The total shutdown of the judiciary in Zambia is completely without precedent in Zambia and across the democratic world. Justice delayed is justice denied. We need answers

Leaving No one Behind: Why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Matter for Everyone Recently, a friend of mine sent me two flyers of panel discussions in the legal fraternity. All the panelists were men. ‘Is it just me or are there a lot of “manels” these days on webinars”? I told her that it was not just her, I have been noticing it everywhere from civil society to business to politics, women are quietly being erased from public discussions. Nine years ago, I did a TEDx talk entitled ‘Where are All the Women’ (ted.com/talks/linda_kasonde_… ) . In one of my slides, I used a picture of Donald Trump signing an Executive order on women’s health and being surrounded only by men looking on as he signed. That’s the thing, representation still matters; most things that affect men also affect women. Subsequently, their voice needs to be heard and not just as moderators, but more importantly as thought leaders. Following recent national 2025 Grade 7, Grade 9, and Grade 12 exam results in which certain girls’ results surpassed those of their male colleagues, the debate in Zambia has swung towards how we can uplift the boy child. In fact, this is an international debate as we see rising suicide and mental health problems amongst men and boys and declining progression at primary, secondary, and tertiary level. The answer to this problem isn’t: women have had their brief time in the sun, let’s go back to the way things were. It should be: how can we achieve equity? For me the answer has always been inclusion or gender mainstreaming, which is a deliberate effort to achieve balance in all things. It’s no use only having women-only conferences to discuss how to advance the cause of women or have men’s-only conferences to discuss how men are falling behind; we need to get to a place where we are also talking to each other about these issues. This year’s International Women’s Day theme is ‘Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls’. We must acknowledge that women are still behind on most metrics of advancement from the number of women on lists of the worlds richest people to the number of women representing us in government at the Executive and Legislative level. Now that men know how it feels to start slipping behind, this might be a good time to start working together for the progress of all. Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity should not be dirty words. They are essential for the peaceful co-existence of humanity. No one should be left behind.