Women have scored a major victory in African politics, with a historic resolution by the new African Union that five of its 10 commissioners will come from their ranks.
Snubbed by an "all-uncles club" because of the absence of women in its structures, the AU took a bold step moments after it was born on Tuesday by throwing its doors open to women to take up positions of influence in some of its key bodies.
Women have been a rare sight in the structures of the Organisation of African Unity during its 38-year existence, with none of the 53 African heads of state who gathered in Durban to bid goodbye to the OAU and say hello to the AU this week being a woman.
The decision to have women commissioners was taken after parliamentary speaker Dr Frene Ginwala's stern words at the AU's first session on Tuesday about the absence of women at the meeting.
She was giving a report of African parliamentarians who noted with concern the marginalisation of women in OAU structures.
"The relative absence of women at this meeting does not augur well for democracy on our continent," Ginwala told the AU summit.
The women commissioners will be drawn from Africa's five regions, including the southern African region.
The AU protocol has made a provision that there should be at least one woman among each country's representatives in the Pan African Parliament, which is part of the AU.
Ginwala also said all five members of the AU's Committee of the Wise, which will advise the AU's Peace and Security Council, should be women so as to bring true peace and an end to conflict in Africa.
She described the breakthrough of the appointment of five women commissioners as a "victory for democracy", saying it was the result of the general awareness of the need for increased women participation than the parliamentarians' recommendations.
