Executive
summary
This paper
reviews progress made on the African continent in the theme
Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women since
the adoption of the Dakar and Beijing Declarations. It incorporates
assessments from various sources including: the Internet; official
documents of the United Nations, ECA/ ACW and other or anisations;
minutes of meetings and reports from workshops. It also incorporates
the assessments and ideas enerated during the 6 th African Regional
Conference on Women held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 22- 26
November, 1999.
According
to the Workshop on Institutional Mechanisms of the above- mentioned
conference, national machineries define the main institutional
arrangements for implementing the lobal and regional platforms.
The Workshop noted that national machinery refers to a single
or combination of structures established by a country to advance
ender equality. The machinery is usually created by overnment
and mana ed by public sector officials and the wider civil society,
including NGO and private sector structures.
It was also
noted that in the Global Platform for Action commitments were
aimed at achieving three strate ic objectives ( h. 1, h. 2 and
h. 3) in the theme on institutional mechanisms viz: create and
strengthen national machineries and other governmental bodies;
integrate gender perspectives in legislation, public policies,
programmes and projects; and generate and disseminate gender
disaggregated data and information for planning and evaluation
. Some of the actions for achieving these objectives were: vesting
the responsibility for advancing women s issues in the highest
possible levels; developing strategies and methodologies for
mobilizing resources; empowering women through research, information,
education, training, lobbying, and advisory services; coordinating
various actors on the national, sub- regional, regional and
international levels; monitoring impact; building capacity for
gender analytic research and disa regated data collection and
dissemination; changing laws to suit the concerns of women for
ender equality; ensure that policies under o thorough ender
analysis before they are adopted; etc.
Since the
Beijing and Dakar Platforms, various commitments were undertaken
at various levels to accelerate implementation. For example,
at international level the UN system committed to achieving
an internal ender distribution rate of 50/ 50 by the year 2000;
ensuring accountability of individual mana ers for implementing
the strategic plan in their areas of responsibility; enabling
the focal points for women to effectively monitor and facilitate
progress in the implementation of the strate ic plan; etc. At
regional level the OAU, ECA, ADB adopted the African Platform
for Action as a common position for the advancement of women
in Africa. This served as the basis for their internal ender
policies and efforts. At sub- regional commitment level, inter-
state agencies such as SADC made their own commitments through
instruments such as the SADC declaration. Institutional frameworks
for implementation were therefore put in place to accelerate
the implementation of these sub- regional efforts. Similarly,
at national level, countries adopted and adapted the Beijing
and Dakar Platforms into their own platforms for action. Some
chose the theme of institutional mechanisms as a priority but
all had to create or strengthen their institutional arrangements
in order to effectively implement their action plans.
As regards
progress, a lot has been achieved as all countries have: set
up national ender machineries for coordination; adapted the
lobal and regional platforms to national action plans; enhanced
the capacity of their machineries; enhanced of le al, regulatory
or policy frameworks; and some have started enerating and disseminating
ender disa regated data; NGOs on ender issues have proliferated.
At the regional level the OAU and ADB have enhanced their women
s departments and efforts for ender mainstreaming. The ECA has:
re- invigorated the African Center for Women ( ACW) ; re- invigorated
sub- regional development centres ( SRDCS) and established ender
focal points within them; through the ACW, organized sub- regional
follow up workshops international/ regional conferences, conducted
surveys, training and advisory services, publications, etc.
There is also a noticeable increase in using the emerging new
information technologies such as the Internet to accelerate
achievement of ender balance oals by all stakeholders.
However,
challenges still remain. The 6 th African Regional Conference
in Addis Ababa pointed out some of these including: most national
machineries are still in the evolutionary sta e and face many
financial, human and material resource constraints; their ability
to provide the intellectual leadership and co- ordinate programmes
is extremely limited; the rural communities are still beyond
reach; the need to strengthen systematic partnership and consultation
with NGOs and civil society economic crises and political conflicts
also pose serious challenges. Furthermore, in many countries,
the macro- indicators and mechanisms for monitoring progress
have not been fully articulated and in some countries national
machineries also suffer from a lack of autonomy and authority
to influence policy and operate independently and effectively.
Some recommendations
have therefore been put forward to accelerate the institutional
mechanisms for advancement of women. The Conference Workshop
recommended: the recognition of national machineries as the
co- ordination and consultative mechanisms for the whole national
process of implementing the Platforms for Action; establishing
a ender management system for co- ordination and collaboration,
with strong NGO input and clear terms of reference for all components;
avoidance of duplication of efforts, parallel responsibilities,
and uncoordinated interventions at all levels through systematic
and participatory planning; overnment and NGOs are partners
for development and should not work as opponents; further strengthening
of national machineries through appropriate legislative and
policy support, human, technical, material and financial resources,
ender focal points, etc.
Other recommendations
in this paper include: addressing the low levels of training
for members of women s associations; tackling the persistent
high illiteracy rates of women; addressing the trivialisation
of ender issues and resistance at various levels; addressing
uneven commitment of countries within sub- regions.
[Table of Contents]
1. Introduction
Institutional
structures and mechanisms at national, sub- regional, regional
and international levels are the vehicles through which the
goals and vision of the Global and African Platforms for Action
can be realized. The capacities and visions of these institutional
arrangements help to determine the level and quality of achievements.
The elements of the institutional mechanisms for the advancement
of women are: policy guidelines and frameworks; organizations,
institutions and their cultural or traditional, values, attitudes,
behaviour and practices; formalized incentiv systems, that is,
r wards and punishments; regulations, operating procedures and
standards such as affirmativ actions and quota systems in recruitment
or selection procedures; and laws, constitutions and visions.
In general,
a variety of structures and mechanisms for the advancement of
women xist to giv xpression to women s and gender issues at
the local, national, sub- regional, regional and international
levels. The national level comprises:
Gov rnment structures that deal with gender or women s issues
such as: ministries of gender or women s affairs; and/ or
national women s bureaux or commissions of women in development;
gender focal points in all ministries relevant to the advancement
of women including education, planning, health and environment;
l gal/ regulatory frameworks, among constitutions, laws, budgetary
and auditing systems, which ar part and parcel of institutional
mechanisms in the public arena; international instruments,
conventions, declarations and other agreements which by implication
constitute institutional ( regulatory) frameworks for dealing
with g nder issues.
Political party structures such as women s leagues, branches,
desks/ associations; political advisers on gender at various
levels of government or ruling party machinery such as presidential
offices and offices of First Ladies. The degree of involvement
in gender or women s issues varies in diff rent countries.
Non- Gov rnmental Organizations ( NGOs) , umbrella organizations
as well as the broad rang of civil society networks; and women
s associations
Private sector organizations, initiatives and networks; chambers
of commerce, financial and credit institutions, employers
as well as employ rs associations involved to varying degrees
in gender issues.
Different
countries hav managed to harness the energies and abilities
of these different actors to varying degrees. Some gov rnment
gender related machineries hav made successful efforts in linking
up with all these actors with a view to creating a working relationship,
which is activ , vibrant, national and all encompassing. Coordination
arrangements and mechanisms, which are functional, harmonious
and capable of delivering results, hav been put in place. This
is due to the committed and visionary leadership at the highest
levels of government, the women s movement and civil society
organizations. Such leadership has been demonstrated through
sustained and unflinching financial, material and moral support.
Some countries,
how v r, are still struggling to establish viable and workable
machineries that go b yond the gov rnment circles and that are
truly national, encompassing all other gender/ women s organizations.
In these countries, the gov rnment gender machineries operate
with limited financial resources, personnel and capacity to
provide the leadership and coordination functions required to
effectiv ly link with civil society and the private sector.
With the recent proliferation of local and international NGOs
and associations the situation has become even more complicated.
It is almost impossible to harness and coordinate all the actors
in the field for maximum impact on commonly identified priorities.
The result is duplication and overlap and difficulty in assessing
impact of the resources spent by each actor. Those that suffer
most ar at grassroots level, especially in the rural areas,
where in many cases, the activities in place hav failed to produce
significant, visible and lasting impact. The women s movement
is yet to provide adequate direction to the rural masses in
the most plausible way towards implementing the African and
Global Platforms for Action
At the international
l vel, the United Nations system takes the lead through its
Division for the Advancement of Women ( DAW) ; Inter Agency
Committee on Women and Gender Equality ( IACWGE) ; Research
and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women ( INSTRAW)
; the United Nations Development Fund for Women ( UNIFEM) ;
the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women; and the Commission on the Status of Women. The
above institutions assist in one way or other to translate the
Global and African Platforms into reality.
At the regional
l vel are such institutions as the African Center for Women
( ACW) of the Economic Commission for Africa ( ECA) ; the Gender
Unit of the Organization of African Unity ( OAU) ; the Gender
Unit of the African Development Bank ( ADB) ; NGOs, associations,
networks, working groups among others; and r gional offices
of the UN and Development agencies
At the sub-
regional l vel there are such institutions as: women s or gender
structures that fall under the sub- regional inter- state agencies
such as the Gender Unit of the Southern Africa Development Community
and the West African Women s Association ( WAWA) of the Economic
Community of West African States ( ECOWAS) and various kinds
of programmes, NGOs, associations, networks, working groups
and so on.
The main
body of this paper is organized in the framework of the three
Strategic Objectives of the Global Platform for Action r garding
institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women.
[Table
of Contents]
2. Background
The Global
and African Platforms for Action set certain strategic goals
and actions required for the theme institutional mechanisms
for the ad ancement of women . The document made certain observations
r garding the status of institutional arrangements at the time.
Among other issues, it noted that: National machineries for
the advancement of women hav been established in almost very
Member State inter alia to design, promote the implementation
of, xecute, monitor, valuate, advocate and mobilize support
for policies that promote the advancement of women. It also
observed that, National machineries are div rse in form and
unev n in their effectiveness, and in some cases hav declined.
Often marginalized in national gov rnment structures, these
mechanisms ar frequently hampered by unclear mandates, lack
of adequate staff, training, data and sufficient resources,
and insufficient support from national political leadership.
[1]
It is unfortunate
that fiv years after these observations w r made, the situation
seems to hav changed only marginally. In many countries, old
structures hav been given additional mandates as a direct result
of the Global and African Platforms for Action but v ry little
additional capacity has been given concomitant with the task
at hand. Donors, how v r, are trying to put resources into building
the required capacity, although some argue that these resources
are still inadequate.
The Global
Platform acknowledges that methodologies for collecting, analysing
and using gender- disaggregated data that are well advanced,
but are not being applied or are applied inconsistently. There
has been progress in this area. Some countries ( such as Malawi
South Africa and Zambia) are trying to increase their capacity
for handling disaggregated data. Efforts are being made to train
staff in research centers and statistical offices in methodologies
for collecting, processing and publishing gender disaggregated
data as well as engendering national budgets.
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2.1 Global
and african platforms: Objectives and actions
The Global
Platform identified three Strategic Objectiv s ( H. 1, H. 2
and H. 3) under the theme Institutional Mechanisms for the Ad
ancement of Women viz.
Create
and strengthen national machineries and other governmental bodies;
integrate gender perspectives in legislation, public policies,
programmes and projects; and generate and disseminate gender
disaggregated data and information for planning and e aluation
.
The actions
to be implemented to achieve each objectiv ar presented in subsequent
sections in the form of questions for assessing progress .
Actions
w r proposed in the Global Platform for Action to realiz these
goals. The African Platform for Action indicated the xistence
of structures and proposed measures to create or strengthen
others. At the sub- regional level, such institutions as ECOWAS,
Pr ferential Trade Area ( PTA) , Common Market for Eastern and
Southern Africa ( COMESA) , SADC, the Arab Maghr b Union, The
Central African Customs and Economic Union, the Western African
Monetary Union, the Economic Community of Central African States
and the African Development Bank ( ADB) are mentioned as the
lead institutions to spearhead implementation. At the r gional
level, the mandated institutions are the Committee on Women
and Development ( CWD) the former Africa R gional Coordinating
Committee for the Integration of Women in Development ( ARCC)
for which the African Centre for Women in ECA and the OAU Women
s Unit serv as Secretariat. At the international level, the
African Platform emphasizes the role of the United Nations and
its agencies. At the country l vel, the National Pr paratory
Committee is proposed as the one to monitor implementation.
ARCC ( now CWD) , was to coordinate, monitor and evaluate implementation
at the r gional level in collaboration with sub- regional inter-
state institutions such as SADC, the Joint OAU/ ECA/ ADB Secretariat,
the Inter- Parliamentary Union ( IPU) and relevant United Nations
Agencies such as UNIFEM. The ECA Conference of Ministers, OAU
Heads of State and Gov rnment, and the OAU Council of Ministers
should be informed of progress very 2 years. A r view of the
effectiveness of donor programmes related to gender and development
should also be carried out.
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3. Commitments
to the global and African platforms for action
3.1 International
commitments
Among the
12 critical areas of concern of the Global Platform for Action
was the theme Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of
Women whose proposed actions gov rnments and all actors at the
international level such as the United Nations system, committed
themselves to implement. Besides ensuring that the goals of
gender equality ar fulfilled on a global scale through its agencies
and its Division for the Advancement of Women, the United Nations
system is committed to: achieving an internal gender distribution
rate of 50/ 50 by the year 2000; appointing more women as special
r presentativ s and envoys; ensuring accountability of individual
manag rs for implementing the strategic plan in their areas
of responsibility; working toward creating a gender- sensitiv
nvironment; and enabling the Focal Points for Women to effectiv
ly monitor and facilitate progress in the implementation of
the strategic plan. [2]
The Inter-
Agency Committee for Women and Gender Equality ( IACWGE) was
created specifically to ensure implementation and monitoring
of strategies and that the goals and objectives of the critical
area women in power and decision- making were fulfilled. Furthermore,
the General Assembly mandated the Commission on the Status of
Women to integrate into its work programme a follow- up process
to the Beijing Conference, in which the Commission should play
a catalytic role by regularly reviewing the critical areas of
concern in the Global Platform for Action.
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3.2 Regional
commitments
OAU committed
itself to the African Platform for Action: A Common Position
for the Ad ancement of Women when the Heads of State and Gov
rnment of OAU signed the Addis Ababa Declaration on the African
Platform for Action on Women on 28 June, 1995. The Platform
specifically mentions the importance of institutional arrangements
for implementing the action plan for advancing the position
of women. These include the national gender machineries, sub-
regional, regional and international structures such as the
UN system. It also urges the setting up of a follow- up mechanism
for the assessment and monitoring of the implementation of the
Platform for Action having a core structur with the mandate
of coordinating, monitoring and evaluating implementation of,
and accountability to, the Platform of Action at international,
regional and national levels. [3]
The ECA
is committed to putting gender at the forefront of its programmes
of assisting Africa in its social and economic dev lopment via
gender mainstreaming. As a result, it has elevated its African
Centre for Women to division level and started a process of
increasing capacity for gender mainstreaming throughout the
Commission.
[Table
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3.3 Sub-
regional commitments
In the Southern
African R gion, the concern of SADC with gender issues dates
back to 1990, way before the Beijing Conference, when its Council
of Ministers resolved to giv priority to issues of gender and
development. A SADC Gender Policy Framework was created by article
21( 3) of the SADC Treaty and Protocol and Gender and Development
concerns provided for in Article 22 of the Treaty.
The SADC
Institutional Framework for advancing gender issues includes:
a Standing Committee of Ministers; an Advisory Committee of
NGOs and gov rnment officials; a Management Committee consisting
of three member countries and one serving as a secretariat;
gender focal points in all coordinating units and r gional commissions;
and a gender unit in the Secretariat. A SADC Plan of Action
for Gender and development was cr ated to audit current programmes,
mainstream gender into SADC Programmes; and for training, setting
targets and developing indicators.
The SADC
gender programme is administered by UNIFEM to promote women
in decision- making. Other organizations include Women in the
Law in Southern Africa ( WLSA) and Women in Law and Development
for Africa ( WILDAF) . Constitutional guarantees, customary
law and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women ( CEDAW) are implemented through these organizations.
Nev rtheless, a lot of work still needs to be done in such areas
as legislation, enforcement and capacity building.
[Table
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3.4 National
commitments
African
Gov rnments are committed to set up national gender machineries
for coordination, advocacy, monitoring and valuation of all
gender mainstreaming efforts. National machineries ar institutions
or formal entities recognized by governments and entrusted with
particular responsibility for the advancement of women and the
elimination of all forms of discrimination against women in
monitoring the ramifications of gender relations in a given
society, and acting as advocates on behalf of women. 4
Many countries
already had national gender machineries ven befor the Global
and African Platforms. Since then, some hav shown progress in
upgrading gender units to departments or ministry levels 5 while
others have k pt their previous gov rnmental structures or machinery/
focal point 6 but added on the Global Platform to the already
burdened structures. In a f w notable cases, for xample Eritrea,
the national machinery is outside of the gov rnmental structures
altogether. Others such as Ghana still make statements of commitment
to set up institutional structures beyond what is already in
place. [7]
[Table
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4. Creation
and strengthening of gender machineries
To assess
progress in the creation and strengthening of national machineries
and gov rnmental bodies, the following k y questions hav to
be asked:
Has the responsibility for advancing women s issues been vested
in the highest possible levels of gov rnment?
What forms hav the national gender machineries taken?
Hav inter- ministerial coordination structures been established
and strengthened?
How strong are the networking and monitoring capabilities
of the national machineries?
How effectiv have they been in advancing the gender concerns
of women. For xample: gender mainstreaming gov rnment and
organizations policies, programmes and projects; d veloping
strategies and methodologies for mobilizing resources and
the energies of women, men, and society in general; mpowering
women through research, information, education, training,
lobbying, and advisory services to the Gov rnment; coordinating
various actors on the national, sub- regional, r gional and
international levels; monitoring impact; building capacity
for gender analytic research and disaggregated data collection
and dissemination; changing laws to suit the concerns of women
for gender equality; etc.
If they have not been effectiv , why not? If they have been
effectiv , what lessons hav been learned?
Hav l gislativ bodies played their role in advancing the status
of women?
Hav ministries been given the mandate to review policies,
programmes and projects from a gender perspectiv and in light
of the Global and African Platforms?
[Table
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4.1 Types
of institutional mechanisms and vesting of responsibility
4.1.1 International
level
The United
Nations system has committed itself to incorporate and mainstream
gender in policies, programmes, positions and so forth, to ensure
the implementation of the Platform. The office of the United
Nations Secretary- General takes the overall responsibility
for the global implementation, monitoring and valuation of the
Platform through the Division for the Advancement of Women (
DAW) and committees it services. These include the Elimination
of Discrimination against Women and the Inter- Agency Committee
on Women and Gender Equality ( IACWGE) ; commissions of the
United Nations Economic and Social Council ( ECOSOC) such as
those on the status of women, human rights, sustainable development,
population; and relevant United Nations entities such as: United
Nations Development Fund for Women ( UNIFEM) , United Nations
International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement
of Women ( INSTRAW) , and the United Nations Fund for Population
Activities ( UNFPA) .
4.1.2 Regional
level
4.1.2.1.
The Organization of African Unity ( OAU)
The Organization
of African Unity ( OAU) committed itself to the African Platform
for Action through a Declaration of African Heads of State on
June 28, 1995. This Platform, which was also developed in pr
paration for the Beijing Conference, as the African position
paper, expresses similar concerns as the Global Platform for
Action. All the 11 critical areas of concern raised in the African
Platform ( and to which a commitment to address them was made
through the Declaration by Heads of African States) , require
institutional mechanisms to develop, implement, monitor, and
valuate actions and r port to various authorities and interested
parties on an on- going basis. The OAU, as the supreme r gional
political body, is vested with the mandate of overseeing the
political commitment and implementation of the Global and African
Platforms through its annual forums with African ministers and
Heads of state. The OAU has the lev rag to bring g nder issues
to the highest levels of African gov rnments for their serious
commitment and implementation. A Gender Unit xists within the
OAU to assist in the quest to put gender issues at the for of
development efforts by African politicians.
In most
African countries the xecutiv branches of government tak the
primary responsibility for proposing policies, plans, programmes
and projects. Gender mainstreaming therefore lies first and
for most in the hands of the Heads of state and gov rnment,
ministers and principal advisers. Indeed where progress has
been made in mainstreaming gender issues, it was because the
top leadership, especially the president and the cabinet, took
personal interest and vigorously pursued the goals of women
s advancement albeit with a strong push from strong women s
movements. In many cases, Legislativ Assemblies still lack the
analytical and resource capacities available to the xecutiv
branches/ civil services for policy scrutiny and analysis that
could enforce gender mainstreaming. As a result they remain
quite weak in spite of multi- party democratic systems and hav
little capacity to change the prevailing situations.
Consequently,
the OAU still needs to take a much more proactiv role in influencing
African politics and African political leaders to seriously
account for their commitments to empower women and to advance
their status. The OAU has a significant role to play in ensuring
that African gov rnments act in accordance with the declarations
which they sign, and demonstrate in actions their commitments
vis- a vis tackling gender concerns.
4.1.2.2
The Economic Commission for Africa ( ECA)
The Economic
Commission for Africa s mandate is to promote social and economic
development in the African continent. It has adopted a serious
approach to the issues of gender, the empow rment of women and
the advancement of their social, political and economic status.
This commitment has been witnessed by the various conferences,
workshops, meetings and activities that ECA has initiated, sponsored,
conducted or participated in over the past 20 years. These efforts
are aimed at taking gender issues to the top of the African
dev lopment agenda. The creation of the Committee on Women in
Development ( CWD) and the African Centre for Women ( ACW) further
signifies a serious commitment to these issues. There is already
a process in place toward enhancing the gender mainstreaming
capacity of the divisions in ECA in view of its commitment to
include gender equality as a development objectiv and gender
mainstreaming as its strategy. This has become more apparent
since 1996 when the new leadership of ECA initiated a structural
reform process with gender becoming a focal point for development
and with the elevation of ACW to the level of a division. [8]
i) Committee
on Women and Development ( CWD) [9]
CWD is a
committee made up of r presentatives of ECA Member States, civil
society and xperts and has superceded AARC. AARC had been set
up at the instance of the first Africa R gional Conference on
Women specifically to assist and advise ECA on the integration
of women in development, to ensure the implementation of policy
recommendations, to mobilize the resources required for the
purpose, to follow up and valuate sub- regional activities and
organize the Africa R gional Conference on Women. [10]
ii) The
African Centre for Women ( ACW)
Since 1996,
ACW has been receiving greater attention and promises for enhanced
capacity to service ECA internally and the African continent
regarding gender mainstreaming and women s empow rment. The
new programme for the Centre is contained in its strategic plan
for 2000 2005. It aims to assist member countries ( as well
as divisions in ECA) to mainstream gender in programmes, policies,
projects and laws. ACW also intends to focus on advocacy, networking,
training and coordination in order to facilitate the advancement
of women in Africa at regional, sub- regional and national levels.
The main
problem faced by ACW is it s own capacity to provide the services
required internally by other Divisions as well as xternally
at the r gional, sub- regional and national l vels. The r gular
budget for the Centre is limited, amounting to not more than
US$ 2 million per year. Reliance is put on xtra budgetary resources
for certain activities but receiving such resources is unpredictable.
The need to urgently boost the capacity of the Center cannot
be overemphasized as it is the pillar on which all the Center
s activities are dependent. Currently in ACW there are only
five core professional staff in addition to a R gional Advisors,
one on women s economic empow rment and one on women s human
and legal rights, whose mandate is to service the entire African
region rather than to carry out the internal work of ACW . This
seriously limits the ability to provide the quantity and quality
of services required. ACW therefore relies heavily on short-
term solutions, such as working with xternal consultants.
The work
of ACW has how ver been relativ ly strengthened through the
recent initiativ to r viv the Sub- Regional Dev lopment Centr
s ( SRDCs) of ECA. This initiativ was aimed at decentralizing
the work of ECA making it more relevant to sub- regional needs
and priorities.
4.1.2.3
The African Development Bank ( ADB)
The African
Development Bank as a r gional institution mandated to assist
in the development of African countries through financial aid,
has a role to play in promoting gender mainstreaming and the
advancement of women through the programmes and projects it
finances. In fact, the ADB is proposing to use good governance
as one of its conditions for giving assistance to African countries.
This is a window of opportunity for ADB to demonstrate its commitment
to advancing the position of women on the African continent.
Since women s rights are human rights and development without
focusing on gender issues is no development at all, ADB respects
both fronts to address the concerns raised in the Global and
African Platforms.
4.1.2.4
Others
There are
other bodies operating at regional level and these include mainly
NGOs such as FEMNET. During the 6 th Regional Conference it
was learnt that there is also an African Commission for Human
Rights and Peace and a Special Rapporteur for Women s Rights
in Africa. The latter s capacity needs strengthening.
4.1.3 The
sub- regional level
4.1.3.1.
Southern African Development Community ( SADC)
The 1998
SADC Declaration on Gender and Development by Heads of State
was a major landmark for women s advancement in the sub- region.
It reaffirms its commitment to the Forward Looking Strategies
adopted at the third World Conference on Women held in Nairobi
( 1985) , the African Platform for Action and, the Beijing Declaration
and Platform for Action. The Declaration endorses SADC s decision
to establish a policy framework for mainstreaming gender in
all SADC activities; putting in place an institutional framework
for advancing gender equality which includes a Gender Advisory
Committee, a Gender Unit [11]
and Gender Focal Points ( GFPs) in all sectoral initiativ s.
The Declaration has an addendum on the Prevention and Eradication
of Violence Against Women and Children with proposed legal,
social, economic, cultural and political strategies to tackle
this strongly condemned phenomenon.
4.1.4 National
level
In addition
to their placement in high offices of government as xplained
abov , one of the most important structural aspects of the national
machineries are the linkages they establish with civil society
actors such as: NGOs with their own gender networks; different
types of media; educational institutions and research centres;
grassroots women s associations; and financial and credit institutions
in private, semi- private and public sectors. Further strengthening
of important linkag with bodies that belong to gov rning institutions
of the country such as the Parliament or local gov rning councils
is vital. There are women s caucuses that hav come up in legislativ
assemblies such as in Malawi and Zambia, both at national and
local levels.
Below are
xamples of government structures responsible for improving the
status of women:
Malawi: the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Community Services
[12] ( MGYCS) and the
National Commission for Women in Development ( NCWD) with
r presentatives from gov rnment, civil society and NGOs.
Heritag , Culture and Social Services
Ethiopia: the Women s Affairs Office in the Prime Minister
s Office.
Senegal: this responsibility is vested in the Ministry of
Family, Social Action and National Solidarity.
Nigeria: the Federal Ministry of Women s Affairs and Social
Development, along with the Family Support Programme, utilizing
the offices of the First Lady at federal, state and local
gov rnment levels and the Ministriesof Women Affairs and Social
Development at state level. Botswana: the National Women s
Machinery which was elevated to a fully- fledged gov rnment
department called the Women s Affairs Department.
Swaziland: the Ministry of Home Affairs was giv n a mandate
for gender issues in 1996 and UNFPA employed a gender officer
on secondment to the Ministry.
Ghana: the National Council on Women and Development ( NCWD)
under the Office of the President
Zambia: the Gender in Development Division in the Cabinet
Office
Uganda: the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
Mali: the Ministry for the Advancement of Women, Children
and the Family.
Other countries
use structures outside the gov rnment machinery to implement
the Global and African Platforms. The R public of the S ychelles
has a Gender Steering Committee comprising public sector and
NGO r presentativ s. Eritrea has the National Union of Eritrean
Women ( NUEW) , an NGO ( also called Union) established in 1979
and which has now over 200,000 members at regional, sub- regional
and community levels. It has now been entrusted with coordinating
the implementation of the Global Platform and has a Plan of
Action that coincides with the Global Platform. [13]
[Table
of Contents]
4.2 Challenges
One of the
major challenges faced by most countries is lack of the required
resources to implement the approved programmes. This can also
be videnced in some organizations and institutions at all levels
( local to international) even within the agencies of d velopment
partners.
In some
countries, the macro- indicators and mechanisms for monitoring
progress hav not been fully articulated and are not yet operational.
As a result, clear, objectiv and precise monitoring and valuations
cannot take place. It is also difficult to follow up the expenditures
on specific themes ( e. g. empow rment and institutional mechanisms
since disaggregated xpenditure figures are not readily available.
South Africa is a case in point. The Gov rnment s budget for
Global Platform implementation is hard to assess since xpenditures
are not disaggregated specifically for the Platform or the Women
s Convention or gender related issues. [14]
Gender machineries
at almost all levels lack the necessary human resources with
the requisite skills. Equipment and other material resources
are also not adequate. For example, South Africa, which is taken
as one of the leading African countries in political empow rment
of women, has a relativ ly small gov rnment budget allocation
to gender programmes as compared to other programmes. The Commission
on Gender Equality has a budget of Rand 2 million ( US$ 405,000)
compared to the Human Rights Commission s budget of Rand 6.4
million ( US$ 1.3. million) and the Truth Commission s Rand
72 million ( US$ 14.6 million) . [15]
Malawi, like many of her neighbours, has v ry few gender specialists
in the national machinery. In 1998, the Women s Affairs Division
of the Ministry had only one person in the super- scale bracket
and 19 persons at professional officer/ chief technical officer
levels wher 7 posts w r still vacant. [16]
Results of a study showed that only 16% of staff in the Ministry
of Women, Youth and Community Services had ever received gender
training of some sort or w r familiar with gender planning or
had knowledge of gender documents. [17]
The Ministry relies on outsiders and grassroots people beyond
the gov rnment machinery, to provide required xpertise. Even
these may not hav the full level of expertise required to provide
the critical service needed to mainstream gender in policies
and programmes while at the same time be able to service gov
rnment departments and the entire machinery.
Also in
many countries, the central gov rnment gender or women s machineries
w r cr ated before the Beijing Conference. After the Conf rence,
the Declaration and Platform for Action, women s machineries
w re assigned extra responsibilities to implement the Platforms.
This significantly increased the burden but their capacity (
extra personnel, training/ skills pool, financial, and material
resources, etc. ) did not increase accordingly. One of the activities
that have been delayed is the formulation of the national gender
policy in K nya and other countries. K nya s was finalized sometime
in 1998 but still awaited cabinet approval as at July 1999.
The result is delays in implementing a full and nationally agreed-
upon gender programme.
Based on
the K nyan case, sev ral interesting observations can also be
made. For xample, the Women s Bureau is a unit within a division
of Social Services which itself is within a Ministry that has
several other divisions ( the Ministry of Home Affairs, National
Heritag , Cultur , and Social Services) . Indeed many other
countries hav a similar set up for the central gov rnment gender
structure i. e. placed within a larg r composite ministry which
has a single budget. The Ugandan Gender D partment, as a result
of a recent rationalization or civil service r form process,
has also been put together with Culture and Community Development
affecting efforts to raise the status of and empow r women.
[18] Thus, there are
lingering issues of lack of autonomy and authority to influence
policy and operate independently and effectiv ly.
Although
Cameroon has a national action plan formulated in consultation
with NGOs and which identifies priority areas, resources are
not directly or specifically allocated to each of those areas.
There are also no time- bound targets or benchmarks.
The Action
Plan in Congo- Brazzaville is said to hav been derailed by the
civil war. In Mali, like verywhere else, inadequate resources
ar given as a major block to progress. [19]
In Burkina Faso, some of the constraints are: the lack of financial,
material and human resources ( in quantity and quality) ; difficulties
in coordinating ministerial actions for the advancement of women;
difficulties in identifying and coordinating NGOs and women
s associations; a low l vel of training of members of women
s associations; persistence of women s high illiteracy l vels;
and isolated activities of associations/ NGOs, which make it
difficult to measure the real impact and r port on real progress.
In Senegal,
the gov rnment determined what it needed to implement in its
action plan but realized that it could not afford the cost ven
with outside donor assistance. Also it is difficult to know
how many NGOs are involved in implementing the Senegalese Action
Plan and there is a tendency for many of them to work in isolation.
This limits the impact of their efforts. [20]
[Table
of Contents]
5. Integrating
gender perspectives in legislation, policies and programmes
All the
African countries hav by now put in place national structures,
starting from the highest levels of government and xtending
to the wider society, to empower women and advance their status.
[21] Th effectiveness
of these structures depends first and foremost on the vision,
zeal and conviction of the topmost state/ political leaders
the Presidents, Prime Ministers, tc. Countries such as Namibia,
Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Uganda hav made some significant
advances in empowering women and advancing gender equality because
of the clearly demonstrated political commitment of their leaders.
This seems to be the outcome of a strong, well organized and
well orchestrated women s movement that relentlessly looks for
results and that has highly committed people ( women, men and
the youth) who are pr pared to sacrifice their time, resources,
r putations, etc. for the benefit of the cause and especially
for the benefit of the rural masses of women. Resources and
capacity building for the national gender machineries come as
a result of such high commitment, vision, organizational abilities
and personal sacrifice.
Some of
the k y questions to be asked in assessing the effectiveness
of national machineries in this area are:
To what xtent hav public policies under- gone gender impact
analysis before they were passed?
Has there been regular monitoring, review and analysis of
on going policies, programmes and projects so that women are
direct beneficiaries?
Has any analysis, research etc. been done to understand and
take into account the role of women in r munerated and unr
munerated jobs as their contributions to the national economy?
Has CEDAW been ratified and actions, strategies and methodologies
been designed to ensure its speedy implementation?
What policies, strat gies and methodologies hav been adopted
to enhance equality between women and men, and promote cooperation
and coordination within the central gov rnment in order to
ensur gender mainstreaming?
Hav relationships d veloped between the gender relevant branches
of government, research and women s studies centers, educational
institutions, private sectors, civil society and NGOs especially
those dealing with women s issues, the media and all others?
Hav l gal r forms been undertaken?
What measures hav been undertaken to increase women s participation
in all spheres of life both as agents and as beneficiaries?
Hav direct links been established with national, regional
and international bodies dealing with the advancement of women?
What kind and amount of gender training and advisory assistance
to gov rnment agencies the national machineries hav provided?
[Table
of Contents]
5.1 International
level
The UN system
has made headway in setting up or strengthening institutional
structures and re- arrangements to accommodate and implement
the Global Platform for Action. For example, the directiv to
achieve a 50/ 50 gender distribution in all UN agencies at national,
regional and international levels; the support to regional bodies
to push and make gender mainstreaming a priority in policies,
projects and programmes on the r gional and national levels;
the setting up of the Inter- Agency Committee on Women and Gender
Equality; efforts being undertaken to encourage the accumulation
and use of disaggregated data including engendering the budgets
for UN agencies ( using UNICEF as a case) and national budgets.
[22] N vertheless, there
is concern that with the slow rate of progress, the goal of
achieving the 50/ 50 requirement by 2000 may not be achieved.
If the current trend continues, this goal may not be reached
until 2013 for posts subject to g ographical distribution and
2018 for posts not subject to g ographical distribution. [23]
The International
Civil Service Commission ( ICSC) shows figures that portray
how the United Nations system is faring in improving gender
balance in the system. The data show that generally the situation
is improving in all the UN agencies, organs, funds and programmes
[24] . How v r, progress
seems to be slow and there is still a long way to go towards
parity especially at the highest echelons of the system. For
xample, the data show that about half of the Professional level
women are at P- 3 level and below; women hold only 20% of the
system s g ographical posts at the P- 5 level and above; as
the grade levels increase, the number of women thins out. [25]
Among other
things, women s situation in the system can improv through:
top level commitment; policy d velopment including establishment
of focal points and on- going revision of targets; expanding
recruitment sources; facilitating work/ life balance; enhancing
the working environment; follow- up mechanisms. [26]
Some of these issues are being addressed, and some hav already
shown results.
[Table
of Contents]
5.2 National
level
At the national
level, inadequate financial, human and material resources is
the major constraint to progress in enhancing institutional
capacity for the advancement of women. Almost all countries
hav mentioned that they have inadequate human and financial
capacity to implement their Platforms for Action. This is in
spite of indications that since the Beijing Conference resources
from donor assistance and some gov rnment budgetary allocations
to national machineries hav seen some significant increases.
Led by the
initiativ of the United Nations system, gender equality and
mainstreaming has formally come to the top of the agenda for
development. Most, if not all, major development partners and
lending institutions on the African continent are now incorporating
gender mainstreaming requirements in their assistance programmes.
The total amount of resources being put into this priority area
is difficult to measure and aggregate for all development partners
operating on the global scale. One reason is that there are
numerous actors presently operating in this area. Secondly,
gender being a crosscutting issue, it is difficult to isolate
or disaggregate the gender components of most d velopment resources
going into projects and programmes . g. physical infrastructure.
[27]
A lot of
development programmes in Africa, including efforts to empower
women and advance their status, are dependent on the generosity
of development partners. This is therefore understandable in
the African Platform for Action ( p. 48) dev lopment partners
are asked to commit 20% of development assistance, instead of
17% , to human development programmes. D veloped countries are
also asked to allocate 0.7% of their gross domestic product
( GDP) to helping poor countries. The United Nations Agencies,
Programmes, Funds and so on are supposed to allocate 20- 25%
of their regular budgets on gender- related work in order to
support the implementation of the Platforms for Action. Any
proceeds from debt buy- back schemes and equity conv rsion should
be allocated to women programmes. Multi- lateral partners are
urged to set up special windows for channeling finances to women
entr preneurs.
Most countries
budgets for the gender machinery ar miniscule as compared to
what d velopment partners put in. In Malawi, for xample, the
Gov rnment contributed about MK20 million to the national gender
machinery for 1999 while the partners contributed around MK200
million yet these resources w re not adequate to cover the priority
activities. [28]
In Egypt the gender budget has increased to 10% of the total
gov rnment budget. In Namibia it has increased to 11% of the
total annual budget. In Swaziland it is said that the budget
for gender and development has risen by 200% with sev ral bilateral
and multi- lateral agencies giving assistance but this may still
not be adequate. This contrasts with Cameroon where since Beijing
the budget for women s programmes has dwindled. The gov rnment
has not allocated any of its budget for implementation of the
Platform. [29]
Countries therefor need to find more sustainable ways of funding
there own gender initiatives ven as they look to development
partners for assistance.
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