Workshop Outcomes (agenda item 7)
The African Plan of Action (Period: 2000-2004) (agenda item 8)
H. Special Forum on Peace and Development (agenda item 6)
65. The Special Forum on Peace and Development was organised under the auspices of the African Women Committee on Peace and Development, one of the lead organisations in promoting the peace process in the region. The rationale behind the Forum was to give the women of Africa a platform to voice their concerns over war and peace.
66. Her Excellency, Dr Speciosa Wandira Kazibwe, Vice-President of the Republic of Uganda and Chairperson of the African Women Committee on Peace and Development presided over the Forum. She requested participants to observe one minute of silence for the victims of war. She then invited Mr. K. Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary of the ECA to deliver his welcoming remarks.
67. In his opening statement, Mr. K. Y. Amoako observed that the Forum was a special occasion for both painful remembrance and joyful celebration. Remembrance, because many in the room had experienced the scourge of war and violence or had been moved by the experiences of sisters and brothers from countries troubled by conflict; and celebration, because the Forum paid tribute to the strength, courage and vision of African women who continue to wage a struggle for peace. He observed that in recent years, women had begun to translate their experiences into a new activism and advocacy for peace and that their energy and zeal could not fail to move us forward in the new millennium. AWCPD had been launched only a year earlier, but he was pleased to see that it had taken up its work with determination and commitment. Already, African women saw it as a channel to influence high-level decisions and as a needed entity to increase the coherence of women's activism for peace. He also commended the Federation of African Women's Peace Networks for its collective action. He concluded by thanking the participants for the seriousness with which they had undertaken review for the Beijing +5 process.
68. Her Excellency, the Vice-President, then made her introductory statement. She thanked the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for the warm welcome extended to the delegates arriving in Addis Ababa. She also expressed her joy to see Mrs. Stella Obasanjo, First Lady of Nigeria, and thanked Ms. Angela King, Special Adviser on Gender and Advancement of Women for her presence, which testified to the importance the United Nations gave to the issues of peace. For their unreserved support towards the AWCPD and all other programmes aimed at enhancing the women's cause, she paid tribute to the Executive Secretary of ECA, Mr. K.Y Amoako, for his support and commitment to African women, to Mr. Salim A. Salim, the Secretary-General of OAU for his interest in the development of African Women, as witnessed by the establishment, in collaboration with ECA, of the African Women's Committee for Peace and Development, to Ms. Josephine Ouedraogo, Director of the African Women's Centre and to Mr. Sam Ibok, Head of OAU's Political Department and Chief of the Conflict Management Centre.
69. She affirmed that AWCPD was proud to provide a forum to voice women's concerns and to strengthen their role and mandate and further their empowerment in the promotion of peace and development in Africa. She exhorted that the twenty-first century must be a century with a difference for Africa, our century just as Europe was the continent of the nineteenth century and America the continent of the twentieth century. This would entail serious planning in the course of our social, economic and political emancipation; the kind of planning that should not simply see us blindly imitating others, but the kind of planning that is preceded by careful analysis of our past, a clear formulation of our vision for the future, and strategies adapted to address Africa's unique situation. She underlined her happiness to note that the voice of the "wretched of the earth", was being echoed in most corners of the continent and that the men were also beginning to stir in positive response and support of the women's cause. The challenge was to ensure that we adopted strategies that would reverse the current situation. She then called upon governments of Africa to stand together in support of the candidacy of Dr. Miriam K. Were for the post of Executive Director of UNFPA saying that women needed critical numbers at the decision-making level to be able to make an impact. She concluded with a word of appreciation on behalf of the President of Uganda, His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the people of Uganda and on her own behalf, thanking all for having contributed to the success of the conference and the Peace Forum.
70. Three women from Burundi, Sierra Leone, and Somalia respectively took the floor to convey their personal experience of war. Their testimony depicted graphically how war affected women and men differently.
71. Then a representative of FERFAP, Dr. Mariam Maiga, read resolutions passed by the women from the peace tent.
72. At this point, the Representative of UNIFEM handed over the Peace Torch to H. E. Dr. Speciosa Wandira Kazibwe, who in turn passed it on to H.E. Mrs. Stella Obasanjo, First Lady of Nigeria, who then proceeded to deliver her statement.
73. In her statement, H.E. Mrs. Stella Obasanjo expressed her personal gratitude and appreciation to Her Excellency, Dr. Speciosa Wandira Kazibwe, and the African Women Committee on Peace and Development for organising the forum and acknowledged the efforts of the Economic Commission for Africa in search for peace on our continent. She stated that the absence of conflict is an irreducible minimum condition for the promotion of development anywhere and that the need for peace as a requirement for development was heightened by the stiff competition for foreign venture capital between Africa and other emerging markets. She went on to say that most conflicts were sparked off by disputes among political leaders, nearly all of whom were men, that the majority of those who bear arms were men. She further observed that it was now an established fact that women and children were at the receiving end of some of the worst atrocities in war, and that those who did not lose their lives, lost their dignity and remained emotionally and physically scarred for life. Parties to conflicts often rape women and girl children with bestial impunity; furthermore, every protracted conflict had yielded its horrifying tales of women who were forced into sexual slavery or used, derisively, as "comfort women".
74. She saluted the many men and women who strive by day and night, at great risk to life and limb, to ensure that women are no longer violated in the event of war but said that more needed to be done. Governments, NGOs, local communities, international organisations and the world community should do more to end the scourge of war. She then called on African women to play a more active role in saving the continent from the curse of perpetual conflicts and appealed, in particular, to women whose spouses occupy important and influential political positions to think more about how to avoid the senseless wars that bring so much misery to so many women. She further said it was her fervent hope that the women of Africa would discharge this very important moral duty of always encouraging our men to choose democracy over dictatorship, to prefer dialogue to confrontation and violence, and to choose right over wrong.
75. The representative of the OAU, Mr. Djinnit Said, spoke on behalf of Dr. Salim A. Salim, Secretary-General of the OAU. He conveyed the greetings and support of the Secretary-General, explaining that he was unable to attend the Forum due to reasons beyond his control. He stated that conflict prevention, management and resolution had emerged as the top priority on OAU's agenda and were at the core of all the efforts of Africa's leaders and people, including women. This had been clearly demonstrated during the conference and Forum. He underlined that in spite of the trauma of wars and displacement, women had been the stabilising factor in their families and communities. They were contributing immensely to preserving human dignity and social order in the midst of chaos and civil strife. The experience of African women presented earlier were eloquent testimony to the agonies endured by African women in conflict areas. This should strengthen our determination and resolve to address the scourge of conflict in a decisive manner.
76. Expressing OAU support for African women endeavours towards peace and development, and recalled that prior to adoption of both the African and the Beijing Platforms for Action, OAU, ECA and the Government of Uganda had organised a Regional Conference on Women, Peace and Development in Kampala, Uganda in November 1993. He reminded participants that the mechanism recommended by the conference was further discussed at subsequent encounters and endorsed by the 66th Ordinary Session of the OAU Council of Ministers and 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, Harare, Zimbabwe in 1997. That mechanism was the African Women Committee on Peace and Development, which was established in April 1998 and officially inaugurated in November 1998. He underlined OAU's support to the Committee's objectives and activities and its commitment to enter into a real partnership with women and other concerned organisations through practical programmes and projects.
77. He concluded by paying tribute to the women of Africa for their historic role as a driving force for the emancipation of our people and for the fact that, as a famous French poet said, "Woman is the future of man".
78. The 12 workshops on the critical areas of concern in the Beijing Platform of Action took place successfully and were well supported. The outcomes are summarised in Annex III.
79. A Drafting Group of representatives from national delegations and the United Nations agencies reviewed the Draft African Plan of Action, which had been sent to them prior to the conference by the Secretariat. The review process was under the chairmanship of Her Excellency Mrs. Rabea Mechernene, Algerian Minister for National Solidarity and the Family and the First Vice-Chairperson of the Sixth Regional Conference on Women. The total review time was one-and-a-half days during the conference. Hard and detailed work went into discussing, adjusting and improving the draft document which was eventually adopted by the conference.
80. The African Plan of Action was intended to serve as a framework for the accelerated implementation of the Dakar and Beijing Platforms. At a general level, it contains guidelines to be used by co-ordinating machineries in monitoring and evaluation activities. It also suggests ways of mobilising the necessary resources and emphasises the imperative of dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The Plan also highlights the need for women to play an equal role with men in securing and maintaining peace. Additionally, it suggests strategies for reducing the tedious chores of women who can then be engaged in more economically productive enterprises.
81. At a more specific level, the Plan of Action emphasises the need for national consultative and co-ordinating mechanisms to promote gender equality. In the national context, these have to be at the highest executive level of State and should include other stakeholders such as the civil society. The Plan states that the indicators of success in evaluating the effectiveness of co-ordinating machineries will need to be presented in measurable numerical terms.
82. In the area of monitoring and evaluation, the Plan recognises the need to strengthen monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for the purpose of accurate measurement of progress. Due to this, the Plan of Action stresses the need for technical teams to be established to undertake monitoring and evaluation activities in the twelve critical areas of concern. This task will require some training in policy analysis and gender audit.
83. Comprehensive development can be achieved only when women have a better social, economic and political status in society. This requires an enabling environment that allows women to participate in decision-making. Given this reality, the Plan recommends the use of affirmative action to reduce gender disparities in decision-making bodies. As an example in this regard, steps should be taken to ensure that professional women from relevant fields constitute at least 33% of the membership of national delegations. By the same token, 33% of the composition of delegations to meetings on gender and women issues should consist of men.
84. The lack of adequate resources for implementing the Platform lies behind the low implementation rate. It has two components that need to be addressed. First, there is the absolute shortage of human, financial and technical resources that countries need for implementation. Secondly, there is the issue of access to existing resources, which is reflected in the competition for limited resources. The Plan of Action recommends the allocation of a minimum of one per cent of budgets to gender-related activities. Additionally, the Plan proposes that debt relief finance should be diverted to activities in the field of gender mainstreaming.
85. Since the objective of gender equality cannot be achieved without recognising that the gender approach has to be integrated in policies, planning and project evaluation, practical steps should be taken towards realising this goal. The avenues available for this include sensitisation and training. The collection and use of gender-disaggregated data are also important tools for achieving accelerated integration of the gender approach into policy formulation, planning and programming.
86. The Plan further states that in the fight against HIV/AIDS, more emphasis should be placed on prevention. In this respect, prevention strategies must address the structures that put women in a disadvantaged position in society through lack of empowerment. The African Plan of Action has the vision of reducing the rate of HIV/AIDS infections by 50% by the year 2000. This target will require massive efforts to demystify the phenomenon. Consequently, there is need to mount information and education campaigns at all levels. Although community-based approaches have so far played a major role in ensuring a caring environment for the affected, the onus is on governments to establish institutional mechanisms to deal with the pandemic. In this regard, the Plan calls for a cross-sectoral and inter-institutional approach through partnerships to deal with the problem.
87. The Plan of Action recognises the multi-dimensional problem of poverty and stresses the need to create national, subregional and regional markets for the region's products. Since women are among the most affected groups, the Plan has the objective of helping women to be more active in small- and medium-scale enterprises. The channels for achieving this objective lie in capacity building and in policies and laws that open up opportunities to women. The full text of the African Plan of Action as adopted by the conference is presented in annex IIb.
88. A Drafting Group that included representatives from national delegations, subregional and regional NGOs and the United Nations agencies reviewed a draft document prepared by the ECA Secretariat. The Group was chaired by Her Excellency, Mrs. Janat Mukwaya, Minister for Gender, Labour and Social Development from Uganda and facilitated by Ms Angela King and Ms Rosaline Odera, Chairperson of the preparatory process of the Special Session of Beijing + 5. The terms of reference of the Drafting Group were to examine modalities for Africa's participation in the Special Session on Beijing + 5.
89. The modalities target the roles of member States, NGOs, the Committee on Women and Development and ECA. In this regard, member States should strive to include Ministers of Finance and Planning in their delegations, as well as representatives of8 the youth and people with disabilities. The NGOs that hold a consultative status with ECOSOC will be expected to select one representative to be their spokesperson in the plenary session. The selection of this person should be based on relevant criteria. In the event that the Global Meeting will recommend fewer than five NGOs to speak, there will be concerted effort to ensure that Africa is represented.
90. The role of the Committee on Women and Development will entail the following responsibilities: co-ordinating and harmonising the position of African States; and ensuring that there is a wide and active participation of African States at the Session of the Preparatory Committee in March and at the Special Session in June 2000. The role of ECA will be to ensure the timely delivery to New York and to relevant actors of key documents such as the African Plan of Action and the Draft Declaration. It will also be responsible for facilitating African participation at the Special Session of the General Assembly in June 2000. (See annex V for the full text on Modalities for Africa's Participation at the Beijing + 5 Special Session).
91. A Drafting Group that included representatives from national delegations, subregional and regional NGOs and United Nations agencies reviewed a draft document prepared by the Secretariat on the conference declaration. The Group was chaired by Ms Mary Shawa, Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Women, Youth and Community Services in Malawi.
92. In the Declaration that was finally adopted, participants reaffirmed their commitment to the Dakar and Beijing Platforms for Action and to the inherent dignity and equal rights of men and women. They acknowledged the advances made in implementing the Platforms through, inter alia, the fact that forty-seven African countries have so far ratified CEDAW; the increase in the participation of women in politics and in decision-making; the acceleration in land tenure reform processes through legislative procedures that now make it possible to use, own and inherit land; the presence of a vibrant and growing women's activism and advocacy for peace that places women in mainstream peace processes; the global awareness that women's rights are human rights and that violence against women is the most widespread violation of human rights.
93. The participants expressed concern, however, at shortcomings that continue to interfere with the implementation processes. These include among others: the high incidence of wars and violent conflict; systematic under-representation of women in decision-making and leadership positions; inadequacy of quality reproductive health services; persisting gender-based inequalities in the fields of education, science and technology; and lack of attention and resources channelled towards the special needs of women and the disabled.
94. Given these shortcomings, the participants urged all stakeholders to expedite the transition from pledges to concrete action and put in place appropriate and effective human, material and financial resources that would allow women to enjoy their human rights and fundamental freedoms (see annex IIa for the full text of the Declaration).
