NEWA is fully aware that the road to equality
is an arduous journey fraught with daunting obstacles. The Network
understands the difficulties women have to contend with are
complex not least among which is an ingrained negative cultural
disposition towards gender equality. Hence women’s struggle
has to be wedged on many levels. In a country with a culture
that deeply reveres the past and history, women also have to
struggle to redress the imbalance in the image of their place
and role in the collective memory of the society. They must
retrieve their rightful place in the national narrative and
show that, despite many odds, they have made important contributions
as leaders, builders and thinkers in history. This is not an
academic exercise, but a crucial element and part and parcel
of the current struggle for equality. For a society that persistently
denies women’s historical role is less likely to concede to
present demands for equality.
Similarly bringing to life the suppressed fact/reality that
women have indeed performed leadership roles in our long history,
will serve as source of encouragement to those women that have
the training and character traits to play a leading role in
the life of the society. Highlighting the leadership capability
that women displayed in the past is also a powerful argument
against those who oppose women’s empowerment on grounds that
such a role is a western notion with no roots in our own culture.
This is precisely the reason why NEWA has
committed itself to erect a public monument for Empress Taytu
and formed a committee composed of activists, artists, researchers
and public officials to mobilize the public and raise fund for
the project.
Taytu
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Despite her great
leadership role at one of the most critical moments of history
that determined the fate of the country, Taytu was overlooked
by those who had the authority to decide who deserved to be
remembered and immortalized through public monument. In Addis
Ababa where schools, hospitals and squares and bridges are
named even after men of lesser historical significance, there
is hardly any public memento for Taytu that reminds the public
of her eminent contribution in this city which she co-founded.
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Taytu's historical importance
is not derivative of her marriage to Menilek----- a towering
figure who left an indelible impression in modern history
by first and foremost defeating the largest colonial army
at the famous battle of Adwa in 1896---- but by virtue of
her strength of character. No one knew better than Menilek
himself of Taytu's astute mind for he frequently sought her
advise not, as was the practice then in the privacy of the
royal chamber, but in full view of the palace court where
the dignitaries and generals deliberate on the affairs of
the state..
Taytu is credited for decoding the trap in
Article 17 of the Ethio-Italian treaty of Wochalle whose different
interpretation led to war between the two countries. Taytu
again proved her leadership capability in battle. For it was
the detachment under her personal command that by her order
seized the water wells around which a large number of Italian
troops were camped forcing them to surrender to the Ethiopian
army.
NEWA believes that a public monument for
such a woman of great capability will be a permanent reminder
that leadership is not the exclusive preserve of men and an
enduring source of encouragement for women to aspire to great
heights
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