Nairobi, Nov. 27 -- Campaigners of gender equality say countries in the Great Lakes region should implement various regional and continental legal instruments meant to boost the representation of women in election management bodies.

This piece of advice arose last week as experts pored over the gender gaps in the region, with some saying some of the political problems in the region are due to women staying out of leadership roles. Currently, only five countries out of the 11-member states of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) have met the threshold of 30 percent of women representation in the Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs).

Dr Jean-Paul Kimonyo, the Director of the Levy Mwanawasa Regional Centre for Democ...