Africa is grappling with development challenges from several fronts. Among these is the persistent glaring feature of gender inequality. At the core of this problem are the inherent social processes that fuel cultural stereotypes, with resultant inequalities between men and women. To address this challenge, it is imperative that steps are taken by African countries to accelerate implementation of its local, regional and global commitments to women in addition to arriving at innovative strategies to propel this agenda forward. One of these noteworthy efforts is the call by African Ministers in charge of gender to the AUC and the ECA to synergise their efforts towards the achievement of gender equality.
The meeting of the Committee on Women and Development (CWD) which took place in Dakar, Senegal, in October 2005 called on the AUC and the ECA to work together in addressing issues of common continental interest. It is the view that strengthened collaboration between the two institutions would remove the likelihood of duplication of efforts and thereby enhance their ability to carry out their respective mandates to African States. The planned Conference of Ministers of Gender and Women’s Affairs is a continuation of that effort. During the 7th Africa Regional Conference on Women (2004), Ministers in charge of Gender and/ or Women ’s Affairs called for concrete measures that will accelerate the Continent towards implementation of Regional commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment. These are clearly outlined in the Outcome and Way forward document. These measures dictate that evaluation of performance be conducted in a coherent, consistent and systematic manner, rather than in the sporadic form that currently prevails. In the same year, the African Heads of State recommitted themselves to gender equality as stipulated in the AU’s Constitutive Act, Article 4(1) by adopting the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA). Through the SDGEA, governments have agreed to among others to “expand and promote the gender parity principle, ensure the active promotion and protection of all human rights for women and girls, actively promote the implementation of legislation to guarantee women’s land, property and inheritance rights including their rights to housing, undertake to sign and ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa by the end of 2004. |
