Bangui Meeting

Second in a series of subregional meetings to review the implementation of the Dakar and Beijing Platforms for Action was the meeting for Central African countries held in Bangui from 22 to 25 June 1998. It brought together parliamentarians representatives of governments, NGOs and the media from the seven member countries of the subregion, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe. The Democratic Republic of Congo also attended. Half of the countries in the sub-region have formulated National Action Plans, as the strategy through which the Platforms will be implemented. The rest have made significant steps towards formulating implementing theirs.

Peace being a critical issue in the subregion, the meeting strongly recommended civic education in the homes, at school and in the communities; training of trainers and setting up of networks on Peace at national and subregional levels. An innovation in the process of finding lasting solutions to peace is the emergence of networks of children, who operate as ambassadors of peace in public and private schools.

During the meeting, the participants launched the Central African Network for Women ("Réseau d’Exchange des Femmes de l’Afrique Centrale" (RESEFAC)), to facilitate the exchange of information related to the entrepreneurial activities within the sub-region. The Network particularly counts on the ECA Sub-regional Development Centre for Central Africa and the – "Communauté Economique et Monétaire pour l’Afrique Centrale" (CEMAC) and the African Centre for Women for support.

Gender net will tell you more about the meeting and RESEFAC in its next issue.