The ultimate male feminist? 5 things Nelson Mandela did for women

(CNN) -- He was loved and admired all over the world for helping to end apartheid and heal the scars of a divided nation. But in his fight for total freedom, the liberation leader also devoted himself to another cause -- the empowerment of women. Here are five things Nelson Mandela did to advance female equality in his quest for justice.

1. Gender agenda

Although Mandela made tremendous strides in his battle to bring down apartheid, he recognized early on in his presidency that no major success was possible without gender equality. "Freedom cannot be achieved unless women have been emancipated...
At the opening of the first parliament in 1994, President Mandela declared, "Freedom cannot be achieved unless women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression... Our endeavors must be about the liberation of the woman, the emancipation of the man and the liberty of the child." With the representation of women in South Africa's parliament jumping tenfold from 2.7% during apartheid to 27% after the first democratic elections of 1994, Mandela took action by appointing over a third of women to his cabinet.

2. Women of anti-apartheid era

In his celebrated autobiography "Long Walk to Freedom," Mandela acknowledged men weren't alone in the anti-apartheid movement. In fact, the ANC Women's League played a critical role. One of the most memorable moments came on August 9, 1956, when 20,000 women marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest legislation requiring black women to carry passes in urban areas. "The women were courageous, persistent, enthusiastic, indefatigable and their protest against passes set a standard for anti-government protest that was never equalled," Mandela wrote in his book.

3. Constitutional justice

For Mandela, democracy and gender equality were far from separate issues. "We ought to imprint in the supreme law of the land, firm principles upholding the rights of women. In 1995, at the time of drafting South Africa's constitution, he said, "As a tribute to the legions of women who navigated the path of fighting for justice before us, we ought to imprint in the supreme law of the land, firm principles upholding the rights of women. On International Human Rights Day in December 1996, Mandela signed the final draft of the country's constitution granting South Africa's women one of the most comprehensive set of rights in the world.

4. UN Convention

In 1993, a year before Mandela became South Africa's first democratically-elected president, the country signed the United Nations Convention to End All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Two years later, the rainbow nation later ratified the treaty while he was in office. Often referred to as an 'international bill of rights for women', the convention set out to end all forms of discrimination against women and still is yet to be ratified by the United States.

5. Speaking up for women

In 1996, Mandela gave a compelling speech on South Africa's Women's Day, calling for full equality and an end to sexual violence against women. As long as women are bound by poverty and as long as they are looked down upon, human rights will lack substance.
Not blind to the challenges ahead, he remarked: "As long as women are bound by poverty and as long as they are looked down upon, human rights will lack substance." "As long as outmoded ways of thinking prevent women from making a meaningful contribution to society, progress will be slow. As long as the nation refuses to acknowledge the equal role of more than half of itself, it is doomed to failure."

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