Economic Commission Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)for Africa (ECA)

Promoting Gender Equality andWomen’s Empowerment in AfricaIntroducing the General Debate

1. Introduction1. Introduction

Major Achievements

Unresolved/ emerging issues

Remaining Challenges

Key questions 2

2. 2. Overview of Overview of Achievements Achievements and Challenges and Challenges

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a.a.      GlobalisationGlobalisation

Progress: Improved information and communication

technologies have increased opportunities for international trade

Some African countries have benefited from increased trade and preferential treatment in trade

Some African market women travel across continents to purchase competitively priced goods for sale. 4

Challenges:

In 2003, global unemployment reached a record high of over 185 million people.

There are “deep-seated and persistent imbalances” in the current governance of the global economy

The present form of Globalisation has failed of to tackle the problems of unemployment and widespread poverty 5

The globalisation process has further marginalized women by not taking gender concerns into account.

There is no gender balance in the structures and processes that make decisions on the distribution of global capital and assets.

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b. Socio-economic Indicatorsb. Socio-economic Indicators

Progress:

A number of African countries realised sustained economic growth rates of close to 7% per year in the last decade

There were reduction in infant mortality in more than 20 countries in Africa 7

Challenges:Levels of Poverty increased:from

42% in 1990 to 47% in 2000 to 49% in 2002

By 2002, 58% of population had no access to safe drinking water

Increase in women’s poverty has been systemic

Strategies to reduce poverty have not been gender sensitive 8

c. HIV/AIDS and Healthc. HIV/AIDS and Health

Africa is home to 70% of adults and 80% of children living with HIV in the world.

In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)the rates of infection among women are increasing more rapidly than among men

In SSA 57% of people living with HIV and 75% of all the young people living with HIV are female

In Southern Africa women and girls constitute 54% of the deaths related to AIDS 9

Difficulties of health service delivery have been greatly exacerbated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic

In 2002 over half a million women died of complications of pregnancy and childbirth worldwide :

50% of them were in sub-Saharan Africa

the risk of dying in childbirth in SSA is as high as 1 in 6 10

  d. Conflict, peace and d. Conflict, peace and SecuritySecurity

Progress:

a) Wangari Maathai, of Kenya was awarded the Nobel Price for Peace in 2004 for contributing to sustainable development, democracy and peace

b) There have been many initiatives in conflict resolution and peace building in Africa in the last decade

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c. Women have lobbied extensively for space in peace-building initiatives

d. The creation of AWCPD in 1998 was embraced by many African women’s groups and other stakeholders

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ChallengesOf the 28 current UN peacekeeping

operations globally, 12 are in Africa Over 5 million Africans have lost

their lives in wars and armed conflict in the last decade

Decisions on going to war continue to be made by male leaders

Peace missions continue to be male-dominated.

Women are either absent or at the periphery of peace negotiations.

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e. e. Human RightsHuman RightsProgress:The 1990s was a decade for human

rights. Conferences put human rights on

the agendas of governments, inter-governmental and civil society organisations

The Vienna Conference of 1993 came out with a consensus that ‘women’s rights are human rights’

AU has established the African Court on Human and People's Rights and adopted the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa.

51 of the 53 countries of Africa have ratified CEDAW.

31 countries have signed, but only four have ratified the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa

ChallengeChallenges:s:

1. There have been increases in extreme forms of human rights violations

trafficking especially in women and children

new and extreme forms of gender based violence

rape continues to be used as a weapon of war

increased religious fundamentalism and intolerance.

2. Domestic violence, the most pervasive of all forms of gender violence, is on the increase.

3. Adverse economic conditions make economically vulnerable women continue to live in abusive relationships

4. Women continue to be vulnerable to harmful traditional practices such as FGM and ‘cleansing’ rituals on widows 17

f. Governancef. Governance

Progress: Commitment to good governance

became one of the hallmarks of the last decade

the consolidation of democracy, increasing number of countries held peaceful democratic elections

Creation of mechanisms for accountability such as the NEPAD African Peer Review Mechanism

Increase in the proportion of women in representative decision-making bodies

commitment towards gender-balanced development at sub-regional levels

Emphasis on gender-balanced development in the Constitutive Act of the AU enabling gender equality in the Union’s policies and programmes

Implementation of gender parity in the selection of AU Commissioners

Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa by AU Heads of States in July 2004 19

Challenges:1. Some persistent signs of poor

governance lack of accountability and

mismanagement of public resources, corruption and lack of transparency, violation of human rights especially of

disadvantaged groups, political intolerance and persecution of

those with divergent views All these have negative effects on

women’s advancement2. Women who constitute 52% of

populations continue to be under-represented in most structures of power and decision-making 20

ADF IV – Governance for ADF IV – Governance for a Progressing Africaa Progressing Africa

ECA is hosting the 4th African Development Forum (ADF IV) on the theme of "Governance for a Progressing Africa."

Good governance essential in transforming Africa’s economies

Gender equality is one of the main building blocks for democracy. 21

3. Main Gender Issues in 3. Main Gender Issues in AfricaAfrica

a) Invisibility of Women in the Economy Difficult to explicitly identify gender

disparities because of inadequate gender-disaggregated data

Contribution of the household economy, which provides more than 70% of food in Africa not counted in national statistics

Less than 10 African countries conduct systematic time-use or house-hold surveys

In response ECA has developedIn response ECA has developed

The African Gender and Development Index (AGDI)

The Gender-aware Macro-economic Model

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b. Questioning Commitments to Gender b. Questioning Commitments to Gender EqualityEquality

There are clear gender imbalances in the allocation of national resources.

Resources for national programmes for the advancement of women come mainly from external partners.

Lack of effective action plans, accountability measures and monitoring mechanisms for the achievement of gender equality

There has not been widespread sensitization on the content of the BPFA

Well-meant gender declarations and policies have not been translated into actionable, well-resourced measures 24

c. The Gender Agenda in Africac. The Gender Agenda in Africa

The gender agenda seen as a responsibility of women’s ministries, gender focal points and women’s NGOs

Other stakeholders do not feel they have a responsibility to champion the gender agenda.

Women’s human rights issues are discredited as being ‘un-African’ and against ‘our’ culture.

Women’s rights activists are seen as being aligned to opposition 25

Women activists and NGOs are often divided along political lines Yet in political parties women do not

hold powerful decision-making positions

they are discriminated against in selection of candidates for high political office.

Solidarity among women is lowThe women’s movement tends to

be issue-basedDonor-dependency threatens its

sustainability 26

4. Major Challenges to 4. Major Challenges to Achievement of Gender Achievement of Gender EqualityEquality

a. Need for demonstrated political will to translate political commitments into actionable measures for achieving gender equality

b. Need to adhere to democratic principles, thus recognizing the capacity of women and men to take part in decision-making at local, national and regional levels 27

c. Bringing civil society together – women and men- to keep gender equality on the international agenda

d. Keeping the women’s movement alive and mentoring the youth into activism to change gender-biased attitudes and gender stereotypes

e. Changing of attitude of women, men boys and girls so that they act on the principle of all people being born ‘equal in dignity and rights’ 28

Technical challengesTechnical challenges

a. How to effectively mainstream gender concerns into all policies, programmes and daily activities of all institutions, including all civil society organizations and the private sector

 b  To ensure that all data for use in designing, planning, monitoring and evaluating gender sensitivity of programmes and for accountability is disaggregated by sex

  c. Strengthening the capacity of monitoring

institutions and mechanisms 29

5. The Way Forward – Key 5. The Way Forward – Key QuestionsQuestions

a. Recognising that there is no democracy without gender equality, how can we ensure that democratisation takes into account gender equality principles?

b. How can we ensure that gender analysis is consistently mainstreamed into poverty reduction strategies in our countries?    30

   c. How can we ensure that women’s participation and gender issues are systematically mainstreamed into processes and the agendas of all regional and international conferences and reports on issues such as trade, agriculture, energy, debt and technology?

d. How can we make our cultures and traditions respond to demands of universal gender equality standards (dignity, equality, respect and participation)? 31