Report on the Activities of the Women in Development Programme during the Period April 1996 To April 1997

Introduction

This annual report is prepared for review by the Africa Coordinating Committee on the Integration of Women in Development (ARCC) at its eighteenth meeting in ECA, Addis Ababa in accordance with its terms of reference. It will cover the period beginning in April 1996 through to April 1997. The activities will be clustered into three parts. The first part will review actions taken to implement Resolutions and Decisions related togender and women issues emanating from the African Conference of Ministers responsible for Economic and Social Development at its twenty-second meeting in May 1996. The second part will cover publications and reports raised by the African Centre for Women (ACW) and other ECA Divisions; meetings organized and missions undertaken during the period under review. The orientation of the work programme for 1997 and the conclusion of the report will be presented briefly in the third part.

Part I

Implementation of Resolutions Emanating from the ECA Conference of Ministers Responsible for Economic and Social Planning

The Conference of Ministers Responsible for Economic and Social Planning at its twenty second meeting passed Resolution 824(XXXI) entitled "Follow-up to Dakar and Beijing Conferences:Implementation of the Global and Regional Platforms for Action for the advancement of women". The Resolution specifically asked the ECA along with OAU and ADB to play a strong coordinating and catalytic role in the implementation of the recommendations of Beijing and Dakar. In response to this request, the ECA African Centre for Women continued to strengthen the coordinating mechanism of ARCC at the subregional level by organizing meetings for the renewal of the Bureaux where necessary. Thus, following the last ARCC meeting at which the central Bureau was renewed, a meeting was organized in the Lusaka MULPOC in July 1996 to facilitate the renewal of the ARCC subregional Bureau for Eastern and Southern Africa subregions. At the meeting, information and experiences with regard to the implementation of the Platforms were shared among countries and a plan of action for the life-span of the Bureau elaborated. Unfortunately, resources are a major constraint in the implementation of the programme of activities. Besides, the reorganization of the MULPOCs into Subregional Development Centres (SRDC) with new structures, operational modalities and programmes also required that the ECA secretariat waits until the exercise was completed before commencing new activities. The Central African Subregion also renewed its Subregional Bureau of ARCC at a meeting held in Yaounde, Cameroon which also provided an opportunity to exchange useful experiences on the implementation of the Platforms.

Other forms of coordination of the implementation process have included attending coordination and planning meetings of NGOs at the subregional and regional levels to share information and provide guidance with such organizations as the East African Subregional Support Initiatives (SSI), FEMNET, ABANTU for Development, the Pan African Conference on Peace etc.

The Resolution in question further asked ECA to strengthen the MULPOCs by allocating additional resources that would facilitate the coordination of gender activities. To this end and in the context of the restructuring of the Commission, the MULPOCs have been restructured to serve the subregions more effectively and renamed Subregional Development Centres (SRDC). Pending the approval of the Conference of Ministers, both the Eastern and Southern Africa subregions will have an SRDC each and equally importantly, all SRDCs will have a substantive officer to handle questions of gender exclusively.

The final request that the Resolution made of ECA was that it brings together a multidisciplinary group of experts to prepare a comprehensive report on the impactt of debt and structural adjustment programmes on women, the feasibility of debt measures already proposed and to provide a forum for women to discuss their long-term vision of development in the context of the globalization process. In response to this, the ECA/ACW has planned sensitization subregional seminars on the impact of economic reforms and policies on women with a view to ensuring a gender perspective in major policy options. The first seminar will be held in June/July 1997 and will be in the West Africa subregion.

In addition to the Resolution passed by the Conference of Ministers, a Decision was also passed, Decision 3(XXXI) on the "Revitalization and strengthening of the African Regional Coordinating Committee for the Integration of Women in Development". The Decision modified the composition of ARCC in the subregions of the Niamey and Lusaka MULPOCs, increasing membership into the Committee in the latter from 3 to 4 and in the latter from 3 to 6. During the elections that too place at the last meeting of ARCC, the composition of the West Africa subregion was changed according to the Decision that had emanated from ARCC. Similarly, the composition of Committee membership in the Lusaka MULPOC subregion was adjusted when the elections were subsequently held as mentioned above.

According to the same Decision, Senegal which chaired the Fifth African Regional Conference on Women is automatically a member of ARCC until the next Regional Conference. With reference to the evaluation of the performance of ARCC, ECA is yet to engage in a systematic exercise to this effect because it has been engaged fully in the restructuring process which has had implications on the breakdown of the subregions. The 1997 ECA Conference of Ministers will make final decisions on the new composition of the subregions which may have implications on the current composition of ARCC. It can only be thereafter that the question of evaluation of its performance could be addressed.

Part II : Publications, Meetings, Missions And Reports

A. Publications

1. From The African Centre For Women

A number of technical publications have been prepared by ACW in the course of the past year, all of which have been focused on various sectors that were identified as critical in the Regional and Global Platforms for Action. The contents therefore attempt to provide information that may guide specific actions or add a voice to the current debate in the concerned sector.

A technical publication entitled "Women and the Peace Process: Perspectives from Africa was prepared for the Ad hoc Expert Group Meeting/Women Leadership Forum on Peace held in Johannesburg, South Africa in November 1996. The publication contains six different papers which explore different dimensions of peace and women's involvement including women's role in the peace process; the gender perspective of conflict development and peace; the role of civil society in promoting women in the peace process; collaboration between African women and international partners around peace; the current UNHCR policies and practices with regard to refugees and their implications for women; and the OAU mechanism for conflict prevention, management and resolution including the problem of refugees and displaced persons with particular focus on women. The papers were contributed by ECA, OAU, UNIFEM/AFWIC, UNHCR, and ABANTU for Development.

Another technical publication produced during the period under review is Traditional and Cultural Practices Harmful to the Girl-Child: A Cross-Sectional Review. This publication which is currently in reproduction addresses various practices that hamper the girl-child from realizing their full potential, their prevalence and why, and strategies for discontinuing them.

In preparation for gender-mainstreaming in the ECA programme of work, A Manual on Gender and Mainstreaming was prepared specially for ECA staff. This manual which draws from existing training manuals sets out to familiarize ECA staff with gender concepts and gender terminology and to assist programme managers and their professional staff to mainstream gender in their programmes. In addition, it aims at assisting the secretarial staff to develop a culture of gender sensitivity in their daily activities. Also under production is A Guide for Legal Literacy which has set out to define the information needs of women on legal matters affecting them; to document legal-related activities of various women's groups and government agencies and the extent to which information is accessible to women; assess the environment within which these activities are taking place; and make recommendations with regard to future programmes. It should be pointed out here that the 1997-1999 ECA work programme will include several activities related to the promotion of women's legal and human rights. The latter publication is a preliminary step towards gathering the necessary information towards these planned activities.

An up-dated version of the Roster of African Women Experts is under reproduction. The minimum criteria for appearing on the roster is a first degree and five years experience after the first degree. The current issue is organized both in subject and country indices. Another publication under reproduction is the Directory of Women/Gender National Machineries. The publication will also include information on existing research and documentation centres as well as NGOs that are dealing with gender issues. Finally, the ACW Update flags upcoming activities, training opportunities, recent publications and information sources on gender. It also updates the reader on news from the subregions and calls attention to what is happening within the UN family on gender.

2. Other ECA Documents Related To Women/gender Issues

A variety of documents either focusing directly on women/gender issues or dealing with issues of relevance to the area were produced by ECA in the period under review. They are flagged here briefly for information and easy reference.

ECA lead a team that undertook a mission on Programme Review and Strategy Development (PRSD) in Nigeria and Togo. During the missions, national population programmes and implementation strategies were defined for each country as was UNFPA's programme of assistance. Gender issues were accorded great importance in the exercise as portrayed in documents ECA/MRAG/96/72/MR, "Mission Report of Programme Review and Strategy Development Exercise in Nigeria"; and ECA/MRAG/96/57/MR, "Rapport de Mission D'Analyse de Programme et D'Elaboration de la Strategie en Matiere de Population au Togo".

Another publication was on the potential of non-conventional foods as a source of food security. The publication recognizes the role of women in the exploitation of the non-conventional foods and their constraints in food production due to limited access to resources. As recommendation, the paper advocates improvement of women's access to production resources, government support in the production of non-conventional indigenous foods and promotion

of consumption of these foods in the interest of enhancing food security. The publication is entitled "Ressources alimentaire non conventionelle et securite alimantaire en Afrique: Role de Femme" ( ECA/AGRIC./96/6).

The publication entitled "Improving Public Sector Expenditure Targeting and Allocation to Foster Rural development and Productive Employment Generation" (ECA/PHSD/PAM/96/4/[3(b)] stressed the importance of public sector targeting in distributing development resources to priority areas. In particular, it underlined the importance of looking at women's programmes such as the " Better Life for Women" in Nigeria which has now been weakened by change of priorities." Measures for Enhancing Interface Between Governments, Universities/Research Institutes and Private Sector in Developing the Capacity of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMES) in Africa",(ECA/PHSD/PAM/96/11[11(b)(viii)]) reiterated the need to take into consideration the specific concerns of women in creating and nurturing an enabling environment for SMES. It also makes recommendations for improving women's access to productive resources and services. Finally, Focus on African Industry (Volume VII No. I), " Private Sector Development in Africa into the next century" observed that African women should be given opportunity to acquire ownership of enterprises put out for privatization. It outlined measures required for successful takeover of such enterprises.

The ECA and the Regional Council of the Amhara Regional State are collaborating in facilitating integrated development of various community zones. Two zones have been selected so far and studied in depth in terms of their needs, i.e. the Oromiya Zone and the Wag Hemra Zone. In each Zone, elaborate projects have been formulated for rehabilitating the rural communities through integrated Women in Development programmes. Details of this integrated approach can be found in "Women in Development:Programme Proposal for Oromiya Zone of the Amhara Region", and "Programme Proposal for the Wag Hemra Zone of the Amhara Region: Women in Development". Both of these documents are published under the Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Rehabilitation Programme:The Wereda Agriculture and Rural Development Integrated Services series.

B. Meetings Organized

During the period under review, ACW organized 5 meetings. Two of the meetings were directly related to the implementation of Resolution 824 (XXXI) of the ECA Conference of Ministers. In response to the call for the strengthening of the coordinating mechanism of ARCC, ACW organized subregional meetings in the Lusaka and Yaounde MULPOCs in order to facilitate the renewal of the members of ARCC and also provide an opportunity for exchange of information, ideas etc vis-a vis the implementation of the Global and Regional Platforms of Action. The meetings were held in Lusaka and Yaounde MULPOCs in July 1996 and April 1997, respectively.

The report of the Lusaka meeting is contained in document ECA/ACW/LUS/ARCC/96. As indicated, the meeting was held from 24 to 26 July 1996 and was attended by 9 countries. The outcome of the subsequent elections for the Subregional Bureau of ARCC were as follows: Ethiopia, President; South Africa, Vice President; Zimbabwe, Rapporteur; Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia, Members.

The meeting also discussed what each of the countries present was doing towards the implementation of the Platforms. It was interesting to learn that a number of countries had formulated comprehensive gender policies which were in the process of being reviewed for approval. This was the case of South Africa and Namibia while Ethiopia and Zambia already had existing policy on gender. Focus was also put on the institutional framework within which gender issues were being handled. The tendency after the Dakar and Beijing Conferences seemed to be a recognition of the need to elevate the status of the gender/women national machineries. A number of them were placed at the highest level, either in the cabinets of the prime ministers or the presidents. Besides, a number of them were headed by ministers, assistant ministers or permanent secretaries. This had given considerable access to power although they continued to need adequate human and financial resources. An important point raised at the meeting was the extent to which provisions for addressing gender issues were built into national policy structures such as the constitution, parliament etc. In cases where constitutions were being revised, it was crucial to monitor the process and ensure that this was happening. Already, there had been disappointments in such countries as Zambia where the positive momentum of the preparatory process for Beijing was not evident in the post Beijing era as demonstrated by failure to provide for gender concerns in the new constitution.

A number of countries reported that they had national plans of action for the implementation of the Platforms for Action but did not always have coordinating mechanisms or provisions for mainstreaming gender in the sectoral government structures. These concerns as well as the importance of allocating adequate resources for implementation and delineating responsibility for action were also discussed at length.

The report on the meeting organized at the Yaounde MULPOC was not available at the time of writing of this report.

The Ghana Association of Women Entrepreneurs invited ACW to participate as one of the coorganizers of the First Global Women Entrepreneurs' Trade Fair and Investment Forum in Accra, Ghana from 26 June to 3 July 1996. The overall theme of the Fair was foreign direct private investment in women's business for economic recovery and development in Africa. It provided an opportunity for increased practical understanding by African women of such concepts as the global market place for increase in exports, debt reduction and balance of payments. ACW provided financial assistance and presented a technical paper.

The final outcome of the Trade Fair was The Accra Declaration on Women Entrepreneurship in the New World Economic Order".

In preparation for the Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting/Women Leadership Forum on Peace, a Consultative/Planning meeting was organized jointly by ECA and OAU at the OAU Headquarters in Addis Ababa from 8 to 9 August 1996 to discuss the objectives of the forth coming meeting, draft the terms of reference of the proposed Committee on Peace and plan other details of the meeting. The organizations that collaborated with the organizers were invited to this planning meeting, namely UNIFEM/AFWIC, UNHCR, UNDP, and ABANTU for Development. In addition, the countries that constituted the Interim Committee on Peace after the Regional Conference on Peace and Development in Kampala in November 1993, were also invited to the planning meeting, i.e. Ethiopia and Uganda. Congo was also invited but was unable to make it. The report of the meeting is contained in document ECA/OAU/CMFEM/PEACE/96.

As mentioned earlier, the Women Leadership Forum on Peace finally took place in Johannesburg, South Africa from 4 to 8 November 1996. The main objective of the meeting was "to study and elaborate modalities for setting up and operationalizing a regional mechanism for the full and effective participation of African women in all processes of conflict prevention, management, resolution and peace building" in accordance with the recommendations of the Kampala Action Plan and the African Platform for Action. The meeting was attended by 53 participants from 19 countriescomprising a cross-section of government representatives, NGOs, UN agencies and some invited in their own personal capacity.

The major outcome of the meeting was the recommendation to form The African Women Committee on Peace. Its institutional status, terms of reference, composition, modalities for selecting members and the terms of office were also recommended. Currently, the nomination process which is being facilitated by the OAU is under way. The Committee will have an ECA/OAU joint secretariat.

The Government of Korea provided financial assistance in the organization of the Forum whose report is contained in document ECA/OAU/AH.EGM/WLFP/96 entitled Women Leadership Forum on Peace.

The fifth meeting organized by ACW during the period under review was a women's training seminar in leadership skills. The meeting entitled Training Seminar on Leadership Skills Development was organized in Addis Ababa from 9 to 13 September 1996 for senior executive women and managers from 11 countries of the Eastern and South African subregions. Its main objective was "to enhance women's leadership capabilities and improve the management sustainability of their organizations". The participants were therefore exposed to improved and effective managerial techniques, were sensitized to the implications of their specific roles as managers in the growth and development of their organizations, and provided with an opportunity for networking among themselves.

In the course of the seminar, the participants focused on gender-related cultural, social and psychological factors that were experienced as constraints to effective management by women and suggestions were made as to how they could be dealt with or circumvented. Advocacy for

attitudinal change towards women as capable participants in the world of management as well as the importance of their access to management skills training were among the recommendations that emanated from the seminar.

The Royal Netherlands Government provided financial assistance to organize the meeting. Full report of the seminar is contained in the document entitled Report of the Training Seminar on Women and Leadership Skills Development.

C. Missions

Eight missions were undertaken during the period under review, all of which were requested by various institutions for the purpose of provision of technical assistance. The objectives of the missions and their outcome will be summarized below chronologically.

Upon request of UNIFEM/AFWIC in Nairobi Kenya, a consultative mission was undertaken by a staff of ACW from 22 to 23 May 1996 to discuss the organization of the African Women Leadership Forum on Peace that was eventually held in Johannesburg, South Africa as discussed above. At the conclusion of the mission, consensus was reached as to what role ECA/OAU and UNIFEM/AFWIC would play technically and logistically in the organization of the Forum. This information was communicated immediately by Fax to UNDP, New York which was interested in the outcome of the mission in order to better determine what role it could also play. The outcome also facilitated subsequent negotiations for financial and technical assistance with other partners as discussed above.

In June 1996, One World Action and ABANTU for Development invited ACW to present a key note address to a seminar that they organized on 25 June under the theme "Africa and Europe:Economic Reform and Equitable Development". The objective of the seminar was to discuss relations between Africa and Europe from a gender perspective in the context of the European Union's recent policy decision to integrate gender issues in its development cooperation activities. The ACW staff member who attended the seminar presented a paper entitled "Equitable Development:Development Through the Gender Lens" which was an overview of the key gender issues in equitable development. It also identified some essential pointers in gender analysis.

The Regional Field Facilitation Initiative of East Africa (RFFI-EA) organized a Post-Beijing Forum from 29 July to 1 August 1996 to share and document experiences since Beijing, but more importantly to define and develop consensus on a Subregional Support Initiative that would sustain interest in the issues of the Fourth World Conference and enhance the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the APA and GPA. ACW was invited to provide a regional perspective in the implementation process. Accordingly, the representative from ACW presented a paper on the role ACW had played before and after Beijing and sensitized participants to the challenges likely to be encountered in the implementation process.

FEMNET had its Second Programming Conference and General Assembly from 2 to 6 September 1996 to which it invited the ECA Executive Secretary to give the keynote address and ACW to send a resource person. The Executive Secretary attended and the ACW representative provided information and guidance as FEMNET drew up its work programme for the next 3 years. One of its important activities will be monitoring and coordinating NGO activities

with respect to the implementation of the APA and GPA. At the General Assembly, FEMNET renewed its Executive and Advisory Boards. During the elections, ECA and OAU played the role of Returning Officers.

ACW was requested to provide a resource person to the African Conference on the Empowerment of Women through Functional Literacy and the Education of the Girl-Child from 8 to 12 September 1996. The Conference was jointly organized by OAU and the Government of Uganda with assistance from several UN agencies including ECA and other donors. The contribution of ACW was mostly in form of a statement delivered which outlined the approach of ECA to the promotion of education of both men and women and its attempt to influence policy through policy analysis and evaluation, training of policy makers, administrators and educators. The ACW priority activities under the Leadership Fund were presented in the context of their role in empowering women.

A planning mission was undertaken by ACW staff to the Pan African Institute for Development (PAID-ESA) in Kabwe, Zambia from 28 to 29 October 1996 in follow-up of a Training of Trainers' Workshop that had been held in conjunction with PAID-ESA in November 1993 and a similar one planned at the same location in 1997. The objectives of the meeting included discussions on the contents and date of the up-coming course, number and characteristics of participants and other logistical details. It was agreed that the course which would last 3 weeks would focus on skills related to business procedures and credit systems, and would be offered to trainees who were also trainers and would therefore go back and train others as a prerequisite to participating in the course.

ACW participated in a seminar organized by the OECD/DAC Expert Group on Women and Development and hosted by the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town in South Africa from 21 to 14 October 1996. The seminar was entitled "Implications of the Beijing Conference for Bilateral Development Cooperation in Southern Africa". The focus of the discussion therefore was primarily follow-up to Beijing and donor support to the implementation of APA and GPA. ACW provided the regional dimension by sharing information on some of the implementation initiatives at that level.

The women of Rwanda with the support of the Government of Rwanda decided that it was useful to share their experiences with regard to the recent genocide in the country with the rest of the region in a Pan African Conference on Peace. They felt that the lessons learnt form the 1994 genocide could be a deterrent to such tragedies in future. The conference would also demonstrate the constructive role that women can and do play in the peace process. In organizing the conference, the Government of Rwanda requested the services of ACW in conceptualizing and planning the meeting which was organized under the auspices of ECA and OAU but financed by several UN agencies and bilateral donors. ACW therefore undertook 2 missions from 26 November to 10 December 1996 and also for 2 weeks in February/March 1997 to provide the requested technical assistance. In particular, the ACW assistance as part of a team of ECA, OAU and UNDP focused on articulating the theme of the conference and issues to be discussed, defining the terms of reference and working out a practical budget. The team also assisted the Government in drawing up a project proposal in aid of some women victims of the war in Rwanda to be presented to the Royal Government of the Netherlands for possible financing.

When the Ghana Association of Women Entrepreneurs GAWE organized its Post-Beijing Workshop on Entrepreneurship from 24 to 25 February 1997, it invited ACW to send a resource person. Immediately after the workshop, the African Federation of Women Entrepreneurs (AFWE) was to hold its General Assembly and ACW which also assumes the secretariat of AFWE was invited. ACW accepted the invitation to the workshop and made a statement at the opening ceremony. She also shared with the participants ECA's plans to facilite women entrepreneurship and economic empowerment in the context of its renewal programme. The AFWE General Assembly did not take place due to failure to attain the quorum.

The final mission undertaken by ACW during the period under review was to the 41st Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York, 10 to 21 March 1997. The objective of the meeting was to consider the implementation of 4 out of the 12 critical areas of concern of the GPA namely economy; environment; politics and decision-making; and education and training. The report of this meeting will be presented under a separate agenda item.

Part III

Orientation For 1997 And Conclusion

As you are aware, the ECA renewal programme has been predicated on the need to sharpen focus on priorities that are strategically selected on the basis of available resources, desired outcome and environmental realities. In this context, and within the framework of the Leadership Fund, the work programme of the African Centre for Women will focus on three main elements in 1997: fostering economic empowerment of women; promotion of women's legal and human rights; and fostering leadership role of women. The modalities for attaining these objectives will include preparation of analytical studies and provision of advisory services to Member States on programmes and policies to correct gaps in access to social service and economic assets; promotion of strategies for enhancing constituencies for women leadership and public decision-making; provision of training in gender analysis, legal literacy and leadership and management; and advocacy, networking and awareness raising. The above priorities will be combined with the ongoing role of monitoring and promoting the implementation of the APA and the GPA.

Another aspect that will characterize the ECA 1997 work programme is the mainstreaming of gender issues in all the substantive activities of the Commission. ACW will therefore have to ensure that skills for gender analysis, planning, programming and implementation are sufficiently acquired by the ECA staff and that they are being applied accordingly. Gender training for all ECA staff will therefore be a prerequisite to the success of gender-mainstreaming. Accordingly, it is planned for 1997.

With the considerable strengthening of gender activities in the subregions through the SRDCs, coupled with a strengthened ACW and the requirement to mainstream gender in ECA work, it is expected that increased impact of women empowerment will be felt in the member States and that they become more visible in the development process.