The Organization of Angolan Women (Portuguese: Organização Mulher Angolana (OMA)) is a political organisation in Angola, which was founded in 1962 to target women to support the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola. It was co-founded by

Deolinda Rodrigues Francisco de Almeida Deolinda Rodrigues Francisco de Almeida (''nom de guerre'' Langidila; 10 February 1939 – 1968) was an Angolan revolutionary, writer, and poet. She was a member of the '' Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola'' (MPLA, 'People's Movement ...

History

The Organization of Angolan Women was established in 1962 and was originally founded to rally support for the new political party known as the

MPLA The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (, abbr. MPLA), from 1977–1990 called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan social democratic political party. The MPLA fought against the P ...

. Once

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

was officially independent of Portugal in 1975 following the

Angolan War of Independence The Angolan War of Independence (; 1961–1974), known as the Armed Struggle of National Liberation (Portuguese: ''Luta Armada de Libertação Nacional'') in Angola, was a war of independence fought between the Angolan nationalist forces ...

, the Organization of Angolan Women provided the best opportunity for female activism in local government. Total involvement faltered in the 1980s. In 1985 membership reached 1.8 million, but by 1987 membership dropped to fewer than 1.3 million. Rural violence and regional destabilization disheartened many of the rural members. However, it was also during the 1980s that Angola passed the first

anti-discrimination law Anti-discrimination law or non-discrimination law refers to legislation designed to prevent discrimination against particular groups of people; these groups are often referred to as protected groups or protected classes. Anti-discrimination laws ...

s and established strict

literacy Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

laws to support uneducated women. The organization established its first national executive body in 1976, and it elected Ruth Neto, the sister of the president of Angola, as the national co-ordinator for OMA. When the organization was restructured in 1983, she was elected as the secretary general of the OMA and the head of its fifty-three-member national committee. She was re-elected on March 2, 1988, and served as the secretary general for twenty-one years. The OMA expanded education for women and created programs to increase

among women, and during the 1980s the Angolan government created laws against

gender discrimination Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is in ...

in wages and working conditions. In 1999,

Luzia Inglês Van-Dúnem Luzia Pereira de Sousa Inglês Van-Dúnem (born 11 January 1948) is an Angolan politician, feminist and expert in military telecommunications. She is a member of the Angolan National Assembly, as a member of the Popular Movement for the Liber ...

was elected secretary-general of the OMA, and she was re-elected in 2005. She was succeeded in 2021 by

Joana Tomás Joana Domingos dos Santos Filipe Tomás Martins (born 1969) is an Angolan journalist who has served as secretary general of the Organization of Angolan Women since 2021. Early life and education Joana Tomás was born in 1969 in Calandula, Malan ...

Secretaries general

* Ruth Neto (served as national co-ordinator from 1976–1983; elected secretary general in 1983; re-elected 1988) *

(elected 1999; re-elected 2005) *

(elected 2021)

References

{{Authority control Women's organizations based in Angola MPLA Women's wings of political parties 1962 establishments in Angola Women's wings of communist parties Organizations established in 1962 Women's International Democratic Federation affiliates