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Bulletin Issue No. 3
This is the third issue of the Southern Africa Development Bulletin published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Subregional Development Centre for Southern Africa (UNECA/SRDC-SA). The issue focuses on the ECA programme for promoting the advancement of women. It highlights the recommendations and strategies developed during the High Level Policy Seminar on Gender Equity, Social and Economic Empowerment of Women and the Internaitonal Conference on African Women and Economic Development: Investing in our Future. A summary of which way forward into the next millennium is presented. Additionally excepts from the 21st OAU Meeting of the Labour and Social Affairs Commission held in Pretoria, South Africa in April 1998 and the COMESA Summit held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo in June 1998 are presented. ECA SPEARHEADS A PROGRAMME FOR PROMOTING THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN IN AFRICA A. Historical perspective The Economic Commission for Africa began activities directed towards African women as early as 1972 and culminated in the establishment of the African Training and Research Centre for Women (ATRCW) in 1975 in accordance with resolution 269 (XII) on the integration of women in development adopted by the ECA Conference of Ministers on 28 February, 1975. The early start of the women's programme in the ECA demonstrates its recognition of the crucial role women play in the economies of African countries. ATRCW was subsquently changed to African Centre for Women (ACW) in 1994 by resolution 791 (XXIX) adopted in May, 1994 by the twenty-ninth session of the Commission/twentieth meeting of the Conference of Ministers. The ECA programme aims at facilitating the empowerment of African women for their effective participation in all sectors of development, re-inforcing the role and visibility of African women, and raising the awareness of policy makers and all development agents about gender issues. At the subregional level, the ECA programme for the integration of women in development began in 1979 with the appointment of a Coordinator for Women's Programme as a fully fledged member of each Multinational Programming and Operational Centre (MULPOC) team. The women's programme at the then MULPOCs was funded by UNDP and operated as "projects" coordinated and directed from the African Training and Research Centre for Women. The activities carried out by the Coordinators of the Women's Programme varied from one MULPOC to another according to the emphasis given to certain areas of concern and priorities set and approved by the Subregional Committee on the Integration of Women in Development. In the case of the Lusaka-based MULPOC, areas of focus among others included Women in Agriculture, studies on the situation of women in law, development planning and mass media. n 1987, an evaluation of the programme of Women In Development (WID) activities in the MULPOCs was carried out in order to determine their achievements, impact and constraints as well as capabilities to respond to the future WID activities, orientation and possible continuation of UNDP financial assistance. The evaluation recommended that the coordinators should be given regular posts just like their MULPOC colleagues. UNDP financial support came to an end on 31 December 1988 and the Coordinators of the Women’s Programme in the MULPOCs lost their jobs as ECA could neither regularize them nor put them on any ECA on-going projects. In the absence of the Coordinators, the Programme on Women in the MULPOCs was weakened and in most cases lost continuity. The Lusaka-based MULPOC continued, though with very limited financial and human resources, to include women's dimensions in its programme. In 1995, the ECA Conference of Ministers responsible for Economic and Social Development and Planning approved the reform programme of the Commission presented in a report: Serving Africa Better-Strategic Directions for the Economic Commission for Africa". In the context of the restructuring process, the status of the African Centre for Women (ACW) has been upgraded, elevating it to the level of a substantive division and strengthened its staff. Gender Focal Points were deployed in each of the five Subregional Development Centres (SRDCs) to promote gender issues and assist in the implementation of ECA's strategies for mainstreaming gender in the subregions, including monitoring the implementation of the Platforms for Action. Specifically, ECA, recently revised its Medium Term Plan (1998-2001), to introduce a new sub-programme for promoting the advancement of women which has the following objectives: (a) Enhancing the leadership role of women in decision making in both the public and private sectors, in rural and urban communities, and promote the economic and social empowerment of women as well as their legal and human rights; (b) Improving access of women in Africa to education, including science and technology; (c) Promoting employment and income-generating opportunities for women; and (d) Improving the social conditions for women. These objectives will be achieved through awareness raising, research, technical assistance, use of public fora, and by facilitating networking and dialogue between policy-makers, community leaders, business leaders, women leaders and associations. Emphasis will be placed on the promotion of policies and strategies as well as the development and implementation, in collaboration with relevant national, regional and international institutions, of projects in research and training for the advancement of women. The subprogramme will also monitor the implementation of the regional and global platforms for action including the Beijing Declaration (1995) and the African Platform adopted in Dakar (1994). B. Subregional Seminar Within the context of the objectives stated above, a Subregional High Level Policy Seminar on Gender Equity, Social and Economic Empowerment of Women, was organized by the Economic Commission for Africa in partnership with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Held in Lusaka, Zambia from 6 to 8 April 1998, the seminar drew a total of ninety partcipants from the Eastern and Southern subregions. The Seminar provided a forum for policy makers and main stakeholders from the public and private sectors and civil society to address gender equity, social and economic empowerment of women under the theme "Women's Access to and Control of Productive Resources". It also sought to build alliances and partnerships and establish gender networking among the national machineries responsible for gender issues and organizations working on gender and women related issues in the subregion. In addressing the issue of gender equity, social and economic empowerment of women, discussions focused mainly on the following areas: - Impact of globalization and regional integration on women enterprises in Eastern and Southern Africa; - Strategies for enhancing favourable legal environment to promote women's access to and control of productive resources within the family framework; - Land reform in Southern Africa: The case of Zambia; and - Gender equity, social and economic empowerment of women in Southern Africa with particular attention to: access to credit facilities, the impact of economic reforms on women's economic advancement, women in power and decision-making and policies. The seminar resulted in the formulation of strategies for: (a) Increasing productivity through women's access to productive resources especially land, credit, skills, information and technology; b) Promoting favourable legal environment for women's access to productive resources; (c) Building partnerships and enhancing ECA and COMESA's roles in these partnerships. The seminar also made concrete recommendations on the establishment of a Business Communication and Information Centre in the COMESA Region with focal points at the national level and identified "good practices" at the national and subregional levels. A Summary of the recommendations and strategies is presented below. 1. Impact of Globalization and Regional Integration on Women Enterprises in Eastern and Southern Africa Presentation and discussion on this topic focused mainly on opportunities and challenges, presented by the emergence of information and communication technologies (ICT) vis-a-vis women. If African women are to benefit from opportunities presented by globalization, their businesses have to be re-oriented from traditional ways of thinking and to be attuned to production structures that are currently dominated by trade and production. Women entrepreneurs activities can be strengthened and improved through ICT and genuine partnership between women and civil society. The Seminar recognized some of the hurdles business women's associations face and need to overcome. They include among others: lack of training in business, lack of information and knowledge of issues surrounding cross-border and international trade, lack of financial resources and expertise to run business and lack of market research and identification of investment opportunities. The main recommendations included: (a) The need to strengthen the Women in Business Unit at COMESA to enable the Unit to adequately service its constituency, (b) COMESA and ECA to design a strategy for lobbying governments with a view to support women's enterprises, (c) COMESA to set up a fund to strengthen the Federation of Women in Business for Eastern and Southern Africa's (FEMCOM) national women's business associations, (d) COMESA in collaboration with UNDP to establish a business Communication and Information Centre in the COMESA Region with focal points at the national level. 2. Strategies for Enhancing Favourable Legal Environment to Promote Women's Access to and Control of Productive Resources within the Family Framework. A study based on surveys carried out in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda on Women's human and legal rights within the family was presented and discussed. The Seminar observed that women's human and legal rights were usually regulated by family laws, such as acts on marriage, divorce, separation and maintenance. In Kenya, it was noted that marriage and divorce were regulated by four different laws i.e., African Customary laws for non-Christian African, Islamic Law for Moslems, Hindu Law-Indian Immigrants and English law for English Immigrants and Christians. The Uganda Constitution for instance, sets marriage at 18 for boys and girls and outlaws culture and customs that are discriminatory to women or detrimental to their health. Besides, it upholds equality of husband and wife after divorce. But the Constitution and Divorce Act are silent on matrimonial property. Among the constraints noted to women's vindication of their rights were: low level of legal literacy, fear of victimization, social-cultural barriers, poverty, insufficient legal services, and the conflict between statutory and customary laws. Strategies and recommendations on this topic included the following: - Governments should create specialized bodies e.g. Human/Women Rights Commissions and equal opportunities Commission to monitor compliance with human rights instruments; - NGOs should undertake research on the de-facto and the de-jure legal status of women in relation to application of the laws relating to Productive Resources e.g. Business laws, Insurance, Labour Laws, Credit and Finance Laws etc. - A strong bill of rights should be provided for in the constitution to guarantee equal rights for men and women (actors include: legislators, govt., OAU, NGOs and COMESA) - Legislation on provision of Legal aid services and resources should be put in place by governments - Provision of legal aid and literacy should be considered as a basic right (Govts and NGOs) - Capacity Building for law enforcement institutions, civil society should be undertaken (Govt, NGOs, ECA and COMESA) - Use of Information Education Communication (IEC) and Information Communication Technology (ICT) should be strengthened to inform the public on laws and their rights. The role of ECA and COMESA in addressing the above strategies were articulated as: - Advocacy in Resource Mobilization - Providing capacity building at institutional level and human resources - Information dissemination; and - Creation of linkages and providing fora for discussion at regional and subregional levels. 3. Land Reform in Southern Africa: The Case of Zambia The seminar observed that in most countries in the region, women generally worked on land which they neither owned nor have legal security of tenure over its proceeds. The constraints they faced included legal illiteracy, partriachy and discriminatory customs such as inheritance. The on-going land reforms in the region were contextualized in the current globalization process leading to liberalization of trade, attraction of foreign investment and the general move towards a fully fledged market economy. It was noted that globalization and other economic reforms have created a need for opening up, for commercial purposes, land previously held under customary/communal tenure. The seminar was informed of the Land Act No. 29, 1995 in Zambia whose main objective is to open up more land for sale so that people could apply for titles, feel secure and use land for national development. However, it was observed that women were not likely to get titles and that women's lack of rights in land ownership could affect their productivity. Strategies for increasing productivity through women's access to productive resources, in particular land, included the following: - Developing greater gender responsiveness of extension services and expansion of agriculture should take into account the need to improve the technology at various levels - Adopting affirmative action for access by women to micro-credit facilities - Putting collateral requirements at affordable levels - Urging governments to resolve to implement the commitments they have already made at national, subregional, regional and international fora such as the Beijing Declaration, and SADC Declaration on Gender and Development, etc - Democratizing the process of land allocation - Introducing joint land/property titles for spouses - Providing user rights for women even if they cannot have title where land is registered. 4. Gender Equity, Social and Economic Empowerment of Women in Southern Africa Discussions on this theme included the impact of economic reforms on women's economic advancement in Southern Africa, especially public sector reforms, trade liberalization and privatization. It was noted that some of these reforms, including the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs), had adversely affected the poor, among them women. The impact was felt most in sectors such as health and education. While gender analysis of economic reform policies has shown that women have been most affected by these reforms, policies and programmes on the other hand, have not been implemented vigorously to promote women's participation in economic activities. Specific actions to correct past constraints to women's equity and empowerment in society were recommended, including: changing the traditional land tenure system which denies women full access to land and credit; improving education and training for women; lessening the tedious overburdens on women's activities through technical innovations; adoption of implementable policies, legislation and programmes to improve the status of women; change of attitude on traditional division of labour by gender; and improvement of institutional framework to support women's participation in domestic, intra-regional and foreign trade. The following recommendations on this theme were advanced: - Policies need to be supported by strong political will and commitment at all levels from the grassroots to the top. - Policies should be monitored and evaluated. - Bills or Acts of parliament should be passed to facilitate policy implementation whenever necessary. - Constitutions should be reviewed to change those aspects that do not encourage gender equity, and empowerment of women in all aspects of economic and social development activities. - Countries should put in place legislation that ensures that women have access to land in their own right. - Government should provide incentives to banks and financial institutions supporting women's economic activities. - Government and the business community should assist in educating women on existing national business laws. - Ministries and training institutions need to have comprehensive training programmes on skills and information for women and categorized and tailored to specific needs. - Policy at national level should ensure that appropriate technology will have added value. - Policy makers should be trained in gender issues including gender mainstreaming. - There is need to revisit laws, for example, those on cross border trade with particular emphasis on gender issues at regional level as well as at crossborder level among countries. - There is need to share expertise within countries. - COMESA should assist women in location of markets for their produce and to make available information on inter-country trade legal requirements; and - ECA, COMESA and SADC should disseminate information on their activities on gender issues. p; Selected "good practices" in the Eastern and Southern African Subregion The seminar also shared experiences and information on "good practices" a few of which are listed below. (a) The Case of the Malawi collateral on micro-credit for women Support is provided to women by the Government through the bank. (b) The Affirmative Action and positive discrimination with regard to policies in Uganda. (c) Mauritius has established a Common Facility Centre for Women Entrepreneurs whose objective is to allow micro-entrepreneurs to uplift themselves, to contribute, to upgrade and standardize the quality of their products. The Centre provides facilities such as equipment, technical advise, guidelines, information and documentation on different entrepreneurial sectors. (d) In Uganda, the government provides free education to four children - two girls and two boys from every family. The Family is identified through the mother. (e) In Tanzania, there is on-going campaign on land policy and bill which advocate for equal representation of men, women and youth on all bodies dealing with land from village to national level. (f) The Land Bill Task Force in Tanzania is a coalition of 87 Organizations and the Ministry of Community Development, Women Affairs and Children. (g) At the Subregional level, SADC has established a quota system to include 30% of women in decision-making activities and high positions. Conclusion The High Level Seminar was well attended and came up with action-oriented recommenadtions. Participants were urged to ensure that information and recommendations of the Seminar are shared at the country level and follow-up actions established to give continuity to the Seminar. The outcome of the seminar, the recommendations in particular, were discussed and included in the report of the ECA International Conference on African Women and Economic Development: Investing in Our Future. C. International Conference on "African Women and Economic Development: Investing in our Future" Addis Ababa Ethiopia 28 April - 1 May, 1998 The Economic Commission for Africa marked its 40th Anniversary from 28 April -1 May 1998 by organizing an International Conference in Addis Ababa on the theme "African Women and Economic Development: Investing in our Future". The Conference objectives were to: - Share experiences on how public policies should ensure equal opportunities between women and men and redirect resources to those investments in which women's participation brings about the highest social returns; - Draw strategic lessons from on-going efforts to implement the Beijing Platform for Actions - Identify and share "good practices" in strategies and programme modalities for country-level implementation of actions recommended by the Conference; - Forge partnerships for post-conference development and implementation of the recommended actions and programmes. The four day conference brought together policy-makers in Africa from various sectors such as ministries responsible for Women Affairs, Finance and Planning, Education, Trade, Industry, Agriculture, Health, Justice and Water Supply; representatives of civil societies from Women's Associations, Youth Associations, Parliamentary Groups, NGOs, Private Sector, Trade Unions and Local Authorities; representatives of African subregional and Regional organizations; and representatives of the international community, UN agencies, donors and the financial community. A Forum of Heads of State or Government from selected countries was held on the last day at the concluding session. The Presidents of Botswana and Burkina Faso, Prime Minister of Ethiopia and Vice Presidents of Ghana and Uganda took part in the discussions. Participating Heads of State or Government had the opportunity to share their perspectives in a discussion with a panel of selected women and youth who presented the views of Conference participants. The Heads of State were expected to effect policy advances in their own countries to improve the position of women and girls as part of a gender equity development strategy that emerged out of the Conference. The Conference was also graced by the presence of the UN Secretary-General Mr. Kofi Annan, who delivered a keynote address on: "Post Beijing: The United Nations and African Women" which was followed by a panel discussion involving the heads or senior representatives of UNFPA, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNIFEM, UNESCO, UNDP and the World Bank. During the panel discussion, the UN agencies responded to a series of questions relative to the strategies being deployed by various UN Agencies to advance gender equality in post Beijing period. The strategies highlighted included: -Developing a holistic approach to reproductive health to include: education of girls, family planning, sexuality, elimination of harmful practices and violence against women. - Advancing high quality, gender sensitive primary and secondary education for girls, creating a scholarship, for the education of secondary school age girls and increasing the enrollment of girls in school. - Addressing the special needs of refugee women by prevention, protection and solutions including micro-credit and income generating programmes to support returnees. - Mainstreaming gender into all programmes, capacity building, advocacy and partnerships with NGOs. The various agencies participating in the panel also expressed their views on political participation, good governance and decentralization. The Conference focused on four crucial themes and to a total number of 22 sub-themes whose deliberations were held in working groups. Participants from all sectors had the opportunity to join discussions on any of the themes and sub-themes and developed strategies for future action to advance the development of African women into the new millennium. The four crucial themes discussed were inter-related and provide an adequate framework within which to discuss and arrive at a consensus on specific and practical strategies. The four main themes are highlighted below: 1. Developing African economies: The Role of Women. Issues of concern included equal access of women and men to productive resources such as land, capital, infrastructure and technology; basic services such as education, health and employment so as to increase economic growth especially that of women. Other issues and challenges discussed were: globalization and trade liberalization, growth and poverty reduction and lack of reliable dissaggregated data for sound economic and social policies. It was widely acknowledged that economic policies had unequal impacts on women, men, girls and boys. African women's enterprises, for example, faced difficulty competing with mass-produced, low-cost imports. There was, therefore, considerable potential for globa-lization to reinforce gender discrimination. On the other hand, lack of reliable data and information dissaggregated by sex, age and locality, make it difficult to assess and analyze gender disparities and assess and monitor the impact of policies to reduce gender inequality and poverty. Actions and strategies identified under this theme included: - Promoting Gender-sensitive credit schemes; conducting training for African institutions to reach professional standards and meet the new international rules and standards about micro-credit and micro-enterprise programmes and projects; - Facilitating women's access to markets, regional trade and scaling up women's enterprises. Governments should put in place flexible rules and regulations, simplified registration and procedures for women-owned enterprises; -Establishing partnership to mainstream gender in key institutions and mechanism, such as the Coordinating Committee on African Statistical Development (CASD) created to assist in the implementation of the Plan of Action for African Statistical Development and; - Establishment of CASD Task Force on Gender in National Accounts and other data. 2. Achieving Good Governance: The Essential Participation of Women The Conference acknowledged the fact that despite democratization efforts in many African countries, women were still severely under-represented in the structures and centres of power at all levels. In this regard, governance processes and structures remain controlled by men and that development priorities are selected without the input of half of the population. Key issues and challenges discussed therefore included the following: - Women are inhibited from participating in the political process by a host of factors such as: poverty, violence, brutality and corruption; - Low education levels and lack of political skills among African women;> - Women are not organized to exercise their numerical strength in political life; and - Absence of gender-sensitive policy coupled with traditional values that constrain women from political participation. Actions and strategies proposed to tackle the issues and challenges included the following: - Research to identify the factors that enable or hinder women's political participation - Training, including gender awareness and political skills - Advocacy, such as forming pressure groups to lobby for proportionate representation in parliament; and - Decentralization, to enable women to participate in local politics. 3. African Women and the Information Age: A new Window of Opportunity A number of issues and challenges that must be addressed in order for African women to seize the opportunities provided by the Information Age were identified and discussed. The challenges included the following: - Lack of awareness- Most African women appear not to be adequately aware of the importance of the emerging information evolution; - Linguistic barriers-Most of the African women do not speak, read or write English or French. They also lack computer skills; - Difficulties of access and prohibitive costs of ICT-Inadequate or overly restrictive ICT Policies. - Inadequate infrastructures- Most African Women live in remote rural areas, lacking telephone and electricity connections; In conclusion, the following actions and strategies to overcome the identified challenges were proposed inorder for African women to seize the opportunity offered by the new Information Age: - Action should be taken for the establishment of Information Centres; - There should be synergy among central and local governments, civil society institutions, Information Technology Networks, private sector entities and local communities Partnership for advocacy and financial support such as those identified for the African for an Information Society Initiative (AISI). 4. Creating Opportunities for Africa's New Generation Both international and regional conferences on women have called for the participation of young women in all levels of social, cultural, political and economic leadership. The International Conference marking the ECA 40th Anniversary found it necessary to include the participation of the youth with a view to address the needs of young women, such as health and education, as well as to identify strategies that would equip the new generation with the life skills necessary to create societies based on gender equality. In this context, issues and challenges identified included the following: Economic challenges-Managing the effect of globalization on the African economies in particular, the impact of structural adjustment programmes. The key concern of the youth is the chronically high and rising incidence of unemployment and poverty. Access to Information-The African youth feel excluded from the central decision-making process of the society Prevention and Management of Conflicts- The youth in some countries feel trapped by cycles of violence and conflict generated my members of the older generation. Leadership that is accountable and makes a difference in the lives of people; and creation of an enabling socio-cultural and legal environment- Having discussed the above issues and challenges, the Conference with the participation of the youth, concluded that education was the basis for development and should therefore, be given priority. Training was also considered crucial in shaping responsible citizens who can also engage in politics, protect their health, are gender sensitive and can contribute in their communities. The importance of respecting traditional values and discarding those practices that hamper development was also recognized. At the end of the Conference, participating ministers, representatives of the international community and UN Agencies, civil society and others all agreed to take the message of the Conference back to their governments, institutions and organizations. There was consensus for building partnerships in terms of collaboration, technical, financial and human resources support among and between organizations and governments. However, it was important to get sustained political will to implement the commitments as well as to ensure that African women were part of the process of strengthening democratic governance and economic development in Africa. ECA will pursue its programme for promoting the advancement of women with the aim to empower women and transform development perspectives, structures and processes in order to have a society in which women and men are equally responsible for, equally contribute to, and benefit from the economic and social development of Africa. The challenges ahead entail, inter-alia, poverty alleviation, human rights for women, suffering of women, and women in decision making positions. These challenges are briefly presented below. (a) Alleviating Poverty in Africa (i) Out of 1.3 billion people living in poverty in the world, 70% are women; 40% of the African population lives in poverty and women constitute more than 50% of this. (ii) Women receive only 30% of the official earned income share; their real income share is less. (iii) Two thirds of women's worktime in developing countries is unrecorded and hence not recognized. There is, therefore, a need for increasing women's capacity to break out of the poverty cycle through redistribution of national resources, reduction of workload through the use of cost effective and time-saving technologies. This challenge could be addressed by ensuring that gender-sensitive macro-economic policies are not only formulated but also implemented. (b) Suffering of Women Poor access to social amenities such as education, health, and clean water aggravates the situation of women and results in reduced productivity, high maternal mortality, and limitation of women's potential for participation in public life and leadership at community and higher levels. In order to redress this situation, there is need to improve the quality of life and working conditions for women through the provision of basic services. (c) Lack of Respect for Women's Human Rights In most African countries, despite the incorporation of women’s rights in national laws, respect of these rights is almost non-existent. Women are therefore, not able to exercise their rights. This could result from ignorance, rigid social structures, harmful practices and non-implementation of the adopted national laws. African countries are slowly introducing measures in their constitutions to provide fundamental rights and freedom for both men and women. The respect for, and implementation of the international instruments in favour of women is an important challenge for the attainment of social justice. d) Absence of Women in Decision Making Levels The process of democratization in Africa, with its varying degree of success, has not enabled women to participate fully in their destiny. The challenge faced by democracy today is to create a new ethic of development the full participation of all marginalised groups such as women and youth. Increase in the participation of women in the decision making process will go a long way towards addressing the shortcomings indentified. In the 20 years since the First World Conference on Women in 1975, ECA has contributed to improving the knowledge on African women's issues and concerns through training, research and the dissemination of information. It has also facilitated the creation of government machineries for sustainable development of women. In line with its mandate, ECA will continue to monitor the effective implementation for the Dakar and Beijing Platforms of Action, adopted in 1994 and 1995, respectively. It will also promote and support the implementation of the overall strategy of the Platforms for Action to mainstream gender in policies and programmes, in order to achieve measurable progress in the 12 critical areas of action. The programme for the promotion of women’s advancement will focus on building consensus around a core message that African women's economic and social advancement are a crucial precondition for the development of Africa. As part of its strategic services, ECA will provide to policy makers and actors involved in economic and social development in Africa, the information and the tools necessary for designing and implementing gender responsive policies, programmes and strategies. Specifically ECA will develope advocacy for women's rights through, inter-alia, the development of capacity building programmes and networking. Mechanisms for monitoring programme implementation and follow-up will also be put in place. In so doing, it will further strive to build partnerships with all those involved in the implementation of the programmes The main thrust of the programme will entail: (a) Building and spreading information on status of African women (e.g. preparation of National Brochures on women), best practices and new opportunities (publications); (b) Creating training programmes on gender analysis for African States;> (c) Developing follow-up programmes for the implementation of Dakar and Beijing Platforms for Action through the creation of monitoring tools organization of follow-up and interaction meetings; (d) Promoting women in decision-making bodies through training of women holding leadership positions and advocat ing for the involvement of women in decision-making process. Bringing Economic policies to take into account women's interests through advocacy with statistical data and strengthening of women entrepreneurship. The clientele will consist of ministries in charge of Women Affairs, ministries of planning, women organizations, Members of Parliament, IGOs, NGOs and Specialized Agencies. A database on the clients and partners will be created to strengthen communication means with those structures and institutions. II RECENT MEETINGS A. THE OAU 21ST LABOUR AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS COMMISSION ADDRESSED SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND LABOUR ISSUES, PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA The Economic Commission for Africa participated in the 21st OAU meeting of the Labour and Social Affairs Commission which took place in Pretoria, South Africa from 13 - 17 April, 1998. The Meeting covered a wide range of social, economic and labour issues. These included the African Common Position regarding the protection of the child and elimination of child labour; Children in situation of armed conflicts in Africa; ILO activities; Globalization: Impact on employment and socio-economic development in Africa; Progress towards the establishment of the statute for African workers living within the European Community; African Common Position on drugs; OAU draft declaration on violence against women; and various reports of international and inter-African organizations cooperating with the OAU in the fields of labour and social affairs. Excepts of the issues discussed are given below. Activities falling within the competence of the OAU Labour and Social Commission The Ministers recommended that the OAU Secretariat should address letters to the ministries responsible for the rights and welfare of the child requesting them to take necessary measures to speed up the process of signing and ratifying of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The OAU General Secretariat was commended for the efforts deployed in implementation of the previous decisions and recommendations of the Commission while others stressed the need for seriousness with which such decisions and recommendations of the Commission’s sessions should be implemented in the future in order to obtain tangible results. African Common Position on Child Labour The Ministers approved the Draft African Common Position on Child Labour prepared by the African Regional Tripartite Conference held in Kampala, Uganda, from 5 to 7 February 1998, with additional changes recommended by the Experts Meeting to the 21st Session of the Labour and Social Affairs Commission. The African Common Position was to be taken into account in the negotiations on the new ILO Convention on Extreme Forms of Child Labour in the June 1998 meeting. Children in Situations of Armed Comflicts The Commission deplored the use of children in armed conflicts as one of the most extreme and intolerable forms of child labour that needed to be eliminated. It also appealed to governments to implement programmes to rehabilitate children who have participated in armed conflicts and their integration in the civilian life through training. The Commission recommended the need to promote and develop among children, a culture of peace and tolerance as children are the basis for the future of the African continent. ILO Activities in Africa The Commission recommended that ILO activities in Africa should continue to give high priority to addressing development, employment, poverty reduction and social protection objectives. It also recommended that ILO should intensify assistance to its constituents to improve prospects for observing real improvements over time in employment creation and the fight against poverty. The Commission called for the strengthening of the ILO Multi-disciplinary Advisory Teams (MDTS). It further called for efforts to be made to halt the declining trend in the ILO financial resources on technical co-operation activities in Africa. Proposed ILO Declaration on Worker's Fundamental Rights The proposed Declaration was a response to expressed wishes of the World Summit on Social Development in 1995 as well as the culmination of the debate set in motion within the ILO since 1994. The basic labour norms would be reflected in the declaration, according to the ILO representative's statement addressing the Commission. The Declaration would also not abandon the promotional character of the international norms. ILO stated that viewed against the background of economic globalization, fundamental labour norms constituted the instruments expected to accord workers, irrespective of the level of development of their various countries, an equitable share of benefit. The Declaration is of utmost concern to African countries. The Commission accepted the principle of the Declaration and the follow-up mechanism for negotiations in June 1998 in Geneva. To ensure that Africa’s concerns on the Declaration are reflected in the final outcome in Geneva at the June meeting, the Commission set up a task-force to work with the Bureau of the Commission to prepare adequately for the negotiations. Further more, the Commission appealed to all member States to be represented in Geneva and to be there early for the pre-negotiations meetings on consolidating Africa’s Common Position. Further more, the Commission appealed to all member States to be represented in Geneva and to be there early for the pre-negotiations meetings on consolidating Africa’s Common Position. Productivity Improvements in Africa The Commission recommended the need to implement the recommendations by the Experts' Meeting on productivity in Africa. Some of these were: - That the level of productivity in Africa needed to be increased drastically for the continent to play its rightful role in the global society if Africa is to get out of poverty. - That productivity improvement was a result of a co-ordinated effort by employers, workers and governments and a change in attitudes regarding work. - That governments should play an important role in setting up structures to promote productivity in their countries. - That every effort to improve productivity must eventually result in more effective and efficient use of resources in individual organizations. - That management and worker co-operation was of the greatest importance in productivity improvement at the level of the individual firm. - That the role of National Productivity Centres (NPCs) should be strengthened to act as change agents in all countries. - That the OAU, OATUU, PEC, ILO, ECA, ALO and FPPA should convene a Pan-African Conference to discuss the topical issues of Productivity, Leadership, Management and Entrepreneurship Development in Africa. Globalization: Impact on Employment and Socio-Economic Development in Africa The Commission endorsed the following recommendations: - The State should play a more active facilitating role in the economy removing market failure and enhancing the role of the private sector. Overall development strategy should be directed to accelerating the rate of economic growth towards poverty reduction. - The need to increase expenditure on social services and greater attention to the formulation and implementation of employment creation programmes with special attention to the informal sector, and the revitalization of agriculture and employment. - African countries to improve their macro-economic reforms and management. - Good governance and democratic practices. - Social reforms that ensure social justice such as the ratification and implementation of the core ILO standards. - The need to expand and diversify exports - Adoption of improved technology including information technology. Particular attention to be given to strengthening the Regional Economic Communities and accelerating the realizattion of the benefits of the African Economic Community. - African countries to intensify their participation in international organizations, strengthen and co-ordinate their positions in such ways as to derive more favourable outcomes from international negotiations. - African countries to intensify the implementation of the African Charter on Popular Participation. The Commission, however, deplored the fact that developed countries were not assisting African countries much in relation to globalization although African countries were doing their best to improve their economies. They called on developed countries to assist African countries in their attempts to minimize the impact of globalization. Progress on the Establishment of a Statute for the African Migrant Workers Living within the European Union (EU) The following recommendations were made by the Commission: - That European countries should, in consonance with their advocacy for free movement of capital, also allow free movement of people. That the Report and the Charter on the Fundamental Social Rights and Duties of African and Arab Migrant Workers in Europe be adopted and transmitted to the forthcoming Sessions of the Council of Ministers and Assembly of Heads of State and Government, for endorsement. -That the OAU, ALO, OATUU, ICATU and IOM should regularly hold seminars on living and working conditions of African and Arab Migrant Workers in Europe and submit progress reports thereon to the Commission. The African Common Position on Drug Control The Commission, on this topic, made recommendations which included the following: - That the dissemination of information on the risks and dangers of drugs should be intensified. -That Governments should deal with the root-causes of drug problems and strengthen their policies to combat them. The United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) was called upon to assist member States in this context. - That concerted action should be taken by all people, governments, NGOs as well as the civil society to combat the scourge of drugs. - That Member States should establish units within their respective administrative structures to counsel youth and the population in general on the threat and effects of drugs on society. The African Common Position on Drug Control categorically rejects legalization or decriminalization of cannabis and requests the UN General Assembly to direct the UNDCP to draw up a comprehensive plan for the elimination of the unwanted crops throughout Africa. Draft Declaration on Violence Against Women Related to Traditional Practices The Commission adopted the report and its annexures and recommended that it be transmitted to the Sixty-Eighth Session of the OAU Council of Ministers and thereafter to the Thirty-Fifth Session of Assembly of Heads of State and Government for endorsement. Report of the President of the Pan-African Productivity Association (PAPA) The President of PAPA briefed the meeting on the activities of his organization which has 14 members from 13 African countries. The organization organized a meeting in Ghana on Work Ethics; it pioneered the SADC Initiative on Productivity; it is willing to assist the establishment of National Productivity Centres (NPCs) in member States. PAPA publishes a periodic newsletter on productivity and is currently developing a data bank. PAPA in collabolation with the International Productivity Service (IPS), the ILO, and the Commonwealth Secretariat would convene a conference on Productivity in October 1998 in Pretoria. Report on the Applied Research and Training in Social Development (ACARTSOD) The Commission took note of the report on ACARTSOD, an institution which was established under the joint auspices of UNECA and OAU. Under the exercise on rationalization and harmonization of ECA-sponsored institutions, the future of ACARTSOD was still being further reviewed. The problem of this institution, like other ECA-sponsored institutions, was largely lack of adequate financial support by member States. The host country, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, has provided considerable financial support to ACARTSOD or else it would have been closed. ILO Jobs for Africa Programme The ILO made a presentation on the Policy Framework and the Programme of Action on the Jobs for Africa Programme. The programme objective is to assist African countries to adopt and implement investment-led employment and economic growth strategies to lead to economic growth above 6% per year. As a first step, the ILO and UNDP Regional Project on "Poverty Reducing Employment Strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa" will be initiated in 1998 in ten African countries for three years. Particular attention will be given to informal and agriculture sectors. In the second phase, it is hoped that the project will be extended to other countries and North Africa. Decision of the Commission on the Negative Effects of the Embargo on Libyan Arab Jamahiriya The Commission took a decision supporting Libyan Arab Jamahiriya’s demand to be duly compensated for human, financial and material losses it has incurred as a result of the unjust sanctions. It then requested the OAU Secretary General to follow up the implementation of this decision and to submit a report on that to the next session of the OAU Labour and Social Affairs Commission. THE COMESA AUTHORITY OF HEADS OF STATE OR GOVERNMENT MEETS IN KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO The Third Summit of the COMESA Authority of Heads of State or Government was held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo on 29th June 1998 under the theme: "Information - A Tool for Increased Trade and Investment in COMESA". The Summit was attended by Heads of State from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Rwanda and Swaziland were represented by their Prime Ministers while Angola, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sudan, Uganda and States Tanzania by Plenipotentiaries. The following organizations were represented at the Summit: Organization of African Unity (OAU);Southern African Development Community (SADC); The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), East African Cooperation (EAC); Kagera Basin organization (KBO); Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (PTA Bank); PTA Re-Insurance Company (ZEP-RE); African Development Bank (ADB); COMESA Clearing House; Common Fund for Commodities (CFC); and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). The following organizations also attended the Summit as observers:European Union (EU); African Caribbean Pacific (ACP); International Trade Centre (ITC); Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS); Food and Agriculture organization (FAO); Indian Ocean Commission (IOC); International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE); Pan African Institute for Eastern and Southern Africa (PAID-ESA); and Eastern and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI). The Chairman of the Authority, President F.J.T. Chiluba, called the Summit to order and a minute of silence was observed in memory of Mattr Blondine Beye, Representative of the United Nations Secretary General to Angola, who died recently in a plane clash. The Summit was formally opened by His Excellency Laurent Désiré Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In his statement, he welcomed his colleagues, the Heads of State and Government, and their delegations to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, and expressed gratitude to them for accepting the invitation to attend the COMESA Summit. President Kabila stressed the need for Africa to set up a strong regional economic base for reconstruction plans and development and cited COMESA as constituting the "spearhead for African economic liberation and the tool for promoting economic co-operation with other world’s regional organizations. He observed that without a strong economic base, African countries would be further weakened, manipulated and will address separately the challenges and the peoples’ expectations, with no major achievements. President Kabila stated that the challenges of globalisation should compel Member States to consider the COMESA market as the means of their own survival and as the backbone of its participation in the global economy. In the Keynote address, the Chairman of the Authority, His Excellency Mr Frederick J.T. Chiluba, President of the Republic of Zambia, outlined the progress of the integration programme under COMESA during the period April 1997 to June 1998. President Chiluba identified the areas of common concern to the Member States, which needed to be addressed in a manner that would accelerate integration and promote trade and investment in COMESA. President Chiluba further identified the progress made by COMESA in the priority objective of establishing a Free Trade Area by the year 2000 and a Customs Union by the year 2004. President Chiluba also welcomed the Republic of Seychelles on her re-entry into COMESA and the Arab Republic of Egypt as a full Member State of COMESA. President Chiluba noted the historical importance of the Summit being held in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which had been inaccessible to her neighbours for more than thirty years. He noted that the Summit offered an opportunity to the Member States to reflect on their collective efforts to improve the quality of life of the people and co-ordinate their positions on major world issues affecting COMESA, such as on the World Trade organization, post Lomé EU/ACP Future Relations, the U.S. Trade and Investment Initiative and the debt question. President Chiluba exhorted the increased co-operation between the regional economic groupings in the subregion, such as between COMESA and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and between COMESA and the East African Co-operation (EAC) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). He highlighted the need to enhance information networking amongst the Member States, so as to enhance trade and investment and the movement of the factors of production in COMESA. n conclusion, he emphasized the need to maintain peace, political stability and democratic governance, so as to avoid political conflicts, which hamper development, and appealed to all the Member States to continue using existing regional and subregional institutions for peaceful mediation. His Excellency Pierre Buyoya, President of the Republic of Burundi, moved a vote of thanks. In so doing, he thanked His Excellency Laurent Désiré Kabila and the Democratic Republic of Congo for the excellent facilities put at the disposal of the meeting and the warm hospitality extended to all the delegates. He pointed out that COMESA was an ideal tool for regional integration which was even more needed in today's context of globalisation. He emphasized the fact that COMESA countries were endowed with enormous natural resources, but that peace and stability were a prerequisite for the people to enjoy them. >Recalling earlier recommendations by COMESA organs that sanctions imposed on Burundi two years ago be lifted, he emphasized that for two years, the people of Burundi had not enjoyed the fruits of regional integration in the framework of COMESA because of these sanctions. He then called on the Summit to show solidarity with the people of Burundi and urged the countries which have imposed sanctions to lift them immediately without any fresh conditions, since Burundi had already fulfilled the conditions set earlier. In concluding on behalf of all the delegations and on his own behalf, he congratulated President Kabila and the people of Congo on the 38th anniversary of the independence of their great nation After the formal opening of the Summit, the Authority: ADMITTED the Arab Republic of Egypt as a full Member State of COMESA, and invited the Heads of State or Government to sign the Agreement regarding the accession of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the COMESA Treaty. Honourable Amre Moussa, on behalf of President Hosni Mubarak, thanked the COMESA Authority for their unanimous approval of Egypt's membership of COMESA. He affirmed that Egypt's membership would launch an active process aimed at enhancing integration between Egypt and other COMESA Member States. Honourable Moussa emphasized that Egypt shared similar aspirations with other COMESA members to make a qualitative leap in the economic and social fields. He reiterated Egypt's determination to contribute positively to the attainment of the objectives of COMESA and her commitment to the target of the establishment of a free trade area by the year 2000. The COMESA Authority then resolved on other agenda items as follows: CONSIDERED and ADOPTED the Report of the Fifth Meeting of the Council of Ministers of COMESA. REITERATED that all Member States should endeavour to fulfil the timetable set for the establishment of a COMESA Free Trade Area by the year 2000, a Common External Tariff by the year 2004, and adopted the RESOLUTION on the COMESA Free Trade Area. AGREED on the need to accelerate the implementation of the trade and transit traffic facilitation programmes which COMESA has put in place. These programmes include the Tariff Reduction Programme, the removal of all non-tariff barriers, the Customs Bond Guarantee Scheme, the COMESA Carrier's Licence, the COMESA Customs Document, the Harmonisation of the COMESA Tariff Nomenclature and the Harmonised Road Transit Charges. ENDORSED the decision of the Council to reduce the minimum local value added from 45% to 35% for all goods originating from COMESA to qualify for preferential tariffs and the exemption with respect to Uganda, Zambia and the Arab Republic of Egypt from applying the 35% pending the completion of the Study on the Rules of Origin. DECLARED the realisation of a Free Trade Area in Agricultural Products by the year 2000 as a prelude to the eventual attainment of a Free Trade Area for all products and, to that extent, urged Member States to improve the administration of phytosanitary and quarantine measures. REAFFIRMED the need for early conclusion of a comprehensive common agricultural strategy, which shall include common policies on product standards, phytosanitary and sanitary measures in accordance with international practice. URGED Member States to expeditiously develop national strategies for industrialization which are consistent with the regional strategy. AGREED on the need for Member States to establish national irrigation coordinating units where they do not exist, and a joint regional irrigation programme to co-ordinate national and regional policies, strategies and action programmes on water and sustainable agricultural development. REQUESTED Member States to strengthen existing national standardization institutions or establish them where they do not exist. DECLARED the designation of the COMESA region as a COMMON INVESTMENT AREA upon the attainment of a Free Trade Area and urged the Member States to promote investment into the region as a whole so as to take advantage of the large market. ENDORSED he decision of the Council to revise the COMESA fiscal and monetary harmonisation programme. ENDORSED the decision of the Council on the establishment of a Private Limited Liability Company, to be known as COMTEL, to build, manage and operate the regional Telecommunications Interconnectivity Network, and adopted the RESOLUTION on the formation of the Company. URGED Member States to support the activities of their National Associations of Women in Business. RECOGNISED the establishment of a COMESA Consultative Committee of the Business Community in terms of Article 7 of the COMESA Treaty, and endorsed the recommendations of Council intended to facilitate the strengthening of the private sector organizations in COMESA. REAFFIRMED the need for the continued special relationship between the European Union and the Member States in the area of regional economic integration, trade promotion and development, and mandated the Secretariat to request the Commission of the European Union to provide funding for projects that strengthen regional integration. EXPRESSED their continued appreciation for the contributions provided by the international donor community to the COMESA programmes. APPRECIATED the continued efforts of the Secretariat to enhance cooperation and complementarity with other African regional economic groups within the context of the attainment of an African Economic Community. REITERATED the need to maintain peace and security in the region as a prerequisite for the smooth implementation of the COMESA economic integration process. ENDORSED the need for all Member States to enhance the utilisation of the Internet as a means of communication with the Secretariat and with other Member States so as to exploit the potential of information availability as a tool for increased trade and investment in COMESA. AGREED on the need for Member States to adopt common positions in the framework of the decisions taken by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU/AEC, on matters of international concern, particularly on the World Trade organization, future ACP-EU Relations and the US Initiative on a New Trade and Investment Policy on Sub-Saharan Africa. NOTED with concern the new negotiating position adopted by the European Union as regards future EU-ACP relations. The Authority stressed the need for the ACP Group of States to negotiate as a cohesive group, in order to ensure the interests of the group are maintained URGED Member States who have not done so, to accede to the Agreement establishing ZEP-RE, facilitate business decisions and subscribe to the share capital of the institution. AGREED on the need to restructure the COMESA Clearing House and mandated the Bureau of Council to mobilize financial resources for putting in place the proposed new services such as a Regional Guarantee Facility to provide political risk cover. ENDORSED the decisions of the Board of Governors of the PTA Bank to urge Member States that have not yet joined the Bank to do so as soon as possible; and to increase the Capital Stock of the Bank by raising the share capital from 540 million COMESA Dollars to 5.4 billion COMESA Dollars; and adopted the resolution concerning the expanded membership of the Bank. ADOPTED the Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, Labour and Services, the Right of Establishment and Residence, and took into account the need to recognise special circumstances with regard to Mauritius and Seychelles when implementing Articles 9, 11 and 12 of the Protocol. ADOPTED the Amendments to the COMESA Treaty under Article 1, to empower the Authority to consider and admit new Member States into COMESA. ADOPTED the Amendment to the Protocol on the Rules of Origin for Products to be Traded between the Member States of COMESA, under Rule 2, to empower Council, subject to the approval of the Authority, to amend the percentage values and the value added as may be necessary from time to time. APPOINTED the Honourable Mr. Justice A.M. Akiwumi, the Honourable Mr. Justice James B. Kalaile, the Honourable Mr. Justice K.R.A. Korsah, the Honourable Mr. Justice Adrien Nyankiye, the Honourable Mr. Justice James M. Ogoola, the Honourable Mr. Justice Ernest L. Sakala as Judges of the COMESA Court of Justice for terms of five years each, and the Honourable Mr. Justice Josaphat L. Kanywanyi as Judge and President of the Court of Justice for a term of five years. REAFFIRMED the need for Member States that had not yet ratified the Treaty and other COMESA Legal Instruments do so as soon as possible. APPOINTED Mr. Erastus J.O. Mwencha as Secretary-General of COMESA for a period of five years and Mr. Sindiso N. Ngwenya as Assistant Secretary General of COMESA for a period of five years. EXPRESSED gratitude to His Excellency Laurent Désiré Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Government and the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo, for the warm and fraternal hospitality extended to all the delegations.
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