It’s time for gender to be integrated into every level of the development process – By Thembi Mutch | African Arguments.

Without a mainstreaming of women in the development process, we’ll just go round in circles. It’s getting boring now: the endless TV footage of men in suits making decisions about women in Africa. We need a change.

In the immigration office in Tanzania, Lydia, a mid level civil servant says, “Look around us: I can say there are no female managers here. The problem is not just gender discrimination, it is favouritism. You get a management job here if you are friend or family of the president. Merit and brains are not rewarded, especially not if you are female, in` fact they are regarded as problems – you’re less easy to manipulate.”