Women representatives from Africa's Great Lakes region have urged their heads of state and government to implement an affirmative-action policy to ensure that half of all members of decision-making bodies are women, as set out by the African Union (AU), at all decision-making levels. This was included in a 15-point declaration the representatives made on Saturday in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, at the end of a three-day women's regional meeting.

Puberty can have a severe effect on girls' performance and attendance in upper primary schools in Uganda. In many schools, girls are absent for an average of three to five days a month because they do not have access to adequate protection such as sanitary towels or pads. For some subjects, the result of such regular absenteeism can be devastating as girls miss out on vital stages of the syllabus, resulting in gaps in the learning stages, which they find hard to catch up on later.

Awarded by the Women's World Summit Foundation (WWSF) - an international NGO for the empowerment of women and children - the Prize (US$500 each) honours creative and courageous women and women's groups around the world for their contributions to improving the quality of life in rural communities. Deadline: 1 March 2005

The Ugandan Health Ministry is to start distributing free insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) to children under five years and pregnant women in two million households in an effort to fight malaria which kills between 70,000 to 100,000 people annually. The ministry's programme manager for malaria control, said the US $6 million that will be used in the exercise was secured from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and would buy an estimated 4.5 million ITNs in order to reduce the extent of malaria infestation in the country.

This report features the following articles: "Gender Mainstreaming The Peace-Building Process" by Kari Karamé; "Gender, International Legal Framework And Peace-Building" by Christine Chinkin; "Involving Women In Peace Processes: Lessons From Four African Countries (Burundi, DRC, Liberia And Sierra Leone)" by Nadine Puechguirbal; and "Men, Masculinities And Peacekeeping In Sub-Saharan Africa" by Paul R. Higate. To view the Training for Peace Programme website, visit: http://www.trainingforpeace.org/

Dramatic changes brought about by ICTs have created new economic and social opportunities the world over. Their use, however, continues to be governed by existing power relations. Amidst this inequality are individuals and organisations that are working tirelessly to use these technologies to further gender equality and social justice. The report argues that far-reaching changes towards gender equality and women’s empowerment in the ICT arena are needed at every level ( international, national and programme). Engendering ICTs is not merely about greater use of ICTs by women. It is about transforming the ICT system.

Many of Africa's women are trapped in a vicious circle of poverty and environmental destruction. Where will we be in 2015? This week, BBC Africa Live head to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, from where it asked: Why do women damage the environment? And what are women doing to help save the planet? Do women hold the answer to Africa's environmental problems? The debate took place on Wednesday 6 October at 1630 GMT and 1830 GMT, responses and comments can be read online.

Closing date: 20 October 2004
The SGBV Co-ordinator will assist project staff to fulfil the SGBV objectives working closely with key stakeholders. This person requires a strong grounding in the issues surrounding SGBV and previous experience of implementing a programme such as this, preferably in North/East Africa.

Gallaudet University and Howard University will sponsor an international conference on Deaf Women and HIV/AIDS in Africa on June 10-12, 2005 at the Gallaudet University Kellogg Center to increase awareness of the importance of reaching all segments of the African population in the fight against HIV/AIDS. A Call for Proposals has been issued with a deadline of December 10, 2005. Individuals will be notified of their acceptance by February 11, 2005.

Women, Peace and Security month has arrived! Here is a sampling of the events being organized for the 4th anniversary of Resolution 1325. PeaceWomen has developed an October events calendar on the website. As events are finalized, and new events organized, PeaceWomen will update the online calendar. There are currently three major events scheduled including one in Stockholm, Sweden and two at the United Nations.

From September 12-14, 2004, over 160 people from the Southern Africa region and several observers from around the world, participated in the first Southern African Gender and Media Awards and Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. For the Summit Report, up-to-date stories on Women and Gender in Africa and for Country Reports, please refer to the Gender Links website.

British Royal Military Police Special Investigations Branch and Kenyan police have been looking into 650 allegations by hundreds of Samburu and Masai women that they were raped, dating from the 1980s and 90s . The body of Mantoi Kaunda, who was 16 when she was allegedly raped and killed by British soldiers, has been exhumed by forensic experts for further investigation.

Tens of thousands of Rwandan women were raped during the genocide and in the decade since, but only a few perpetrators of sexual violence have been prosecuted. In a new report, "Struggling to Survive: Barriers to Justice for Rape Victims in Rwanda," Human Rights Watch investigates the persistent weaknesses in the Rwandan legal system that hamper the investigation and prosecution of sexual violence. The report also documents the desperate health and economic situation of rape survivors. The full report is available at: http://hrw.org/reports/2004/rwanda0904/

The international conference Women Defending Peace will be held on 22-24 November 2004 in Geneva, Switzerland. As a follow-up to the Sharm El Sheikh conference Women for Peace, Dialogue for Action’ held on 21-22 September 2002, the 2004 conference will bring together a prominent group of women and men who have dedicated much of their work to enhancing peace.

The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, hereafter referred to as the Charter, recognizes the importance of women's rights through three main provisions. Article 18(3), covering the protection of the family, promises to ensure the elimination of all discrimination against women and also ensure protection of the rights of women. Article 2, the non-discrimination clause, provides that the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Charter shall be enjoyed by all irrespective of race, ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social origin, fortune, birth or other status. And Article 3, the equal protection clause, states that every individual shall be equal before the law and shall be entitled to the equal protection of the law.

However, the above provisions are not adequate to address the rights of women. For example, while Article 18 prohibits discrimination against women, it does so only in the context of the family. In addition, explicit provisions guaranteeing the right of consent to marriage and equality of spouses during and after marriage are absent. These omissions are compounded by the fact that the Charter places emphasis on traditional African values and traditions without addressing concerns that many customary practices, such as female genital mutilation, forced marriage, and wife inheritance, can be harmful or life threatening to women. By ignoring critical issues such as custom and marriage, the Charter inadequately defends women's human rights.

The World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna, Austria in 1993 made advances to human rights theory and practice with respect to women's human rights. The Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference on Human Rights at Vienna emphasized, "The human rights of women and of the girl child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of the universal human rights".

It also emphasized that elimination of violence against women is a human-rights obligation upon states. This was the first attempt to address the marginalisation of women's human rights from the work of the mainstream human rights. Thus the slogan that emerged from Vienna: women's rights are human rights. Following almost directly on from Vienna, it was imperative for the African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) to expose the specific inequalities that impact negatively on the lives of women and thereby acknowledge that "women's rights as human rights must be respected and observed".

The Process of Developing the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. Article 66 of the Charter that provides for the establishment of Protocols and Agreements to supplement its provisions gave impetus for the consideration and subsequent formulation of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, hereinafter referred to as the Protocol. The process started with a meeting organised by Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF)[i] on the theme "The African Charter on Human and People's Rights and the Human Rights of Women in Africa" in March 1995 in Lome, Togo. The meeting called for the development of a Protocol to the Charter on Women's Rights. The meeting also called on the ACHPR to appoint a Special Rapporteur on Women's Rights in Africa.

The Assembly of Heads of States and Government of the Organisation of Africa Unity (OAU) at its 31st Ordinary Session in June 1995, in Addis Ababa, mandated the ACHPR to elaborate a Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa[ii] . The first Draft was prepared by the experts group meeting organised by the ACHPR and the International Commission of Jurist (ICJ) in Nouakchott, Mauritania, April 1997. The experts comprising of members of the ACHPR, representatives of African NGOs and international observers prepared the first Draft Protocol that was submitted to the ACHPR during its 22nd Session held in October 1997 for consideration and comments. The draft was also circulated to NGOs for comments.

The 12th ICJ workshop on "Participation in the African Commission on Human and People's Rights", October 30 to November 1, 1997, in The Gambia, provided the opportunity for NGOs to make input into the Draft Protocol and pass a resolution calling upon the ACHPR to ensure the completion of the Draft Protocol in time for presentation to the next session of the ACHPR.

The First Meeting of the Working Group on Women's Rights that brought together members of the ACHPR, the ICJ, WiLDAF and the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) was held in Banjul, The Gambia from 26-28 January 1998. The meeting amended the Draft Protocol and developed the terms of reference for the appointment of a Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa. During its 23rd Session held in April 1998, the ACHPR endorsed the appointment of the first Special Rapporteur on Women Rights in Africa with a mandate that included working towards the adoption of the Draft Protocol on Women's Rights. The ACHPR forwarded the Draft Protocol to the OAU Secretariat in 1999. The Inter Africa Committee (IAC) and ACHPR met to merge the Draft Convention on Traditional Practices with the Draft Protocol in 2000, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The first OAU Government Experts Meeting on The Draft Protocol was held in November 2001, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The experts amended the Draft Protocol developed by the ACHPR and called on the OAU to schedule a second AU experts meeting in 2002 to consider the draft again before the hosting of an OAU ministerial meeting on the same issue. African women's organisations participated in the meeting as observers. The OAU scheduled the second experts meeting and ministerial meeting two times in 2002 but had to postpone them due to lack of quorum. Thus the Draft was not presented for adoption by the inaugural Summit of the African Union (AU) held in Durban, South Africa in July 2002 and it seemed that there was little political will among African governments to move this process forward.

In January 2003, African women's organisations from across the continent met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at a meeting convened by Equality Now, FEMNET and the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) to come up with strategies to lobby the AU and individual governments to schedule and attend the expert and ministerial meetings on the Draft Protocol. Represented at the meeting were ACDHR, Akina Mama Wa Africa, the Association of Malian Women Lawyers (AJM), the Association of Senegalese lawyers (AJS), Equality Now, EWLA, Femmes Afrique Solidarite (FAS), FEMNET, WiLDAF, and WRAPA. These organisations pooled comments in a collective mark-up to strengthen the document and bring it into line with international standards. Following the meeting they met with officials of the AU, including the then Acting Commissioner for Peace and Security, who was in charge of the Protocol, and urged him to call for the second experts and ministerial meetings on the Protocol in March 2003 in an effort to ensure that the Draft Protocol was adopted by the AU Summit in July 2003. The organisations further lobbied ministries of Justice and Gender at national level through their networks to confirm their participation to ensure the AU obtained the required quorum.

The Second AU Experts Meeting followed by the Ministerial Meeting on the Draft Protocol was held in March 2003, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The meetings amended and adopted the Draft Protocol and recommended it for adoption by the Executive Council and Assembly of the AU. But this was only after African women's organisations attended the meetings as observers and lobbied the experts and ministers to strengthen the Draft Protocol to the level of regional and international human rights agreements on women. The Second Ordinary Summit of the AU adopted the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa on July 11 2003 in Maputo Mozambique[iii] . The Assembly appealed to all member states to sign and ratify the Protocol in order to ensure its speedy entry into force. The Protocol will enter into force thirty days after the deposit of the fifteenth instrument of ratification. The Protocol will complement the African Charter in ensuring the promotion and protection of the human rights of women in Africa.

Content and meaning for women in Africa
Mainstream international human rights standards are defined in relation to men's experience, and stated in terms of discrete violations of rights in the public realm whereas most violations of women's human rights occur in private. The private/public dichotomy that is detrimental to women continues to exist. In most African countries, the same constitutional provisions that guarantee gender equality allow exceptions in the so-called "private law" areas of customary law, personal law and family law. Serious violations of women's human rights such as violence against women and provisions that discriminate against them are found in that private sphere.

Human rights guarantees in the legally binding human rights conventions such as those to the right of life, to bodily integrity, and to be free from torture, cruel and degrading treatment, have not been interpreted to include such acts as domestic violence, rape, female genital mutilation, forced sterilisation, forced childbirth, and numerous other forms in which violence against women and girls is manifested in Africa.

Provisions on women's human rights in the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action have not involved a conceptual shift or effected structural changes needed to implement their resolutions. The Protocol[iv] primarily complements the African Charter and international human rights conventions by focusing on concrete actions and goals to grant women rights. It further domesticates CEDAW and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in the African context.

The Protocol is divided into three sections. The first section covers the rationale behind its elaboration, making reference to both regional and international commitments regarding women's human rights. The second section outlines the rights to be upheld by the Protocol. And the third and final section covers implementation by addressing the manner in which it is to be adopted and monitored, as well as the process through which it may be amended. The Protocol affirms four broad categories of rights: civil and political rights; economic, social and cultural rights; the rights to development and peace; and reproductive and sexual rights.

Status of Ratification
Almost a year after its adoption, only four member states of the AU, The Comoros, Rwanda, Libya and Namibia have signed and ratified it. Thirty-one member states have signed but are yet to ratify it as of July 19, 2004[v] . 12 more countries must ratify it in order for the Protocol to come into force. Its entry into force is critical because it will commit governments to:
- Submit periodic reports to the ACHPR on legislative and other measures they have undertaken to ensure the full realisation of rights recognised under the Protocol;
- Integrate a gender perspective in their policy decisions, legislation, development plans and activities and ensure the overall well-being of women;
- Include in their national constitutions and other legislative instruments fundamental principles of the Protocol and ensure their effective implementation;
- Eliminate all forms of violence and discrimination against women in Africa and promote equality between men and women;

Advocacy Needs and Initiatives
Given the time and effort necessary to persuade governments to adopt this Protocol compared with the desperate urgency to promote, protect and safeguard women's human rights in Africa, African civil society organisations have to campaign and lobby governments to sign and ratify the Protocol as soon as possible and in any event, as a gesture of commitment, before the end of 2004.

Oxfam GB, Equality Now, FEMNET, CREDO for Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights and FAHAMU have started a campaign targeting countries that have already signed with the aim of lobbying them to ratify. They have drafted a petition to be presented to the AU. Kindly sign up at:

To supplement their efforts you could as an individual or organisation:
- Contact relevant government officials in ministries of foreign affairs, women's affairs, and justice and urge them to ratify the Protocol;
- Urge governments to be fully involved in the full realisation of the human rights of women, if they have not done so;
- Encourage government officials to include the issue of the Protocol in contacts with other governments and to state their positions publicly in the media or other events;
- Inform and increase public awareness about the Protocol by putting women's issues on the human rights agenda at various fora;
- Mobilise national and local support for the Protocol among academicians, parliamentarians, and the media;
- Work on creating a better and common understanding of issues as provided for in the Protocol;
- Support the organisation of local focal points on the Protocol to lobby and monitor government positions. The focal points will later be effective in the monitoring of implementation of the Protocol by governments;

Conclusion
The Protocol, once it enters into force, will usher in a new and significant era in the promotion and protection of the rights of women in Africa and end impunity for all forms of violations of the human rights of women in Africa. As Dr Angela Melo, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women, ACHPR notes:

"The women of Africa who have suffered for long, their efforts at building our beloved continent have gone on for long without acknowledgement, and the men of Africa should be equally committed to the task. The urgent need to work towards the ratification and effective implementation of the Protocol urgently is a great challenge, yet a duty we all owe to posterity and to Africa."[vi]

*Mary Wandia is the Advocacy Officer with The African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) E-mail: [email][email protected]
* This article was originally published in Pambazuka News Issue 159 in June 2003.

NOTES
i. www.africa-union.org/home/Welcome.htm
v. See full list of countries that have signed/ratified at www.africa-union.org/home/Welcome.htm
vi. Dr Angela Melo, Special Rapporteur on Women's Rights in Africa, ACHPR in a paper presented during FEMNET's Regional Strategy Meeting on Gender Mainstreaming in the African Union on the theme "From OAU to African Union and NEPAD: Strategies for African Women" October 27-31, Nairobi, Kenya.

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."
Article 1, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948

This article examines the emerging human rights issue of trafficking in humans, mainly women and children. In a protocol supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, trafficking has been defined as: "…the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.

Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practises similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."

Statistics about trafficking are unreliable for a number of reasons, including the clandestine nature of the activity. However, rough estimates suggest between 700,000 to 2 million women are trafficked across international borders annually. Adding domestic trafficking would bring the total much higher, to perhaps 4 million persons per year. Although slavery has been abolished from the world, the trade in human misery continues. Women are still considered property in some communities and may be sold into marriage. Men or women may be coerced into working in brothels, sweat shops, construction sites and fields. Many illegal immigrant workers may be subjected to sexual violence, horrific living conditions, threats against their families and dangerous workplaces. The majority of trafficked people are women and girls, most of who, according to experts, are sent from Africa and Eastern Europe for the sex trade in Western Europe. Thus, human trafficking is the fastest growing form of modern day slavery and our governments must play a concerted role to deal with it.

Although the problem is worldwide this paper will examine the problem as it affects Africa in particular.

The Dimensions of the Problem

Human trafficking has become a global business, generating huge profits for traffickers. New trafficking routes are regularly established and the market for fraudulent travel documents, clandestine transportation and border crossing has become increasingly well organised. Some victims are lured into subjugation by advertisements for good jobs. Others are sold into service by a relative, acquaintance or family friend. Traffickers target the most vulnerable and poor and may show up during a drought or before harvest, when food is scarce, to persuade poor families to sell their daughters for small amounts of money. According to a UNICEF study released in April 2004, about 80 percent of African countries researched, practice some form of human trafficking. The study also found that children were the most vulnerable to being exploited. Fifty-three countries were surveyed in this extensive research into the problem of human trafficking in Africa and analysis reported that although it was not possible to get reliable estimates on the actual number of people being trafficked, it continues to be a huge problem. The study found that in almost 89 percent of the cases, trafficking was conducted internally in Africa, meaning trafficking of women and children from African countries to African countries. The study also found that in 34 percent of the cases, there were cases of trafficking to Europe, and more interestingly, 26 percent of African countries were reporting trafficking directly to Middle Eastern and Arab countries. Trafficking is also increasing the HIV/AIDS scourge fuelled by the myth about curative powers of virginity of young girls. In some of the hardest hit countries, teenage girls are infected at five-to six times compared to that of teenage boys. Trafficking in children is a global problem affecting large numbers of children. Some estimates have as many as 1.2 million children being trafficked every year.[i] There is demand for trafficked children as cheap labour or for sexual exploitation. Children and their families are often unaware of the dangers of trafficking, believing that better employment and lives lie in other countries.

Root Causes and reasons for Trafficking in human beings

- Poverty and inequity are believed to be the root causes of trafficking;
- Conflict situations are a fertile environment for human trafficking;
- Gender discrimination within the family and the larger community, as well as a tolerance of violence against women and children, also come into play;
- Lack of appropriate legislation and political will to address the problem;
- Restrictive immigration policies;
- Globalisation of the sex industry; and
- The involvement of transnational organised crime networks is another causal factor.

The situation in Africa- A scan

In Africa, every country represents a different problem. Patterns of instability, oppression and discrimination may place women and children at greater risk, with social and cultural prejudices and the prevalence of gender violence presenting additional challenges to their effective protection from trafficking. The links between poverty, violence and trafficking have been compounded by the effects of HIV/AIDS. For many Africans trapped in the trade, it can be difficult to escape the clutches of traffickers. Often the victims' families boost their low income by tacitly cooperating with traffickers, which some see as the only option for leaving their countries and the accompanying problems. The only way out they have is to move, and since it is illegal in many instances to enter another border without proper authorisation, the only option they have is to go through trafficking patterns.

Trafficking is perceived as a particular problem among West and Central African countries, mainly because most of the countries in the region are origin countries.[ii] In West Africa, victims originating from war torn Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone, end up in Nigeria and Gabon, while individuals from countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, and Angola are taken to South Africa, one of the only countries with an anti trafficking programme. African governments have not ratified much in terms of international conventions. The laws are inadequate so that while traffickers are usually apprehended, they are rarely condemned. For example, in Benin there is no anti-trafficking law but the country does have decrees, issued in 1905 and 1920, which address international and transnational trafficking. A 1961 law addresses the movement of minors under the age of 18 across borders and a 1973 ordinance modified the penal code 'sur la traite des personnes et l'enlèvement des mineurs.' In Burkina Faso, trafficking is a serious problem due its geographical location at the centre of Africa. It has become a transit country that receives people from different parts of the continent. Burkina Faso subscribes to the definition of trafficking in the UN Trafficking Protocol. Cote D'ivoire is a country of destination, transit and origin. However, there is still no law expressly forbidding trafficking. Due to the political crisis in the country authorities have not been able to pay sufficient attention to human trafficking. Many African governments are yet to ratify the main international conventions outlawing the trade in humans. African countries need to increase efforts and work in close cooperation with one another to eradicate trafficking in humans. South Africa has become a major centre for the problem-simultaneously a destination, a trading point and a source of human sale. Human trafficking in South Africa is currently dealt with under a variety of laws such as those against kidnapping and prostitution, which government agencies say have proved inadequate in dealing with the crime. A new law to specifically criminalize trafficking for sexual purposes is currently being prepared for consideration by legislators. As recently as August 2004, Home Affairs Ministers from Southern African Countries meeting in Tanzania, ordered law enforcements in the region to intensify measures against human trafficking. The ministers also pledged to review legislation in their respective countries to ease the transfer of evidence for criminal prosecution of suspects.

UN and African Protocols

The United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime was adopted on 15 November 2000 by resolution A/RES/55/25 and came into force on 25 December 2003. Although the majority of African countries have signed the original protocol, (Transnational Organized Crime), those that have ratified it as of 18 September 2004 include, Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Gambia, Lesotho, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa but with reservations, and Tunisia. Countries such as Kenya, Malawi, Sudan, and Zimbabwe, to mention but a few have not even signed the Protocol. Out of fifty-three African countries, the figure is dismal indeed.

At the Africa level, African governments have their own Protocol on the Rights of Women that is in African Women's eyes, the most wide-ranging and woman-friendly protocol ever adopted by African governments. The Protocol guarantees a wide range of women's civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights, thus reaffirming the universality, indivisibility and interdependency of all internationally recognized human rights of women. These rights include the right to life, integrity and security of person, protection from harmful traditional practises, prohibition of discrimination and the protection of women in armed conflict. Moreover, the Protocol guarantees the right to health and reproductive rights of women; access to justices; equal protection before the law, and prohibits exploitation or degradation of women. In sum, the Protocol obligates state parties to integrate gender perspectives in their policy decisions, legislation, development plans and to ensure the overall well being of women. African governments have to push for the ratification of the Protocol by the end of 2004. So far, ratification of the Protocol which was made by the AU Assembly in 2003 at its 2nd Summit in Maputo, Mozambique is a far cry from the commitments to achieve a speedy and regional wide ratification and thus remains largely unfulfilled.

The Protocol is an important tool relevant to everyday lives of women and would enable women to bring their concerns to the attention of regional human rights bodies such as the African Court of Human and People's Rights.

From the above, it is noted with concern that governments in Africa are not giving the issue of trafficking in human beings the priority that it deserves. Now that the Protocol has been adopted, African governments should show their commitment to ending discrimination and violence against women and the issue of trafficking in women and children, (italics mine) by ensuring a speedy and full ratification to pave the way for a prompt entry into force of the instrument, and its effective implementation (Amnesty international).

It is strongly recommended that:

- Governments Ratify the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa without further delay and without reservations.
- Implement the protocol by reviewing all national laws, policies, practises and procedures to ensure that they meet the obligations set out in the Protocol. States parties should incorporate the rights enshrined in the Protocol into their domestic legislation and take all necessary measures to implement the instruments in good faith
- Ratify all other regional and international human rights instruments essential for the effective promotion and protection of women's human rights in Africa and examining any limiting reservations, with a view to withdrawing them. This is particularly important in the case of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, (CEDAW), where the commitment of many governments is seriously undermined by the extent of their reservations.
- Ensure the provision of specialised assistance for the support, rehabilitation and compensation for women whose rights have been violated under the Protocol;
- Train and sensitise judicial and police officials with regards to women's human rights recognised under the Protocol and other relevant instruments.
- Anti trafficking efforts across the continent must be strengthened by enacting tough laws and by punishing those responsible for trading in human beings.

If fully ratified and implemented, the Protocol on the Rights of Women could become an important framework for ending impunity for all attacks on human rights of women in Africa. The member states of the African Union made a commitment to sign and ratify the protocol by the end of 2004. We urge them to fully adhere to this commitment. It is not too late!!!!!

Marren Akatsa-Bukachi is Executive Director of Eastern African Subregional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI), Kampala, Uganda

NOTES
i. material from UNICEF
ii. Adapted from 'Patterns, root causes and policy responses to trafficking in women and children'. Africa;

The fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in September 1995 raised hopes of a substantial improvement in women's condition across the world and particularly in Africa. The Beijing Declaration and programme of action considered by the United Nations' Secretary General to be "one of the most remarkable documents ever produced by an intergovernmental conference [1] " commits States to taking concrete action in twelve priority areas in relation to women's autonomy. Ten years after Beijing and on the heels of the seventh regional conference at Addis Ababa, in evaluating the implementation of the platform of Action adopted there, where are we now? Have African women and girls really made remarkable gains in such essential areas as education, fundamental human rights, violence against women, their participation in decision making, health and the fight against poverty?

Notable progress but significant challenges remain in education

Education, a fundamental human right for women, is also a tool for transformation and an essential means of implementing egalitarian objectives, development and peace. In ten years of implementation of the Beijing platform, noticeable progress has been made in education and training for women and girls. Effort to bring about universal primary education for all, positive discrimination in favour of women's and girls' education and training in areas apparently reserved for men, and awareness-raising campaigns have had encouraging results. However, there are still major constraints on equal access to education form men and women. Cultural practices and stereotypes have a negative influence on access, maintenance and development of girls across the whole school curriculum. Credits allocated are usually insufficient, girls continue to be the object of sexual harassment in educational institutions, as is evidenced by the concept of "sexually transmitted marks" which persists under different appellations in several African countries. These are only a few of the challenges to be faced before women and girls enjoy full human rights in education and training.

For the complete article in English: Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=24944

DE BEIJING A ADDIS ABEBA : QUELS PROGRES POUR LES FEMMES AFRICAINES?

De Beijing à Addis Abéba : quels progrès pour les femmes africaines?

La tenue de la quatrième Conférence mondiale sur les femmes à Beijing en septembre1995 a nourri des espoirs pour une amélioration substantielle de la condition des femmes dans le monde et notamment en Afrique. En effet, la Déclaration et le programme d'action de Beijing considérés par le Secrétaire Général de l'Organisation des Nations-Unies comme " l'un des plus remarquables documents jamais produit par une Conférence intergouvernementale [1] " engagent les États à mener des actions concrètes dans douze domaines prioritaires en vue de l'autonomisation des femmes. Dix ans après Beijing, et à l'orée de la septième Conférence régionale d'Addis Abéba, devant évaluer la mise en ?uvre de la plateforme d'Action qui y a été adoptée, où en sommes nous? Les femmes et les filles africaines ont-elles vraiment acquis des gains remarquables dans des domaines aussi essentiels que l'éducation, les droits humains fondamentaux, la violence à l'égard des femmes, leur participation aux prises de décision, la santé et la lutte contre la pauvreté ?

Des progrès notoires qui laissent subsister cependant d'importants défis en matière d'éducation

L'éducation, droit humain fondamental des femmes, est aussi un outil de transformation et un moyen essentiel de réalisation des objectifs d'égalité, de développement et de paix. En dix ans de mise en ?uvre de la plate forme de Beijing, des progrès ont été remarqués en matière d'éducation et en formation des femmes et des filles. Les efforts pour concrétiser l'éducation universelle primaire pour tous, des actions de discrimination positive en faveur de l'éducation et de la formation des femmes dans des domaines qui semblaient être réservés aux hommes et des campagnes de sensibilisation ont permis d'obtenir des résultats encourageants. Cependant, on note toujours des contraintes majeures à une jouissance égale du droit à l'éducation par les hommes et les femmes. Les pratiques culturelles et les stéréotypes influent négativement sur l'accès, le maintien et l'évolution des filles tout au long du cursus scolaire. Les crédits alloués sont généralement insuffisants, les filles continuent d'être l'objet de harcèlement sexuel dans les établissements de formation comme en témoigne le concept de "notes sexuellement transmissibles" en vigueur sous des appellations différentes dans plusieurs pays africains. Ce ne sont là que quelques-uns uns des défis à relever pour que les femmes et les filles jouissent pleinement du droit fondamental à l'éducation et à la formation.

Aller vers une concrétisation des droits humains fondamentaux des femmes

La question des droits des femmes en Afrique a connu une évolution remarquable du point de vue du cadre juridique de référence. Les pays africains ont presque tous ratifié la Convention sur l'élimination de toutes les formes de discrimination à l'égard des femmes (CEDEF), instrument juridique de référence sur le plan mondial.

Sur le plan régional africain, la nomination d'une rapporteure spéciale sur les droits de la femme la première fois en 1998 par l'ancienne OUA sur proposition de la Commission africaine des droits de la femme a été perçue comme une opportunité à saisir afin qu'une plus grande attention soit accordée aux droits des femmes. Un protocole à la Charte Africaine des Droits de l'Homme et des Peuples relatif aux Droits de la Femme a été adopté en juillet 2003.

Au niveau national, la plupart des constitutions reconnaissent à tous les citoyens les mêmes droits humains fondamentaux sans discrimination basée sur le sexe. On a assisté ces dernières années à des réformes législatives visant globalement à reconnaître et à protéger les droits humains fondamentaux des femmes [2] . Des services d'aide juridique gratuits sont mis à la disposition des femmes dans tous les pays, des volontaires à l'éducation aux droits connus sous l'appellation de parajuristes ou juristes aux pieds nus font un travail de sensibilisation aux droits des femmes sur le terrain. Des actions de renforcement de capacité à l'endroit des acteurs chargés d'appliquer le droit sont initiées ici et là. Ces progrès sont appréciables.

Cependant, de nombreux obstacles doivent encore être surmontés en vue d'une jouissance effective de leurs droits par les femmes.

Plusieurs pays ont émis des réserves à la CEDEF. Le protocole relatif aux droits des femmes africaines attend de recevoir le nombre minimum de ratifications requises pour être applicable. Les difficultés actuelles rencontrées pour obtenir la ratification de cet instrument ne sont-elles pas le signe d'un manque de volonté politique des gouvernements? Ces derniers se sont engagés encore une fois en juillet 2004 à Addis Abéba à ratifier le protocole avant 2005. Le point sur cette question au terme de l'échéance qu'ils se sont fixés eux-mêmes nous édifiera définitivement sur l'existence d'une volonté politique de promouvoir les droits des femmes. Toujours au niveau régional, la première rapporteure spéciale sur les droits des femmes ainsi que celle dont le mandat est actuellement en cours se heurtent à des difficultés de moyens pour faire un travail consistant, susceptible de faire avancer les droits des femmes.

Au niveau des pays, beaucoup de lois faisant partie de l'arsenal juridique interne renferment toujours des dispositions qui constituent une véritable négation des droits fondamentaux des femmes : les codes des personnes et de la famille confèrent dans presque tous les pays africains le monopole du pouvoir de décision au mari chef de famille. L'instauration au Mali du devoir d'obéissance de la femme au mari illustre bien la non reconnaissance du pouvoir de décision à la femme au sein du foyer dans la plupart des législations africaines. Au Togo, la loi donne au mari la possibilité de s'opposer à l'exercice d'une profession séparée par la femme. Dans le même pays comme dans bien d'autres, les successions coutumières légalisées par le code des personnes et de la famille excluent les femmes de l'accès aux biens successoraux. Au Sénégal, au Mali, c'est toujours une disposition légale qui autorise l'application des successions musulmanes qui n'accordent aux femmes que la moitié de la part de leur collatéral homme dans la succession de leur ascendant. Les dispositions en vigueur dans les relations de travail interdisent parfois l'accès des femmes à certains emplois dans plusieurs pays ou soumettent la titularisation des femmes stagiaires à la production d'un certificat médical attestant qu'elles ne sont pas enceintes.

À ces dispositions discriminatoires s'ajoutent les vides juridiques qui ne permettent pas de protéger les femmes face aux nouvelles formes de violations de droits.

Enfin, dans la pratique, les femmes africaines continuent de subir de nombreuses violations des droits qui leur sont pourtant reconnus. Dans beaucoup de pays, elles n'ont pas le même accès à la justice que les hommes.

Les causes de ces nombreuses violations de droits des femmes sont multiples et complexes. Il y a bien sûr l'ignorance des lois et de leurs droits par les femmes, mais aussi par les hommes et les différentes composantes de la société. Cette ignorance est aggravée chez les femmes par leur situation d'analphabétisme. La pauvreté de ces dernières est un facteur favorisant la violation de droits. Il y a aussi le rôle négatif que jouent un certain nombre d'acteurs judiciaires et extrajudiciaires (magistrats, avocats, médecins, police judiciaire, chefs traditionnels et religieux) intervenant dans le règlement informel ou formel des conflits. Alors que leur mandat les prédestine naturellement à ?uvrer pour la protection des droits des individus, l'observation a montré qu'ils contribuent dans bien des cas aux violations de droits des femmes [3] . Le Rapport Mondial sur le Développement Humain 2002 confirme ce constat dans un encadré sur le partis pris contre les femmes et les procédures judiciaires [4] .

Deux autres paramètres sont déterminants dans le peu de progrès enregistrés sur le plan de l'effectivité des droits des femmes. Il s'agit du manque de volonté politique des Etats qui, malgré leurs engagements, ne montrent que peu de détermination dans la plupart des pays à poser des actes concrets mais aussi de l'influence du fondamentalisme religieux.

Pour aller de l'avant il est pourtant indispensable que des pas importants soient franchis à l'avenir vers une concrétisation de ces droits.

La participation aux prises de décisions publiques : un droit encore théorique?

Un pas important a été franchi dans la représentation parlementaire des femmes au niveau de certains pays comme le Rwanda classé au premier rang mondial avec 48 % de femmes au parlement depuis 2003. Cependant, la faible représentation des femmes dans les instances de prise de décisions publiques amène à conclure que leur participation reste un droit théorique reconnu aux femmes africaines. Les statistiques de l'Union Interparlementaire sont éloquentes à cet effet. En septembre 2002, au niveau de la représentation nationale, l'Afrique subsaharienne venait en avant-dernière position (avant les pays arabes dont le pourcentage de femme dans les parlements est de 5 %) avec un taux de représentation des femmes au parlement de 13,6 % [5] . La participation au pouvoir exécutif qui n'était guère plus reluisante se situait autour de 10 % [6] . Les mêmes statistiques au 31 juillet 2004 montrent un léger progrès dans la représentation parlementaire avec une moyenne de 14,4 %, toutes chambres confondues. Ces résultats ne sont pas étonnants lorsque l'on considère que même dans la sphère privée, et notamment au sein des familles, le pouvoir de décision est toujours exercé par les hommes. Il en est ainsi également lorsque exceptionnellement, comme au Burkina Faso, selon la loi la famille doit être dirigée collégialement par l'homme et la femme.

De manière générale, les femmes du continent vivent encore dans des sociétés patriarcales au sein desquelles les hommes ont le contrôle sur la prise de décision à tous les niveaux ainsi que sur les ressources.

Persistance de la violence à l'égard des femmes, malgré quelques efforts

Des efforts ont été notés en matière de violence à l'égard des femmes depuis Beijing. Ils ont consisté en l'adoption de lois réprimant certaines formes spécifiques de violence telles que les mutilations génitales féminines, les violences domestiques et le harcèlement sexuel [7] . Les ONG ont sensibilisé les populations sur les effets de la violence à l'égard des femmes et constitué des coalitions pour lutter contre le phénomène. Cependant, la violence à l'égard des femmes persiste dans le cadre familial et professionnel, dans la communauté et la société sous diverses formes : violences physiques morales et psychologiques, bains d'acide, mutilations génitales féminines, viol conjugal, harcèlement sexuel, et exploitation des femmes et des filles etc. On continue d'assister dans beaucoup de pays à des mariages forcés de filles et au lévirat [8] , malgré l'exigence légale du consentement personnel des époux au mariage. Des formes particulières de violence comme la traite des femmes et des filles prennent de l'ampleur dans la sous région Afrique de l'Ouest.

Ici encore, les obstacles sont liés au fait que les lois sont difficilement appliquées et les ressources allouées aux actions sont insuffisantes. La pression sociale, les préjugés et les pesanteurs socioculturelles inhibent les résultats des actions qui sont menées. Si l'on a assisté à une prise de conscience de plus en plus croissante des populations et, notamment des hommes qui commencent à être associés à la lutte contre les violences à l'égard des femmes, le chemin semble encore long vers une réduction considérable de ce type de violence.

La santé : trop de femmes qui meurent encore en donnant la vie ou subissent le fléau du VIH/SIDA

Sur le plan de la santé, l'adoption de politiques et de lois notamment en santé de la reproduction a facilité la mise en ?uvre de programmes sensés permettre aux femmes de progresser vers une meilleure jouissance de leurs droits et un plus grand contrôle de leur corps. Cependant, les chiffres des différents rapports annuels sur le développement humain jusqu'en 2004 ont toujours indiqué un taux élevé de mortalité maternelle et de femmes enceintes souffrant d'anémie.

Bien plus, la question émergente dans tous les pays, en matière de santé, est la vulnérabilité particulière des femmes au VIH/SIDA [9] . Différentes analyses mettent clairement en relief le lien entre les violations des autres droits des femmes et leur vulnérabilité à cette pandémie. Que trop de femmes meurent aujourd'hui encore en donnant la vie, ou subissent le VIH/SIDA, n'est donc pas une fatalité.

Des conflits armés qui continuent de peser particulièrement sur les femmes et les filles

La multiplication des situations de conflits armés en Afrique Centrale et de l'Ouest notamment favorise et accentue les formes spécifiques de violence à l'égard des femmes. Il s'agit de viols, exactions de tout genre, commis parfois par des agents de l'État ou des travailleurs humanitaires sensés les protéger. Une évolution positive en matière de répression de ces types de violences a été constatée dans le travail des tribunaux sur le Rwanda et la Sierra Leone qui ont jugé certains de ces actes. Mais cette catégorie d'actes répréhensible reste en général encore impunie.

Les femmes ont compris l'importance de s'organiser pour être plus visible dans les actions de prévention, de gestion des conflits, et de mieux participer à la reconstruction post conflit. L'exemple du Réseau de la paix en Afrique de l'Ouest des femmes de la rivière Mano (MARWOPNET) en est la preuve. Cependant, on est bien obligé de reconnaître que des efforts doivent être encore faits pour une participation des femmes au même titre que les hommes à la prévention et à la gestion des conflits ainsi qu'à la reconstruction de la paix [10] .

En toile de fond, la pauvreté qui prend un visage de femme

Tous ces constats ont pour toile de fond la pauvreté qui prend de plus en plus un visage de femme. Plusieurs actions et stratégies ont été développées par les Etats en vue de la réduction de la pauvreté comme en témoignent les nombreux plans de lutte appliqués dans les pays. Néanmoins, les plans ne sont pas conçus dans une perspective égalitaire et ils ne sont pas suffisamment sensibles aux problèmes et aux intérêts stratégiques des femmes. Les actions et stratégies qui y sont inscrites permettent rarement aux femmes d'avoir un contrôle des ressources et des facteurs de production.

Les programmes d'ajustement structurel et la globalisation sont par ailleurs des facteurs qui ont accentué la pauvreté des femmes africaines. La globalisation renforce le caractère inégalitaire de l'ordre économique mondial en limitant l'accès et la maîtrise des rouages du marché international par les femmes.

Il n'y a en définitive aucun doute que l'application qui a été faite de la plate forme d'action de Beijing n'a pas été à la hauteur des attentes des femmes africaines. Mais un des acquis de la Conférence de Beijing est que ces dernières ont pu en dix ans s'organiser davantage pour se constituer en véritable lobby poussant les gouvernements à agir. Au niveau régional, l'adoption de la parité au sein de la commission de l'Union africaine et du Conseil économique, social et culturel (ECOSOCC) [11] et d'un protocole à la Charte Africaine des Droits de l'Homme et des Peuples relatif aux Droits de la Femme sont des exemples de ce qu'elles peuvent obtenir lorsqu'elles sont bien organisées. De même au niveau national, les groupes de pression féministes ont réussi à obtenir des réformes de politiques et de lois importantes pour les femmes dans divers pays.

Il est à présent urgent que ces mouvements soient amplifiés et conduisent les États à réaliser davantage de programmes et à prendre des mesures concrètes qui font vraiment une différence dans la vie des femmes et des filles d'Afrique.

Kafui Adjamagbo-Johnson is coordinator of the Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF) in West Africa (http://www.wildaf-ao.org)

NOTES
[1] Déclaration et programme d'action de Beijing suivis de Beijing+5 Déclaration politique et document final, Nations Unies, Département de l'information Organisation des Nations Unies. New York, 2002.
[2] On peut citer en exemple toute la série de lois sur les mutilations génitales féminines enregistrées à la fin des années 1990 et au début de l'an 2000 au Togo, au Sénégal, en Côte d'Ivoire, au Kenya ; l'adoption récente en 2002 du code des personnes et de la famille au Bénin, le même processus en cours au Mali et au Togo où il est plus précisément question d'une révision du code des personnes et de la famille en vigueur depuis 1980 ; l'adoption de lois également sur les violences domestiques au Sénégal, sur le harcèlement sexuel dans le même pays et en Côte d'Ivoire ; l'adoption de lois sur les quota pour la participation des femmes en politique au Cap-Vert et au Niger.
[3] Fort heureusement, les actions mises en ?uvre à l'instar du programme de renforcement de capacité des acteurs judiciaires et extrajudiciaires réalisé en Afrique de l'Ouest par le WiLDAF/FeDDAF ont montré que ces acteurs peuvent contribuer plus efficacement au respect des droits des femmes lorsqu'ils sont sensibilisés et reçoivent les informations appropriées concernant les normes en vigueur.
[4] P.66.
[5] L'analyse des données par pays confirme cette tendance malgré les différences parfois considérables entre pays. Ainsi, le Sénégal enregistre le plus fort taux de participation dans la sous région Afrique de l'Ouest avec 19,2 % de femmes au parlement depuis les élections de avril 2001. Ces taux sont respectivement de 12 %, 11,7 %, 9 %, 6 % et 4,9 % au Nigeria (élections de février 1999), au Burkina-Faso (élections de mai 2002), au Ghana (élections de décembre 2000), au Bénin (élections de mars 1999).
[6] Population Reference Bureau, Les femmes dans le Monde 2002.
[7] Une campagne contre les violences faites aux femmes et le trafic des femmes et des enfants devrait débuter d'ici deux ans sur tout le continent africain si l'on se réfère à la déclaration solennelle faite par les Chefs d'État de l'Union Africaine lors de la dernière Conférence à Addis Abéba en juillet 2004. (Assembly/AU/Decl.12 (III) Rev.1)
[8] Lévirat : « Obligation d'un frère d'un défunt d'épouser la veuve sans enfants de celui-ci.»
[9] Un rapport de UNAID, UNFPA et UNIFEM de juillet 2004 révèle que 57 % des adultes séropositifs en Afrique sub-saharienne sont des femmes.
[10] Il faut espérer que l'Union Africaine mettra en ?uvre ce qu'elle a déclaré sur l'intégration des femmes dans les processus de paix lors de la dernière Conférence des Chefs d'État en juillet 2004 dans la déclaration solennelle sur l'égalité entre les hommes et les femmes et qui se lit comme suit : Qu'ils ont convenus d'« assurer la pleine participation et représentation des femmes au processus de paix … et de désigner des femmes comme envoyées spéciales et représentantes spéciales de l'Union Africain;» (Assembly/AU/Decl.12 (III) Rev.1)
[11] 50 % des membres du Conseil devra respecter le principe d'égalité du genre (article 4.2).Statuts adoptés lors de la Conférence de juillet 2004. (Assembly/AU/Dec. 48 (III))

One of the most profoundly amazing features of human society is the manner in which we have created – often through difficult and protracted struggles amongst ourselves, notions and practices of inclusion and acceptability, as well as brutal rituals and systems of exclusion and denigration. The human narrative is rife with battles over the ownership of wealth and identity; over the occupancy of space and the control over the physical and creative capacities of some groups or individuals by others. We have differentiated amongst ourselves on the basis of colour and race; gender; location; sexual orientation; ability and; social class. All of these markers have fractured and or cemented into seemingly impenetrable and unchangeable social and cultural notions of who is considered human and who can or cannot belong to the heavily mediated and qualified ways.

All social groups and communities in the world have traveled the path of struggle and resistance against different forms of exclusion and impunity. And each group and the individuals who constitute it, have had to find the courage and the desire to imagine themselves 'outside' the bounded notions and enclosures that their respective societies have tried to lock them into. Working people; people with disabilities; black people, female people; people with a non-heterosexual orientation; and numerous other social groups have had to resist exclusion in order to initiate the process of becoming part of their societies. For example, working people have over the millennia struggled and demanded to be remunerated for their labour, and for as long as they fought as
individuals, trapped in a fundamentally unequal relationship to those who controlled and owned the means through which human life is sustained, they did not have a snow-balls chance in hell of succeeding.

However, when they finally recognized that collective agency is the most powerful resource available to those who are faced with discrimination and exploitation, the journey towards a changing relationship with their societies, and those who wielded power was initiated. And, most crucially, this journey entailed stepping outside the boundaries of the privatized locations within which human labour could and had been ruthlessly exploited, largely through the manipulation of individual vulnerabilities, fears and insecurities. The crucial change occurred when the struggles of working people became both public and political – and their demands and interests were located within the public domain. This led to the phenomenon of Rights as Entitlements to become a historical fact that had to be reckoned with, acknowledged and respected – albeit still with the caveat that the struggle to ensure and improve, exercise and protect those rights remains a central priority of all worker's movements and organizations universally.

Black people have taken a very similar journey through the human historical – especially during the past half millennium; bought and sold with impunity, commodified in ways that are unimaginable but real in the living memory of millions of Africans around the world, immortalized in the blatantly inhuman practices of enslavement and barbaric cruelty on all the continents of the earth. And whilst the struggle against racist exclusion and supremacist impunity continues to rage on the African continent and in the diaspora, the transition from enslavement to recognition that Africans are human and persons occurs also when we collectively, persistently and with incorrigible resilience, struggle against the violation of our integrity and personhood as individuals with a collective identity and agency.

Why have I used such a detailed preface to arrive at the issue of the rights of African women today? There are many reasons, but for purposes of this short discussion, I would like to draw attention to two aspects or commonalities among these three social categories of human beings who have had to 'earn' the right to be recognized, and sometimes treated as human beings – and more recently as citizens of the societies they live in.

First of all, it is important to draw attention to the historical significances and commonalities between the struggles of working people, black people and women. We must look at these groups within a context and time period where neo-liberalism is trying to depoliticize and appropriate the legacies of each group in the academy, through post-structuralist and post-modernist claims and dismissive rhetoric, and through scrutiny, censorship and the sanitization of political debates at the policy levels in both state and civil society groups everywhere.

Secondly, while the struggles against exploitation, racism and sexism have been waged at different moments and in varied arenas over centuries of time, it is in the lives and on the bodies of black women – of African women – that these three crucial social differentiators play themselves out in the most dramatic and in-human ways.

Much has been written, said, declared and pronounced with regard to the human rights of women – globally and within Africa, much of which is admirable and often quoted. Therefore, while the statement in Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that proclaims "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards each other in a spirit of brotherhood" flew in the face of colonial and apartheid reality, in addition to being overtly and unabashedly sexist and exclusionary in its language and content – it did mark an interesting moment in the ideological and moral shift within the West as well as globally.

Without a doubt, since 1948 women all over the world have become visible and vocal in ways that were unthinkable only a few decades ago. In 1993, through the crafting of the Vienna Declaration, women from all walks of life across the globe insisted on the recognition and adoption of an international protocol that stated categorically that "The Human Rights of women and the girl-child are an inalienable and indivisible part of Universal Human Rights" (Article 18). With hind-sight, it is clear that we have come a long way within human society; from a place where we were booty and bounty – things to be bought sold, exchanged and used – to currently standing at the cusp of a vibrant, modern identity; an identity that has become one of the most distinctive features of the progress in all our societies. Our conviction in ourselves and the determination to change our communities, families, societies, nations – the world, have become the flags that governments and often quietly resentful males of all classes, ages, colours and social statuses nonetheless proclaim as collective social achievements.

However, beyond the Conventions and Declarations lies the reality that much of what is understood as women's human rights are still basically rhetorical and inaccessible to the majority of African women. There are undoubtedly instances where small minorities of middle class women who have the knowledge, resources, mobility and courage to demand access, are able to exercise such rights in situations that affect their private and public lives. But for the vast majority of African women, rights are barely a dream; especially for those women who are located in the deeply feudal, privatized spaces of the countryside, or in the slums and ghettos on the margins of the cities and towns, or in the desolate vulnerability of so-called refugee camps – places where misogynist violation and impunity rampage across the lives and bodies of women and their children with a vengeance almost impossible to imagine or bear. Here, in these places of ruin and destruction, of incredible pain and waste of human life and worth - awaits the critical challenge to the claim that African women have human rights that are real and reachable.

That is why I would like to interrogate and juxtapose, even if only briefly, the claims of the current notion of Human Rights, in its liberal, universalistic, all-inclusive rhetorical construction, against an analysis of women's oppression and social exclusion from the category of 'human-ness'. 'Human-ness' centers the notions of bodily/physical integrity, autonomy, dignity and personhood vis-a vis the prevailing and dominant systems and practices of patriarchal supremacy, impunity, sexism and the private ownership of women as 'things' – as social goods that are born, bred, socialized and used by males, everywhere.

The fact of the matter is that Rights are the social outcomes of struggles and political engagements not only with the state, but with those institutions and structures within patriarchal societies that have institutionalized and preserved – and which protect and perpetuate the privileges and prerogatives – of maleness and male power. In every African country, the state, core patriarchal institutions and individuals across all the social divides, actively and deliberately collude and perpetuate practices and cultural myths that facilitate for or directly violate the human-ness of women and female children.

And the patriarchal, heterosexual family is the earliest and most resistant site of male control over the female body and its capabilities. In Africa, one need only look at the relationships of authority, control, surveillance and violation that men exercise over women and female children in particular, as their 'right' as the man who owns a family (or even as a brother or uncle) to see the connections between the denial of women's human-ness and personhood, and the perpetuation and institutionalization of male privilege in all the societies of the continent.

In these privatized spaces of families and rural areas where often the most basic infrastructure through which individuals could begin to acquire a consciousness of entitlement and a sense of being 'righted' simply do not exist, millions of women and female children survive in almost pre-historic conditions. The state remains a distant arbiter of tensions and conflict among males, often intervening only to intensify the crises of social and political reproduction in a particular location – in places like Darfur at the present time – and women and their families become trapped in the age-old struggles between males over the control of critical resources – both material and ideological, with disastrous consequences. In situations such as these, it becomes crystal clear that in spite of the fine sounding rhetoric and the claims by neo-colonial African states that they recognize and respect the rights of women (and poor men), the reality is actually radically different.
[...]

[...]
Rights have to be understood and experienced not only as rhetorical devices in the articulation of demands and particular interests by classes or social categories of people within a society. Much more than that, they have to become the expression of an interactive, negotiated, flexible and mutually respective relationship between individuals – in this case women as individual persons – and the state, which is the dominant social and political player in the lives of Africans at the present time, regardless of whether we accept the existence of the state or not.

Humans invent and create states as mechanisms through which the tensions between and among groups and classes of people can be discussed, managed, negotiated and hopefully resolved. We create states so that they can manage and distribute, in the most equitable manner, those critical resources that our societies are endowed with, on behalf of those who cannot compete with others – for reasons related either to class, age, gender, and or other exclusionary systems that emerge in societies that are socially and economically differentiated.

Therefore, for all the reasons that historians, social scientists, and philosophers have ponder upon and debated for millennia, the state must always be made accountable and responsible to the people, regardless of who the people are. This is a fundamental premise for the existence of the state. And the protection of women's physical, sexual, and bodily integrity as citizens of our societies is neither negotiable nor open to any kind of compromise. The integrity and wholeness of women's bodies; their right to a life with dignity and protection is a responsibility that the state cannot and must not be allowed to compromise as an accommodation of some backward notion of cultural authenticity or African-ness. The Right of women and girls to integrity in all its aspects is fundamental to making rights real for women everywhere.

Pat McFadden is a feminist activist and writer currently based in the US.
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On Monday, October 4, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m in Washington, DC, an important discussion will be held with a delegation of Afro-Descendant women leaders from Central and South America. Women of African descent face compounded gender and race barriers and are among the most vulnerable groups in the region. This meeting will be an opportunity for Afro-Descendant Latin community leaders and activists to share experiences in promoting human rights and socioeconomic development for their communities.

A one week workshop is to be held from 8-12 November, 2004 for practitioners and researchers to evaluate the ECOWAS peacekeeping experience from a gender (women, peace and security) perspective, is to be held at The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Ghana. The workshop aims to ensure that gender mainstreaming is sufficiently incorporated into regional planning training and preparation for peace operations in the future.