As a part of the coalition supporting the ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, Pambazuka News is profiling various aspects of the Protocol over a six week period. This week we will look at the environment and sustainability in relation to African women. This is what the protocol states:

Article 18 – Right to a Healthy and Sustainable Environment:

“States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to: ensure greater participation of women in the planning, management and preservation of the environment and the sustainable use of natural resources at all levels.”

Women are, in many parts of Africa, more involved in agricultural work than many men. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, women in Africa comprise only 33% of the workforce, yet make up 70% of agricultural workers. They provide 60-80% of the labor it takes to produce food, for both household consumption and sale, while are in charge of processing all basic foodstuffs. Women are responsible for 90% of household water and wood for fuel. Ninety percent of hoeing and weeding is done by women, as is 60% of harvesting and marketing. Their ability to provide for themselves and their families is, however, being threatened by environmental degradation and the decline in wellness and abundance of natural resources.

This paper discusses trafficking and information and communication technologies (ICTs) as defined by activists in the two arenas. It also explores three pivotal and at times controversial questions: Does the role of ICTs matter or is it a fashionable distraction from serious counter-trafficking work? Can we talk of trafficking in images or does trafficking only apply to people? Is consideration of privacy in relation to ICTs contrary to counter-trafficking work or an essential part of a broader movement to create safety and freedom for individuals and communities?

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign originating from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women's Global Leadership in 1991. Participants chose the dates, November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women and December 10, International Human Rights Day, in order to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights. This 16-day period also highlights other significant dates including December 1, which is World AIDS Day, and December 6, which marks the Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre.

The International Secretariat for Human Development based at York University is engaged in a project to develop curricular material to be used in teaching gender and human development, broadly defined. The specific goal of the project is to create an inventory of material that represents voices, experiences, and conceptualisations of gender from various structural and geographical locations, in particular those that are marginalized.

The right to education is an integral part of the new African Protocol on Women’s Rights, argues Roselynn Musa. Gender inequalities in education translate into larger socio-economic disparities, and affect not only individuals, but the social and economic development of communities and nations. The Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa offers a powerful tool for remedying these disparities, and addresses not only the grassroots level of the classroom, but also the political processes that grant women access to decision-making.

Everyone has a right to education states the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR, 1948), but today more than half a century after this historic text was adopted, the right to education remains an empty promise for millions of people all over the world, especially women and girls. During the last decade there have been improvements in basic education for women in many countries. A number of countries recorded increased growth in the number of enrolment of both girls and boys. At the same time many African countries have made progress in reducing illiteracy levels, particularly among women and girls. However, despite these improvements only 58% of children of school age are actually enrolled in school (World Conference on Education for All, UNESO, Paris, 2000). With few exceptions educational statistics show large gender disparities. Female-male school enrolment, retention and completion favour boys in a majority of countries. Moreover, African women have the highest illiteracy rate in the world, which in some countries is rising. In addition gender disparities in schooling undermine national efforts for human capital development, thereby slowing down the pace of social and economic development.

The right to education is a human right having major implications for both individuals as well as for social and economic development. Education of women in Africa is imperative given the inverse relationship between female education and other aspects of development.

The educational system in Africa generally reflects gender inequalities. Gender refers not just to women, but also to both men and women, and to the interaction between them. It is important to understand the differences between men and women that are externally influenced, as well as the conditions imposed on them that are based on naturally given biological differences. Gender analysis therefore has to do with both sexes in relation to each other, not in isolation. Furthermore, an understanding of gender does not imply that all women are alike. Race, ethnicity, class, nationality, age, etc, are other factors that may cause significant differences among women themselves and among men as well.

The purpose of looking at gender is not to divide men and women, causing conflict between them, rather it draws our attention to those issues that have brought about unequal relations, and allows us to address these issues with appropriate measures that will help reduce rather than perpetuate inequality. Thus the concept of gender helps focus on growth in terms of equitable distribution of benefits between women and men, equality and power relations between them and, most of all, partnership between them in all fields of development.

Gender equality is based on the premise that all human beings, women and men are free to develop their personal abilities and make choices without the limitations set by stereotypes, rigid gender roles and prejudices. Gender equality means that the different behaviour, aspirations and needs of women and men are considered, valued and favoured equally. It does not mean that women and men have become the same, but rather their rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they were born male or female.

The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa will come into force in November 2005. Article thirty-two of the protocol covers a broad range of human rights issues and advances the human rights for African women through creative, substantive and detailed language. Article 12 addresses the right to education and training.

One of the challenges to women’s educational empowerment in Africa is that decisions on what is to be learnt, at what level and by who are male dominated thus perpetuating gender-based stereotypes. This renders the curriculum inappropriate for the promotion and protection of women’s human rights. While the level of women’s participation is on the increase, certain socio-cultural constraints impede women’s access to vocational, scientific and technical education.

The Protocol obligates state parties to take positive actions to promote women’s education at all levels and in all disciplines. One of the measures that could be useful in addressing gender imbalances in education and training, is for countries to institute and strengthen affirmative action measures including scholarships at all levels for female students, distance and non-formal education and literacy programmes for women, innovative and aggressive strategies to redress the under-representation of women and girls in sciences, mathematics and technology-related disciplines and careers, including the promotion of science among children in general and young girls in particular. Women’s access to professional training should be strengthened.

Women need broad humanistic and scientific education for the same reasons men do, so they can understand and appreciate life, give intellectual and political leadership and make the greatest contribution of which they are capable. In addition to this, the main financial partners of Africa’s educational systems should show their firm commitment to the female population in their interventionist policies.

We must find ways to preserve what remains of our customs while at the same time refuse to accept those aspects of tradition that treat women and children as less than human. For example, the belief that investing in girls’ education is a waste of time and money. This has had and will continue to have devastating consequences on women unless something urgent is done.

Because most programmes for women’s economic development, educational and political equality bow to patriarchal culture and societal imposed stereotypes they are replete with fundamental conceptual flaws.

Approaches that focus on the law while ignoring culture are not likely to turn women’s situation around. We should strive for a condition in which women and men are equal both in laws and facts. If that happens to be the case then our problems will only be solved in fractions, even when we have fifty per cent female representation in positions of power, because these same women are the wives, sisters, daughters, etc of the men out there who the patriarchal system has placed above and therefore superior to women. This approach will be flawed because it refuses to address the cultural factors that impede women’s progress. Because of the current situation of inequality, gender equality cannot be achieved without the empowerment of women especially in the field of education.

Human rights education goes beyond cognitive learning and includes the social and emotional development of all those involved in the educational process. It should aim at developing a culture in which human rights are taught, practised and lived within the school community and spread through interaction with the wider community. Introducing human rights education therefore implies that the school becomes a model of human rights learning and practice. Teachers, as the main depositories of the curriculum, play a key role in reaching this goal.

Some of the factors militating against women’s educational empowerment include, but are not limited to: poverty; sexual abuse/ harassment and rape, which prevent some parents from sending their female children to school; child prostitution; insufficient infrastructure; gender-unfriendly school environment and curricula; gender stereotypes and preference in sending boys to school than girls; workload of the girl child; early marriages/pregnancies; high rate of drop out among girls, especially at secondary and tertiary institutions and lack of gender parity; and lack of policy and monitoring mechanisms. In consideration of some of these the protocol addresses the issue of sexual harassment and the need to introduce human rights education in schools and at the same time make counseling available to students.

The attacks or assaults on female education are manifestations of the same desire to mute the voice of women. The field of science and technology remains almost solely a man’s domain and the very few women that have ‘dared’ to venture there and have done well are seen as the exception rather than the rule. Gone are the days when women and girls are only trained in cooking, embroidery, home economics, etc

An educational system that is designed to subordinate and invalidate women’s experiences vis-à-vis the terrible illiteracy in which so many of our sisters are kept is not just the consequences of poverty, over- work and discrimination within the family, and by extension, the society, but it is also a social mechanism designed to ensure female acquiescence and deny women a public voice, or even a private one for that matter. Education is a powerful tool for empowerment and non-conformity, but ironically, the economic and social development of countries around the world is hampered by shortages of skilled men and women and confounded by widespread ignorance and indifference. If the capacity of people to shape and improve their own lives is the measure of development then educational empowerment of women is a necessary condition as well as a human right.

Achieving gender equality requires specific measures that go beyond the equal treatment of women and men. Such measures must address the politics, laws, procedures, norms, beliefs, practices and attitudes that maintain gender equality. Women must have the capacity to make informed choices about their lives. Efforts to achieve equality between women and men that use a ‘one size fits all’ approach may not take into account the discrimination existing in the past. Fathers, husbands and even brothers may also suppress the potentials of their daughters, wives and sisters because they do not wish them to have an independent identity. It will also be necessary to involve gender-sensitive men in the campaign in order to make a good headway.

Though there has been a great breakthrough in the matter of gender equality, a lot still needs to be done. Discrimination against women continues and practices subordinating women to men and considering girls lower to boys remain in force. The domestication of international, regional and national instruments on women and girls’ rights and the enforcement of existing legislation remain low. Women and girls’ access to justice systems is limited by legal illiteracy, lack of resources and gender insensitivity and bias of law enforcement agents. Violence against women and girls, including rape and domestic violence is rampant, particularly in conflict zones. Some traditional and cultural practices continue to inhibit progress in promoting women and girls’ human rights. In some countries, women are denied equal rights to inherit property, while in others several sources of laws continue to govern their lives and restrict the enjoyment of their rights.

The question to ask is, where are we going and how do we get there? It is an enormous task because when we zero in on women we are confronted by a plight so grim it can break our hearts. We should not be bought over by the gullibility of the larger society that thinks that if the government can just pass the right laws then women will become equal. It is not enough that the government passes a law that says all forms of discrimination against women should be eliminated [Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, Article 12(1a.)] and then women and men are automatically equal. It is naïve to think that just the passing of laws will help women. It has to be backed by action.

Deep and sustainable transformations require a strategic and political vision to the highest level and that is why the protocol has resolved to achieve necessary cultural and institutional transformation in the educational system. One of the initiatives to be taken on the part of the states is the introduction of human rights education in the educational curricula as stated in the protocol.

One of the measures that could be taken to address gender imbalances in education is for countries to institute and strengthen affirmative action measures including scholarships at all levels for female students, distance and non-formal education and literacy programmes for women and girls especially in the sciences and technically oriented disciplines.

Successful strategies for improving girls’ access to and retention in education should be scaled up. The content and culture of schooling should not discriminate against women and girls. One way to bring this about is curriculum reform, gender training for teachers and other people working in the field of curriculum development and for girls and boys generally. This should also include gender-focussed programmes for girls and boys.

A web does not move if you pull only one strand; that way all you do is break it. There is a need to adopt a participatory and multi-disciplinary approach to policy development by involving NGOs, teachers associations and unions, professional and research bodies, and other stakeholders in the preparation of educational policy texts, promoting a human rights based approach to school, governance, management, discipline procedures and other regulations and practices affecting the school culture and access to education.

Human rights education implies changes in the whole educational system. Policy statements and verbal commitments alone are not enough to ensure educational changes. Implementation of the policy should therefore not lie with the Ministries of Education alone, but should involve other stakeholders. There is a political will by government to get girls into schools and bursaries for girls, but more needs to be done in this direction.

In conclusion, some schools already have human rights based clubs; this should be encouraged, while schools that don’t have them should be encouraged to introduce them. In addition, increasing campaigns for girls’ enrolment for science based subjects, reviewing of the school curricular and text books to portray gender sensitive issues and language, providing adult education to older women, increasing the budget for education by government – these are all actions that would take things in the right direction. Human rights education should start at childhood.

* Roselynn Musa works for The African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) in Kenya and has been involved with the Solidarity on African Women’s Rights, a coalition of women’s organizations working to ratify and domesticate the Protocol on African Women’s Rights.

* Please send comments to [email protected]

The U.N. Population Fund so far this year has invested $659,798 on HIV/AIDS prevention efforts in Zambia and plans to spend an additional $100,000 by the end of 2005, Deji Popoola, the agency's country representative, said on Monday during a press briefing, the Times of Zambia reports. Popoola said most of UNFPA's prevention efforts target women and young people with low socio-economic status. According to Popoola, HIV/AIDS has led to an increase in the number of pregnancy-related deaths in Zambia because the disease lowers the immunity of pregnant women, making them more susceptible to infections, Xinhuanet reports.

The successful candidate for this job will:
Accompany the Executive Director in establishing a SWAN head office and five regional offices in Southern Sudan, assist the core implementation team to establish procedures and implement prioritized activities in the Strategic Plan in a specified time frame, mount a marketing strategy for resource acquisition and effective utilization, ensure that SWAN's connection to the international communication network is up to date and functioning, develop and implement appropriate lobbying and advocacy strategies to ensure that all stakeholders easily understand the objectives of the new SWAN, ensure that the new structures are flexible and running smoothly and that agreed-on goals are realized, document the process of the new phase in the history of SWAN for the contract period.

WOUGNET wishes to recruit suitably qualified and experienced individuals for the posts of Content Moderators (2) and of English-French Translators (2). The content moderators and translators will work on a six-month e-discussion: "Strengthening rural women's networks with regards to information and communication, and to combat HIV/AIDS in rural areas."

While Zimbabwe grapples with a major economic crisis young and energetic Zimbabwean girls have come together to courageously fight a silent war raging in their communities: the war on sexual abuse. With no special regalia or artillery, the girls are armed simply with their melodic high-pitched voices. Their combined musical talents recently produced the music album: Wake Up Girls – Child Sexual Abuse: Lets develop a culture of prevention. The album is inspired by Betty Hazviperi Makoni, the Founder and Director on the Girl Child Network (GCN) an organisation that promotes the rights of the girl child in Zimbabwe.

The news that The Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa had been ratified last week by Togo set about a frenzy of press releases and congratulatory emails! Now that Togo has signed, the Protocol will come into force 30 days from October 26. Pambazuka News received the following messages (please follow the link to read the full statements):

Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR), a coalition of groups across Africa campaigning for the popularization, ratification and domestication of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, welcomes the 15th ratification by Togo of the Protocol on 26 October

Warmest congratulations on your tireless work towards making these ratifications a reality, from the Global Fund for Women.

Amnesty International welcomes the entry into force of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Protocol) as an important step in the efforts to ensure the promotion and respect of the human rights of women in Africa.

Congratulations to African women and thanks to the first 15 countries which have ratified the Protocol, from Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF)

How does change happen? The 10th Association of Women In Development (AWID) International Forum on Women's Rights and Development posed this question at their forum, which was held October 27-30 in Bangkok, Thailand. Each report or blog from the forum gave a real sense of the excitement and momentum that was built up over the four days, with women from across the globe meeting together to discuss and share. Below you will find a list of the articles, and by following the link you will find the updates that were sent out daily via the AWID newsletter during the Forum. Enjoy!

1) Plenary Report from the first day of the AWID Forum
Rochelle Jones
2) Forum BLOG
Kathambi Kinoti documents the feelings of the first day...
3) Plenary Report from Day Two of the Forum
Kathambi Kinoti
4) Forum Interstices: whispers and smiles.
On the second day of the AWID ForumRochelle Jones attempts to translate inspiration into words.
5) How Should we Change? Plenary Report from Day Three of the Forum
By Kathambi Kinoti
6) Where is the Money for Women's Rights?
AWID Launches its groundbreaking report at the Funders' Forum
By Rochelle Jones
7) How Does Change Happen - A Wrap Up
Plenary Report from Day Four of the Forum
By Kathambi Kinoti
8) Chaotic equilibrium…
By Rochelle Jones

As a part of the coalition supporting the ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, Pambazuka News is profiling various aspects of the Protocol in weekly features included in the Women and Gender section of the newsletter. This week we will look at female soldiers, and the issues around the topic faced by the African continent. This is what the protocol states:

Article 11 – Protection of Women in Armed Conflicts

“States Parties shall take all necessary measures to ensure that no child, especially girls under 18 years of age, take a direct part in hostilities and that no child is recruited as a soldier.”

Further, many of the Protocol’s articles address women in conflict. The call for the integration of a gender perspective in decision-making, the enactment and enforcement of laws against physical and sexual violence, the right to peace as well as participation in the promotion and maintenance of peace – these are just a few of the provisions made for women that could be engaged in times of conflict.
While no specific policies exist with relation to women’s involvement in military operations, other policies surrounding child, and specifically girl soldiers, include the UN’s 2002 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. It calls for the abolishment of the use of children under the age of 18 in conflict, while also raising the age of compulsory recruitment and direct participation in war to 18.

Women and children in Africa are being recruited or kidnapped by armies as porters, domestic laborers, captive wives and soldiers. If not explicitly taken by force, many of these children and women “voluntarily” join up because they can be assured shelter, clothing and food – resources they may not have access to in the conditions of civil war and conflict. Sierra Leone, Uganda, the DRC and many other nations are just some of the places where mostly non-governmental military groups are exploiting women and children in times of war. Most have experienced or witnessed physical violence, mutilation, sexual abuse, trafficking, forced displacement, destruction of homes, massacres and separation from families and communities. Many girls and women are raped, which in turn leads to pregnancy and high numbers of diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Further, the reliance on and socialisation of these young women to the military leaves many unable to think or act independently once they are released. Schooling and training needs are not met, and upon their release most have few options.

The challenges that face female soldiers upon reintegration are complex and difficult. The trauma of what they have experienced during war does not make it easy for women to return to the lives they once knew. Having transgressed normal or expected gender boundaries and traditional roles, it is often the case that these women are marginalized and ostracized once they return to their communities. If the women have been raped and have subsequently borne children, they are generally even less accepted. Finding it difficult to return to their expected ways of living, many women run the risk of losing their husbands and struggle to raise children, care for other relatives and earn a living. Many conceal their past, if this is possible, but then suffer alone.

Researched and written by Karoline Kemp, a Commonwealth of Learning Young Professional Intern with Fahamu.

Further Reading:

Reintegration of Female Soldiers - http://www.peacewomen.org/resources/DDR/AfricaBarth.html

Previous Articles:

Female Genital Mutilation - http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=30050

Trafficking in Women and Children - http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=29740

Female Refugees - http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=29873

Africa has experienced many protracted intra-state wars where violence against women has been used as a weapon of war. This article seeks to highlight the case of refugee and internally displaced women in Africa and argues that their protection is not only a rights issue, but given the role women can play in state reform and peace processes, the protection of women is essential to Africa’s development and on a broader scale, global security. While there are fewer conflicts than previous 5 years, Africa still faces many challenges, some related to the aftermath of conflicts: more directly related to conflict are the huge numbers of refugees - 30% of the global refugee population and internally displaced persons (IDPs) of 13 million. The majority (75 - 80%) of these groups are women and their children and grandchildren and are therefore vulnerable to what have become common atrocities and abuse.

The International Rescue Committee currently seeks a GBV Program Coordinator for its program in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The GBV Program Coordinator is responsible for the on-going evolution, improvement and implementation of the overall IRC DRC strategy in the prevention and mitigation of GBV.

UNIFEM has established a programme for Sudan. The programme is guided by the global and Africa Multi-Year Funding Frameworks for 2004-2007. It is implemented within the context of the ''one country two systems'' approach for Sudan. A Programme Manager in Khartoum will be recruited to support the implementation of the programme. He/She will coordinate UNIFEM's work with the Government of National Unity, with specific implementation of programme in the north, as well as special initiatives in Darfur.

A consultation will take place in Kigali, Rwanda, from 31 October to 2 November 2005 to identify ways to integrate gender concerns into demobilization and reintegration programmes in the African Great Lakes Region. The meeting is being co-organized by UNIFEM and the Secretariat of the World Bank's Multi-Country Demobilization and Reintegration Program (MDRP).

Edited by Rawwida Baksh, Linda Etchart, Elsie Onubogu and Tina Johnson, this book argues that gender equality needs to be placed on the policy and programme agenda of the entire spectrum of peace and conflict-related initiatives and activities in order to achieve conflict resolution. It is designed as an advocacy, capacity-building and advocacy tool to contribute to gender mainstreaming in all processes of conflict transformation and in building sustainable peace. Divided into two parts, it first provides a gender analysis of conflict in the Commonwealth and globally and then documents national and regional case study experiences.

Following the interest shown in the recent 'language and gender' issue of SALALS (Volume 20/3, 2002), a team of colleagues from the University of KwaZulu-Natal will be producing a follow-up volume, to be published in 2006. This is within the context of an NRF-funded research project on language, gender and equity in South Africa, currently running at UKZN. This team project has three main sections: expanded language resources of multilingual contexts and its use to construct shifting gender identities; masculinities and femininities in relation to language usage in schools; gender aspects of South Africa's indigenous languages (with a focus on issues of heritage and culture).

As we went to press, news came through that the requisite 15 countries have ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, and the Protocol enters into force in 30 days.

The following press release was issued today by Solidarity for African Women's Rights.

VICTORY FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN AFRICA
AFRICAN PROTOCOL ON RIGHTS OF WOMEN ENTERS INTO FORCE

Nairobi, Kenya -- Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR), a coalition of groups across Africa campaigning for the popularization, ratification and domestication of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, welcomes the 15th ratification by Togo of the Protocol on 26 October. The Protocol will now come into force within 30 days, marking a milestone in the protection and promotion of women’s rights in Africa and creating new rights for women in terms of international standards.

The other countries that have ratified the Protocol are Cape Verde, The Comoros, Djibouti, The Gambia, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Benin.

For the first time in international law, this groundbreaking Protocol explicitly sets forth the reproductive right of women to medical abortion when pregnancy results from rape or incest or when the continuation of pregnancy endangers the health or life of the mother. In another first, the Protocol explicitly calls for the legal prohibition of female genital mutilation, and prohibits the abuse of women in advertising and pornography. The Protocol sets forth a broad range of economic and social welfare rights for women. The rights of particularly vulnerable groups of women, including widows, elderly women, disabled women and “women in distress,” which includes poor women, women from marginalized populations groups, and pregnant or nursing women in detention are specifically recognized.
“The 19 national, regional and international organizations of SOAWR have been working tirelessly since July 2003 when the Protocol was adopted for ratification,” said Muthoni Wanyeki of FEMNET, a coalition member. “This moment is a testament to their work and the work of other civil society groups working across Africa for ratification.” The coalition delivered to heads of state a petition for which signatures were collected from across Africa by pen, email, online and by text messaging (SMS) from people encouraging their governments to ratify the Protocol. “To our knowledge, this is the first time that SMS technologies were used on a mass scale on the African continent in support of human rights,” said Firoze Manji of Fahamu, the SOAWR member that developed the technique.

“The protocol should not be viewed in isolation,” added Hannah Forster of the African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies. “It would be prudent to approach its domestication and implementation in consonance with other relevant international instruments.” Added Gladys Mutukwa of coalition-member WiLDAF, “There are 38 member states of the African Union that have not yet ratified the Protocol. Our work will not end until they too show their commitment to women’s rights in Africa and become party to the Protocol.”

“The coming into effect of the Protocol is just the first step in securing the protection of the human rights of African women,” explained Faiza Jama Mohamed of Equality Now, another coalition member. “However our task remains incomplete until state parties exercise the political will to protect, promote and respect these rights.”

For more information contact:
Equality Now – SOAWR Secretariat
Tel +254-20-2719832; +254-722-805539
Fax.+254-20-2719868
Email: [email protected]
www.equalitynow.org

The implementation of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa will inevitably involve legal strategies. Prior even to its legal implementation, however, is the requirement that the treaty be broadly known by all spheres of society.

In regards to legal strategies, one of the most primary conditions for its implementation will be the harmonisation of national legislation with the treaty. By signing on to the Protocol, countries are bound to the African Charter, and must adopt specific legal measures. The initiative to harmonize the protocol should come from the state, but in the case that the government is slow to respond, there is nothing stopping civil society organizations from taking the lead. While there is no single model for procedural steps to harmonization, a potentially useful tool would be the organization of a convention.

Calling together all those parties interested in the implementation – senior staff from appropriate ministries, magistrates, advocates, police staff, parliamentarians, professors, researchers, women’s rights activists and the media – the end goal could potentially be a draft implementation law. Not only could this involve the key players, but it could also act as a source of information dissemination if given adequate media coverage. Leading up to the ratification and consequent implementation, however, women’s rights activists in Africa should be prepared for close cooperation with the political and administrative structures concerned, and should also be familiar with the processes and methods by which their work is done.

Under the African Charter, there is a requirement for member states to present, every two years, to the African Commission on the status of implementation of newly ratified protocols. Reviews of these reports are carried out not only by the African Commission, but also by NGOs, specifically those that have observer status at the regional body. Areas of concern can be identified and recommendations can thus be made.

Litigation is perhaps the most delicate strategy in the implementation of the Protocol, as it has the capacity to work both for and against women’s rights, especially in the climate of the African Commission, which has, after sixteen years of existence, never examined a case relating to a women’s rights violation. “The effectiveness of women’s rights protection will pass by the establishment of strategic litigation but which require, at national level, that certain conditions be satisfied regarding environment and the attitude of the judge on the one hand, and, on the other hand, vigorous training of human rights activists (men and women) and of those responsible for human rights organisations on the issue.” Modules related to the training of magistrates and human rights activists will be necessary, as will the need to ensure the regular publication and popularization of the convention’s ratification.

The ratification of the Protocol is simply the first step in a difficult and lengthy process, and will mean nothing without its proper and prompt implementation. To quote the report’s conclusion at length: ““Do not ask me if the legislation of a given country is good. Rather ask me if the laws in force are applied”. This saying must be . . . the leitmotif of all those who fight for the effective respect of women’s rights in Africa. Now that we have at our disposal one of the most revolutionary treaties regarding the protection of women’s rights, our fight must be to do everything possible so that it may start being implemented in the states, which have ratified it. It is at that cost that human rights will be actually the rights of “human beings” that is, “those assumptions that every human being has the right to enjoy the fact of their humanity” and that they will contribute to creating a united, an integrated, a justice – oriented Africa, an Africa of peace, of political, economic, social and cultural integration, which gives back to Panafricanism its full meaning” and composed of “democratic states that are respectful of human rights and ones concerned by the building of balanced societies.””

* This is a summarised version of a paper presented at a conference on the Ratification and Domestication of The African Union Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on Rights of Women in Africa. The conference, held between 27-30 September in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was co-convened by the African Union Commission and the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights Coalition (SOAWR). The full length versions of all papers presented at the conference will be released in book form in January 2006.

* Summarized by Karoline Kemp, Commonwealth of Learning Young Professionals Intern, Fahamu

* Please send comments to [email protected]