for that matter, will draw lessons and be encouraged to fight for their rights. The book sets out the challenges you encountered while trying to accomplish your dream, that of being an "agent" for the rights of women in Africa. Having perused through your book, the battle you were fighting had several dimensions, namely:

1.0 Male chauvinism – those who didn't believe that the gender equality agenda was indeed realizable – and these were those who called you names – "Mrs. Beijing is here.... So you are on mission to equalize us! Trivialization ... so you want women to be on top of us, etc etc.

2.0 Male hypocrisy or two-facedness the likes of which are exposed by George Zimbizi – those who by virtue of their positions are forced to stand on platforms to hypocritically advocate for gender equality but no intention of implementing the same.

3.0 Male dominance – as you point out, one gender specialist against an "almost totally male senior management team..." – being under male bosses your work was rendered almost invisible". Besides out of the 450 professionals (10 percent females; 90 percent Male) in the Bank you were the only person dedicated to gender work in the early days of your joining the Bank

4.0 Management structures were not accommodative enough for the Gender agenda to be visible within the Bank's Management. Although on paper, gender and environment were supposed to be two priority cross-cutting issues! For some reason environment overshadowed gender!!!

5.0 The Bank systems had not "mainstreamed the gender agenda in its structures" – there were no serious efforts to mainstream gender issues in the Bank's system – the Women In Development Unit (WID) was abolished at one point in time (and was reinstated upon your appointment).

No resources were allocated to implement catalytic gender affairs, the Bank's Operational Manual provided authoritative guidance on the notorious gender paragraph!

Notwithstanding all the odds as mentioned above, you personally attempted to make things happen – for evolving strategies for establishing gender institutional presence, voice and visibility. Unfortunately, some of the men whom you had expected to assist you as "gender advocates" – a male colleague who was to be part of the team to Zambia, was not comfortable to play that role, although ultimately, he was one of your allies or rather the converted!!!

Your strategy was, I believe, to groom as many as possible of the converted, not only to support your move, but also to assist in bringing change or rather mind-set change about the gender agenda in the Bank. Unfortunately, it seems the converted were not that many!!

Then one keeps wondering about the "gender agenda concept". It is not that much complex to understand and digest, particularly for persons with an African background, then why was there such a fierce resistance to support the concept? This raises several questions? Was it that the style used – by the promoters of the agenda (the gender specialists) - to bring about change, was causing resentment among most professionals? Did professional staff, in particular, feel that the approach used was rather "commanding/imposed" on them. Were there personality clashes? Or what was it?

Having gone through your book, I am rather lost – was the "Gender agenda" imposed to the Bank? Why was the resistance emanating from the very top levels of management? Let alone male colleagues, what about the females – who seem were silent on the issue!!! Why?

The President was not sure which agenda you were pursuing "feminist agenda" or a "gender agenda" – your response to this was brilliant BUT had the top management to wait for so long to realize that the Bank was not on course as far as the Gender agenda issue was concerned?

Last but not least, is about good governance – effective management structures – of the Bank. As you assert in the book, the Bank President was both the CEO and the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Thus, not only did he supervise the implementation of the Bank's operations, he also chaired the sessions that assessed how the Bank's operations were executed. Specifically, and in as far as Laeticia's case is concerned, the Staff Rules – particularly the summary on summary dismissal in part reads:

"Summary dismissal shall be imposed only upon determination by the President that the staff member concerned is guilty of serious misconduct..."

It was the President, who was being accused, and it was the same President who was supposed to determine if the staff had committed serious misconduct– under that state of affairs, there is a conflict of interest and it would be difficult, if not impossible to exercise a fair trial. And it is possible that under those circumstances the President behaved as if he was not accountable to anyone. That amounts to abuse of power.

As for the Bank's Administrative Tribunal, it is commendable that it was fair in its deliberations and ultimately its judgment. This notwithstanding, the comment that "Goliath was down" is not rational, given the circumstances under which the proceedings were conducted.

Nicholas H. Mbwanji
Labour Market Specialist
InterFINi Consultants Limited
Review by Chiku Semfuko

As the author narrates her experience as a Gender Specialist at the African Development Bank, you get the feel of how gender is belittled as a woman’s issue and not as a human right. The mocking and sneers she endured as she struggled to bring the relevance of gender issues in the organisations was clear that the gender positions at the bank was just a ruse to entice European donors.
As a young gender specialist, I found that I relate on many the author’s experiences, specifically the frustration of having no budget allocation for gender activities and how gender is not given the importance or recognition it deserves. The author has certainly showcased what many gender specialist’s experience. I applaud the author’s competencies on gender and development, her resilience and determination to continue to rise against all odds.
Albeit the international instruments and declarations on gender equality, we cannot achieve the goal of reaching gender equality in the near future as the responsible flag bearers of development are not willing to hoist gender as an agenda and removing the many misconceptions on gender brought about by pre-existing biases. We need to re-evaluate our strategies, ensure that gender we bring men on board: gender advocacy doesn’t only concern women.
For anyone interested in knowing more on gender issues, I definitely recommend this book, it guides and addresses on how to tackle the challenges brought about promoting, advocating and implementing interventions on gender equality. This book serves as an intergenerational dialogue and Ms. Laeticia has certainly handed over the gender equality baton to all feminists and gender activists for many generations to come.

Chiku Semfuko

Gender Focal Point, ILO East Africa.

Laeticia's Videos about her books

Laeticia's Other Books

Post Abolished book description

“Post Abolished: One woman’s struggle for employment rights in Tanzania”
This book chronicles how Laeticia successfully challenged her removal from employment.
Laeticia was one of 15,000 workers made redundant in Tanzania in 1985 as a result of intervention from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. But in the large state-owned company for which she worked, she was the only woman among seven top-level managers and the only person actually dismissed.
Post Abolished is the telling and vivid narrative of her courageous campaign for reinstatement, the first case of its kind in Tanzania. It raises questions about equal opportunities policy relevant not only in developing countries but world-wide. Legislation, she found, is not enough, even in an exceptionally progressive legal system. She needed the support of her trade union and of courts. And that support had to be won. Institutions, she found, are staffed by individuals, most of them men, brought up in old patriarchal traditions. They make assumptions about women’s roles and men’s rights to authority, and react with unseen alliances between the public office and family structures.
This is a historically immensely important case study, essential reading to all involved with problems of economic and political development, of women’s rights, employment law and family law, trade union practice and labour relations.