Burundi's electoral process for 2005 ended on Friday with elections for local heads of villages. The country's electoral calendar began in February with a referendum on the post-transition constitution during which an overwhelming majority voted for the draft document. The head of the National Electoral Commission, Paul Ngarambe, said voters went to polling stations countrywide on Friday to elect 14,560 local leaders out of 44,724 candidates who were all contesting as independent candidates. The voting marked the first village-level elections in the country's history.

One of Africa's unrecognised countries, Somaliland, held parliamentary elections at the end of September - it's third since it seceded from Somalia and declared independence in 1991. The major setback for the otherwise peaceful state has been lack of international recognition, which has been reserved for fear it might trigger instability in the region. “Please give us credit for being disciplined, self-administering people. It is unfair to keep us away from the world until the warlords in Somalia agree on something. Bringing back Somaliland to former Somalia is like attempting to bring back the former Soviet Union,” said Awil Ali Duale, the finance minister.

Egypt's first multiparty elections early this month did not yield any surprises as incumbent President Hosni Mubarak retained his position. Despite being declared far from free and fair, the poll was still described as a step forward for a country where opposition candidates have never been given room to operate. “There are violations but in comparison to before, it's much better than we expected,” said Gasser Abdel Razeq, of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights and a vocal government critic. At different polling stations, Mubarak supporters were seen standing over voters as they cast their ballots, while at one polling station, the only person in charge was a party representative sporting a Mubarak button.

At least 700 people have registered more than once to vote in Tanzania's semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar, the head of the local electoral body said on Tuesday. "More names are likely to be discovered," Masauni Yussuf, the chairman of the Zanzibar Electoral Commission, said in the statement. "We are still going on with the verification exercise.". On 30 October, Tanzanians are to elect a new national president, parliament and ward councillors. Voters in Zanzibar and the neighbouring island Pemba will also choose a local president and parliament.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says it will take part in the Senate polls due to be held before the end of the year, The Standard can reveal. Professor Welshman Ncube, the MDC secretary-general told The Standard that there were differences between circumstances leading to the Senate elections and the 31 March Parliamentary elections. "There are fundamental differences between the March Parliamentary elections and the position we are in right now. It is very clear that the national council lifted the suspension on election participation and that position has not changed. The operative resolution of the council is that we are in the elections," Ncube said.

Will the MDG targets be met if current development trends continue? Not according to the 2005 Human Development Report (HDR), which cites inequality as the issue of prime concern in the fight against poverty. The report argues that economic development alone will fail to produce sustained poverty reduction. The focus needs to be redirected towards improving equality - narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, men and women and eliminating regional disparities.

A local consortium of pro-democracy and human rights organizations, under the aegis of Coalition Against Corruption (CAC), has challenged the Chairman of the National Transitional Government of Liberia, Charles G. Bryant, to face Liberia’s corruption pandemic squarely by inaugurating domestic mechanisms. In a letter to Chairman Bryant, CAC said: “We want to encourage you to go beyond this courageous act, by ensuring that the needed domestic anti-corruption mechanisms are put into place: a National Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office, a Law on Access to Public Information and a Special Anti-corruption Law, making corrupt practices in the public and private sectors felonious.”

The US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the Malawi government have announced the launch of a US $20.92 million programme aimed at fighting corruption and spurring long-term economic growth and development in the southern African country. MCC vice-president Charles Sethness and Malawi's finance minister, Goodall Gondwe, announced the signing of a Threshold Country Plan (TCP) in Washington on 23 September, according to a US government press release. The MCC, a US government corporation launched last year to work with some of the poorest countries in the world, is based on the principle that aid is most effective when it reinforces good governance, economic freedom, and investments that promote economic growth and eliminate extreme poverty.

The surprise axing of the head of Mozambique's Anti-Corruption Unit, Isabel Rupia, has been sharply criticised by human rights groups as undermining the government's anti-graft message. "We need to know the reason why Isabel Rupia was removed - it is people's right to know. When they don't know, then it leads to speculation," said Carimo Abdul of the anti-corruption NGO, Etica Mozambique. Government officials were unavailable for comment. Rupia's agency was wound up last week and replaced by a new Central Office for Combating Corruption (GCCC). But while that move was expected - the unit was a stopgap measure - her removal was not. Rupia's assistant, Rafael Sebastião, has been made chief of the GCCC.

Who are the very poor and is health policy in developing countries leaving them behind? What strategies are there for reaching the very poor within the health sector and what are the challenges? Can strategies outside the health sector work better? "Meeting the health-related needs of the very poor", a new dossier from the HRC/Eldis Health Systems Resource Guide addresses these key questions by bringing together the perspectives of health policy, social protection, and poverty reduction.

This paper examines the role of public and private sectors in the development of contraception and other pharmaceutical products. It also explores the obstacles to availability of these products in developing countries, as well as further research needs. The paper finds that, despite growing private sector involvement, the public sector is the main supplier of contraception in developing countries. Funding from bilateral agencies and foundations to public sector Research and Development (R&D) programmes has resulted in expansion of contraceptive choice for developing countries. With the exception of China, Brazil and India, there has been little R&D of products for reproductive health (RH) in developing countries.

The events that took place at the UN during the weeks leading up to the UN World Summit in New York were a disgrace - an ugly diplomatic spectacle. The majority of Member States saw their carefully drafted 'Outcome Document' blow up before their eyes, and the entire process of delicate inter-governmental negotiations was held hostage to a small minority pulling in opposite directions. After juggling around with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which are literally a life or death matter for hundreds of millions of people living in extreme poverty, we have now landed up with an insipid declaration that is long on generalities and short on actions.

The Namibian Economic Policy and Research Unit (Nepru) has warned that the newly-introduced tax on farmland could have an unforeseen and long-lasting impact on the property market. Nepru says in its quarterly economic review that the land tax has two primary aims: raising funds for land redistribution and discouraging foreign ownership and multiple ownership of farms. A closer look at the concept showed that the implementation of the tax could place farmers in a tight corner, prompting them to do away with less profitable farming operations.

"Tunisia is not a suitable place to hold a United Nations World Summit" according to the latest report of the Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG) released two months before the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), scheduled to take place in Tunis, 16-18 November 2005. The 18-page report is an update of TMG's first report "Tunisia: Freedom of Expression Under Siege" published in February of this year in preparation for the World Summit. The report highlights serious deterioration in conditions related to freedom of expression in Tunisia, particularly with respect to attacks on independent organisations, harassment of journalists and dissidents, and the independence of the judiciary. It also calls attention to the imprisonment of the human rights lawyer, Mohamed Abbou.

The Government of Ethiopia is to deploy the Development Gateway Foundation's Aid Management Platform (AMP), a Web-based information-sharing tool that aims to help to improve the co-ordination and harmonisation of international development aid to ensure greater results for people in developing countries. AMP is an e-government solution designed to address the administrative challenges faced by developing country governments and their donors in tracking and reporting on international aid flows and programmes. By enabling access to standardized information about aid activities within a country, it is intended to facilitate the improved planning, allocation, disbursement and general management of aid resources.

This resource includes a huge range of free training and self-study materials on a range of topics, both field-related and managerial. All materials are categorised, and updates are added two - three times a month. Topics include: General Communication Skills (Basics of Organisational Communication; Cross-Cultural Communication); Written Communication Skills (Clarity - The Fog Index; Clarity - Making your Point; Organisation - Formatting and Layout; Style - E-mail and Netiquette); Oral Communication; Project Proposal and Report Writing; and Data Gathering, Analysis and Evaluation Skills.

A one day workshop on networking opportunities in digital creative practices in Africa was held on 4 September 2005 at Arts Electronica 2005 (Linz, Austria). Discussions focused on pilot projects to support and develop creative practices in Africa through the use of information and communication technologies. Furthermore, an Africa Infopack, was also launched in the Electrolobby on 5 September 2005. This Infopack is a tool to find people to join the network of DigiArts Africa and to contribute, participate and gain from the network of key network agents.

Ethan Zuckerman’s ‘My Hearts in Accra’ (http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=178) questions the ‘politics’ behind the prosecution of Belgian priest, Father Guy Theunis in the ongoing Gacaca genocide tribunals taking place in Rwanda.

“Father Guy Theunis ran a magazine called Dialogue which republished translated excerpts of articles from a pro-Hutu extremist magazine Kangura. His defense is that his “republications were part of his human rights work”. What is most interesting here is that Zuckerman takes Theunis’s defense and applies it to blogging and the ‘redistribution of content’. Speaking about the Global Voices project (http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/globalvoices/) he states:

"Obviously we haven’t reblogged any posts where someone has advocated the extermination of other people. But I can understand the need Father Theunis felt to bring to light the extreme views being expressed in magazines like “Kangura”. What’s the responsibility of a site like ours in reporting on extreme views? Is it to give an accurate picture of the views being expressed in a country? Or is the responsibility not to amplify hateful voices?"

Nigerian blogger Chippla (http://chippla.blogspot.com/2005/09/its-abuja-bus-stop.html) takes a cynical view of the latest move towards ‘modernisation’ in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.

"…if you live in Abuja, unlike in the other cities mentioned above, the concept scheduled intra-city bus services must be strange to you. In other words, though you see bus stops, you do not wait by them to board a bus."

Apparently ‘bus stops are springing up all over the city’. It will be interesting to watch how people respond to the schedules and how well the bus’s themselves can actually keep to the schedules.

Friend of the US, President Mubarak who was recently “re-elected” in Egypt, has an appalling human rights record. Egyptian blogger “Egyptian Person” (http://egyptianperson.blogspot.com/) highlights the use of Egypt’s “Emergency Laws” which are used to imprison people indefinitely without trial.

A police officer summed up the situation very clearly to political detainee Abdel Moneim Mohammed, who has spent 13 years in the custody of the Egyptian interior ministry: "We can't release you [regardless of whether you are innocent or guilty]. After spending years in prison, you hate us - and setting you free will be a great risk."

Nigerian blogger Grandiose Parlour (http://grandioseparlor.blogspot.com/) seems to have been “captured” by Katrina. He has at least 7 extended posts on the hurricane including what appears to be a daily update of US Army Corp of Engineers called “Daily Key Messages and General Mission Talking Points”.

Finally this week some good news. Kenyan Pundit now back in Nairobi has moved her blog over to (http://www.kenyanpundit.com/) and is back in full force. Check out her “Random observations of the day” category for a “day by day” account of life in Nairobi and Kenya.

Most West African countries have signed and ratified international and regional instruments on women's rights, notes Aminata Dieye. But despite the legal arsenal, statutory inadequacies and weaknesses translate into continued existence of discriminatory provisions. It has become crucial, she argues, that organisations are better mobilised and more vigilant so that change in African women's lives becomes a reality. (French version below)

The adoption in July 2003 in Maputo of the protocol on women's rights has inspired hope in thousands of African women who fought for more than a decade for social justice and gender equity in African societies. This hope was strengthened by the adoption of the Solemn Declaration on gender equality of 2004, reaffirming the commitment of heads of state to make the protocol effective through its coming into force in 2005. Three ratifications remain outstanding before the protocol can come into force. Moreover, the commitment of African heads of state to take appropriate steps to enable the launching of campaigns "aimed at ensuring the coming into force of the Protocol before 2005" has not been followed by concrete actions. In fact, the ratifications are taking place slowly.

What justifies this slowness? What's happened to the mobilisation of women for the effectiveness of the protocol? Does rallying at a continental level suffice to implement the protocol? What strategies are there at national level for the implementation of the Protocol once it comes into force?

The situation of women's rights in francophone countries

It is now abundantly clear that since the Beijing Conference of 1995, civil society organisations, more specifically women's movements, have worked together to make women's rights in Africa effective. In fact, African women have pushed African governments, through a variety of actions and activities and with the support of the UN's specialised institutions, to adopt new laws and to put in place measures aimed at promoting and protecting women's human rights.

Most West African countries have signed and ratified international and regional instruments on women's rights and reiterated the principle of equality in their Constitutions. For instance, upon adopting her new constitution, Senegal highlighted, among other things, the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, the African charter on human rights, in general the principal instruments for the protection of women's rights. In this same scheme of things, she revisited the issue of rural women's rights, particularly that of access to land, which constitutes one of the biggest obstacles to the effectiveness of women's rights.

Over and above that, reforms have been added to the Penal Code through the adoption of the 1999 law defining as criminal offences domestic violence, sexual harassment, female genital mutilations, and paedophilia, as well as more precisely defining the criminal nature of rape and paedophilia.

The December 2004 ratification of the African Charter's Protocol on Women's Rights in Senegal was a direct result of the protracted mobilisation of women in the wake of the 1995 Beijing Conference. In fact, it must be said that preparations for Beijing gave Senegalese women the opportunity to come together for a common cause: respect for women's rights. The tangible outcome of this mobilisation was the participation of civil society organisations in drawing up the 1997 Women's Plan and in its evaluation in 2003.

This situation is manifest in the other countries of the sub-region that have adopted measures to augment the protection of women in marriages or against certain offences and infringements affecting women and girls' physical integrity. These are, among others, personal and family laws (Benin, Burkina Faso, Togo), the law on rape (Burkina Faso), sexual harassment (Côte d'Ivoire), female genital mutilations (Burkina Faso, Togo, Côte d'Ivoire), etc.

However, notwithstanding the existence of a legal arsenal, there are still statutory inadequacies and weaknesses in these countries due to the continued existence of certain discriminatory provisions. This state of affairs is caused by the fact that African states have difficulty implementing the different texts and conventions they have signed and ratified.

Obstacles to the implementation of treaties and conventions

Implementation of treaties or conventions presupposes the incorporation of these various texts in national legislation, the setting up of institutional frameworks, regulatory measures and an appropriate mechanism for the monitoring and evaluation of related performance indicators. The October 2005 ministers' meeting on the appropriation of the African Heads of State's Solemn Declaration to be held in Senegal, is an opportunity to put in place implementation and evaluation procedures for the protocol. In order to achieve this, the involvement of organisations like WILDAF, Solidarity of African Women (Femmes Africa Solidarité), Equality Now, Femnet, Accord, African Leadership Forum, etc., which have worked for the adoption of this Declaration, is indispensable.

Subsequent to the Beijing Conference, we observed heightened interest by civil society organisations, which denounced and proposed measures for the respect of women's rights. Similarly, women's networks rallied at the continental level to ensure that the protocol becomes a reality.

We have however noted reduced vigilance in women as far as the monitoring of gains is concerned. For instance, women in Senegal have relaxed due to the retreat of the female social movement since the change of government in 2000 and yet there are threats caused by the rise of religious fundamentalism weighing on what has been gained (Dr. Sarr, 2005). In fact, when women's movements agitated for joint parenthood, religious groups made a stunning entry onto the scene by proposing Sharia-based laws on personal status. That prompted the head of state to react by declaring that the laws governing the family will not be modified. By cutting the ground from under these Islamic groups, the Senegalese head of state effectively blocked proposed reforms to make the laws on the family conform to regional and international texts on the protection of women's rights.

This attitude shows how difficult it is to implement ratified texts and will constitute an obstacle to the incorporation of the measures spelt out in the protocol into Senegalese national legislation. On top of that there are socio-cultural pressures that require long-term efforts to socially conscientise and mobilise African societies.

Another important aspect affecting the effectiveness of women's rights in our societies is the fact that women's movements in West Africa are running out of steam. We note as a matter of fact that there is no changing of the guard in women's movements due to the fact that, in a context defined by increasing poverty, youths (girls and boys) are more preoccupied with looking for jobs than committing themselves to rallying for a common ideal.

In the context of the implementation of this protocol, the participation of youths is indispensable if we want continuity in advocacy.

Strategies for civil society organisations

The participation of African civil society organisations in the promotion and protection of women's human rights was a major act of the people's commitment to take control of their destiny. In fact, without this participation, the process of equality in our societies would not make progress. This critical mass of women and men needs to be maintained so as to avoid losing steam.

Good practices exist in the various countries and we should document them and share the information through the networks.

Work being done at the continental level must continue at national level to give more weight to our actions. In some cases only members of networks are involved in the process of implementing the protocol and yet the greatest number of women is in rural settings.

Appropriation of the Protocol by rural women is imperative if we want to obtain the adherence of all sections of the African populace. For that, efforts to conscientise the elected local leadership, traditional chiefs, and political and religious leaders are key to making the protocol effective.

In countries that have been subjected to armed conflicts, reconstruction and setting up of a legal framework must have as its reference the protocol. Rwanda can be taken as an example for African countries that have experienced internal tensions. In fact, Rwanda is a practical example of a country undergoing reconstruction, which has been able to set up strategies through a system of quotas for women's participation in decision-making structures.

It is now abundantly clear that women's organisations have already embarked on such work to ensure that women's rights are respected, but it has become crucial, in a context where poverty, wars and famine undermine hope, that organisations are better mobilised and more vigilant so that the change introduced in African women's lives becomes a reality. In order to achieve this, the protocol constitutes the most complete mechanism to make the promotion and protection of African women's human rights effective.

* Aminata Dieye is a program director at RADDHO (La Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme), an organization that monitors human rights.

* Translated from French by Andrew T. Manyawu ([email protected])

* Please send comments to [email protected]

References

Heads of State's Solemn Declaration on equality between men and women, Addis Ababa 2004

Ministry of the Family, Social Development and National Solidarity: final evaluation of the National Action Plan for women, October 2003

The African Human and People's Rights Charter's Additional Protocol on Women's Rights

Dr. Sarr, F. (2005) « Les femmes ont baissé la garde » in Magazine Continental no. 39, June 2005

Wildaf West Africa, Newsletter no. 20, October 2004

De la ratification à la mise en ?uvre du Protocole à la Charte Africaine des droits de l’homme et des Peuples relatif aux droits de la femme : quelles stratégies pour les organisations de la société civile ?
Aminata Dieye

L’adoption du Protocole à la Charte Africaine des droits de l’Homme relatif aux droits de la femme en juillet 2003 à Maputo a suscité l’espoir de milliers de femmes africaines qui se sont mobilisées plus d’une décennie pour l’instauration de la justice sociale et l’équité de genre au sein des sociétés africaines. Cet espoir a été renforcé par l’adoption de la Déclaration solennelle des Chefs d’états africains sur l’égalité de genre en 2004 qui réaffirme l’engagement de ces derniers à rendre effectif le Protocole par son entrée en vigueur en 2005.

A moins de quatre mois des échéances, il reste encore trois ratifications avant l’entrée en vigueur du Protocole. En plus, l’engagement des Chefs d’états Africains à prendre des mesures appropriées pour le lancement de campagnes « visant à assurer l’entrée en vigueur du Protocole avant 2005 » n’est pas traduit concrètement en actions. En effet, c’est d’une manière lente que s’effectuent les ratifications.

Qu’est qui expliquent ces lenteurs ? Qu’en est-il de la mobilisation des femmes pour l’effectivité du Protocole ? La mobilisation au niveau continental suffit-elle pour la mise en ?uvre du Protocole ? Quelles stratégies adoptées au niveau national pour une mise en ?uvre du Protocole, une fois entré en vigueur ?

Voilà autant de questions qui vont nous permettre de partager nos réflexions sur l’entrée en vigueur du Protocole et sa mise en ?uvre.

La situation des droits de la femme dans les pays francophones

Il n’est plus à démontrer que depuis la Conférence de Beijing en 1995, les organisations de la société civile, d’une manière spécifique, les mouvements de femmes ont travaillé ensemble pour rendre effectif les droits de la femme en Afrique. En effet, à travers différentes actions et activités, avec l’appui des institutions spécialisées de l’ONU, les femmes africaines ont poussé les gouvernements africains à adopter de nouvelles lois et à mettre en place des mesures visant la promotion et la protection des droits humains des femmes.

La plupart des pays de l’Afrique de l’Ouest ont signé et ratifié les instruments internationaux et régionaux relatifs aux droits de la femme et réaffirment le principe de l’égalité dans leur Constitution.

Par exemple, le Sénégal, en adoptant sa nouvelle constitution a mis en exergue, entre autres, la Convention sur l’élimination de toutes les formes de discrimination à l’égard des femmes, la Charte Africaines des Droits de l’Homme, d’une manière générale les instruments majeurs pour la protection des droits de la femme. Dans cet même ordre d’idées, elle est revenue sur les droits des femmes du monde rural, notamment l’accès à la terre qui constitue un des obstacles majeurs pour l’effectivité des droits de la femme.
A cela, s’ajoutent les réformes apportées au Code Pénal par le vote de la loi en 1999 incriminant les violences domestiques, le harcèlement sexuel, les mutilations génitales féminines, la pédophilie et précise le délit le viol en le définissant et la pédophilie.

La ratification en Décembre 2004 du Protocole à la Charte Africaine relatif aux droits de la femme au Sénégal est due à la longue mobilisation des femmes au lendemain de Beijing 1995. En effet, il faut reconnaître que la préparation de la Conférence de Beijing a permis aux femmes sénégalaises de se retrouver autour d’un même combat : le respect des droits de la femme. Cette mobilisation s’est concrétisée à travers la participation des organisations de la société civile à l’élaboration du Plan de la femme en 1997 et à son évaluation en 2003.

Cette situation est visible dans les autres pays de la sous-région qui ont adopté des mesures pour le renforcement de la protection de la femme dans le mariage ou contre certains délits et infractions qui affectent l’intégrité physique des femmes et des filles: il s’agit, entre autres, du Code de la personne et de la famille (Bénin, Burkina Faso, Togo), loi sur le viol ( Burkina Faso), le harcèlement sexuel (Côte d’Ivoire), loi sur les mutilations génitales féminines (Burkina Faso, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire) etc.

Cependant, des vides et insuffisances juridiques persistent au niveau de ces pays par la présence de certaines dispositions discriminatoires malgré l’existence d’un arsenal juridique. Cette situation s’expliquent par la difficulté des Etats africains de mettre en ?uvre les différents textes et Conventions signés et ratifiés.

Les obstacles à la mise en ?uvre des traités et conventions

La mise ?uvre des traités ou conventions supposent l’incorporation de ces différents textes dans la législation nationale, la mise en place de cadres institutionnels, de mesures réglementaires et un mécanisme approprié pour le suivi et évaluation des indicateurs de performance relatif à cela.

La réunion des ministres pour l’appropriation de la Déclaration Solennelle des chefs d’Etats africains qui va se dérouler en Octobre 2005 au Sénégal pour la mise en ?uvre de la Déclaration Solennelle des Chefs d’Etats africains en collaboration avec la CEA est une occasion pour poser les actes de mise en ?uvre et d’évaluation du Protocole à la Charte Africaine relatif aux droits de la femme. Pour ce faire, l’implication des organisations comme WILDAF, Femmes Africa Solidarité, Equality Now, Femnet, Accord, African Leadership Forum, etc. qui ont travaillé pour l’adoption de cette Déclaration est incontournable

Nous avons observé un engouement des organisations de la société civile, au lendemain de la conférence de Beijing, qui ont dénoncé et proposé des mesures pour le respect des droits de la femme. De la même manière, les réseaux de femmes se sont mobilisés au niveau continental pour que le Protocole soit une réalité.

Cependant, nous avons noté une baisse de la vigilance des femmes quant au suivi des acquis. Par exemple au Sénégal les femmes ont baissé la garde avec le recul du mouvement social féminin depuis la survenue de l’alternance politique en 2000 alors qu’il y a des menaces qui pèsent sur les acquis à cause de la montée du fondamentalisme religieux (Dr. Sarr, 2005). En effet, lorsque les mouvements de femmes se sont mobilisés pour la parenté conjointe, des groupes religieux ont une entrée fracassante en proposant le Code du statut personnel basé sur la Charia. Cela a suscité la réaction du Chef de l’Etat qui a affirmé que le Code de la famille ne sera pas modifié. En coupant l’herbe au pied à ces groupes islamistes, le Chef de l’Etat sénégalais a du coup bloqué les réformes proposées pour rendre conforme le Code de la famille avec les textes régionaux et internationaux relatifs à la protection des droits de la femme.

Cette attitude montre toute la difficulté de mettre en ?uvre les textes ratifiés et va constituer des obstacles pour l’incorporation des dispositions du Protocole à la législation nationale sénégalaise. A cela s’ajoute les pesanteurs socio-culturelles qui nécessitent un travail de longue haleine de conscientisation et de mobilisation sociale des sociétés africaines.

Un autre aspect non négligeable qui intervient pour l’effectivité des droits de la femme dans nos sociétés c’est l’essoufflement des mouvements féminins en Afrique de l’Ouest. En effet, nous notons qu’il n’y a pas de relève dans le mouvement féminin du fait que les jeunes (filles et garçons) sont plus préoccupés à chercher du travail dans un contexte de pauvreté accrue qu’à s’engager et se mobiliser autour d’un idéal commun.
Dans le cadre de la mise en ?uvre de ce Protocole, la participation des jeunes est incontournable si nous voulons la continuité dans les actions de plaidoyer et de conscientisation.

Quelles stratégies pour les organisations de la société civile

La participation des organisations de la société civile africaine dans la promotion et la protection des droits humains des femmes a été un acte majeur de l’engagement des populations pour la prise en charge de leur destin. En effet, sans cette participation le processus d’égalité dans nos sociétés ne connaîtrait pas d’avancées. Cette masse critique de femmes et d’hommes a besoin d’être entretenu pour éviter l’essoufflement.
Les bonnes pratiques existent dans les pays et il s’agit de les documenter et de partager les informations à travers les réseaux.

Le travail qui est entrain d’être mené au niveau continental doit être relayé au niveau national pour donner plus de poids à nos actions. Dans certains cas, seuls les membres des réseaux sont plus impliqués dans le processus de mise en ?uvre du Protocole à la Charte Africaine alors que la plupart des femmes sont en milieu rural.

L’appropriation des femmes du monde rural du Protocole est impératif si nous voulons atteindre l’adhésion de toutes les franches de la population africaine. Et pour cela, un travail de conscientisation des élus locaux, des chefs traditionnels, des leaders politiques et des religieux est important pour rendre effectif le Protocole.

Dans les pays qui ont connu des conflits armés, la reconstruction et la mise en place de cadre juridique doivent prendre comme référence le Protocole à la Charte africaine sur les droits de la femme. L’exemple du Rwanda peut servir d’exemple aux pays africains qui ont connu des tensions internes. En effet, le Rwanda constitue un exemple de bonne pratique d’un pays en reconstruction qui a su mettre en place des stratégies à travers des quotas pour la participation des femmes aux instances de prises de décision.

Il n’est plus a démontré que les organisations de femmes ont déjà entamé ce genre de travail pour le respect des droits de la femme, mais il est aujourd’hui crucial, dans un contexte où la pauvreté, les guerres et la famine minent l’espoir des populations, que ces organisations fassent preuve de plus de mobilisation et de vigilance pour que le changement entamé dans la vie des femmes africaines soit une réalité. Pour ce faire, le Protocole à la Charte africaine sur les droits de la femme constitue le mécanisme le plus complet pour rendre effectives la promotion et la protection des droits humains de la femme africaine.

Références :

Déclaration Solennelle des chefs d’Etats sur l’égalité entre les hommes et les Femmes, Addis Abéba 2004

Ministère de la famille, du Développement social et de la solidarité nationale : Evaluation finale du Plan d’action national de la femme, Octobre 2003

Protocole Additionnel à la Charte Africaine des droits de l’Homme et des Peuples relatif aux droits de la femme
Dr. Sarr, F. (2005) « Les femmes ont baissé la garde » dans Magazine Continental no 39, juin 2005

Wildaf West Africa, Newsletter no 20, Octobre 2004

Pambazuka News 222: The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on Women’s Rights in Africa: From ratification to the realisation of African women’s human rights

Pambazuka News has been supporting the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights Coalition (SOAWR). Ahead of a conference co-convened by the African Union (AU) and SOAWR to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia between 27 and 30 September,
this edition consists of editorials written by SOAWR members and updates about the progress of the campaign from across the African continent.

The conference seeks to chart out the next steps for the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women. With 13 countries having ratified the Protocol, attention needs to shift from a focus on campaigning for ratification to strategies for domestication and implementation for rights realisation by African women and girls.

The conference will take place at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It will bring together 40 senior staff from women’s organisations, research institutions, African governments and the AU. Key outputs will include a conference communiqué and a booklet on strategies for implementation. It is expected that the conference will influence implementation strategies within the AU and at least twelve African countries.

Background

On July 11, 2003, the Heads of State and Government of the AU adopted the Protocol. A year later, Heads of State and Government of the AU adopted the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa in which they undertook to sign and ratify the Protocol by the end of 2004. Ongoing campaigns and pressure by the AU and NGOs have since contributed to the ratification of the Protocol by 13 countries namely Cape Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Gambia, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa.

The Protocol legitimises the struggles for gender equality and the promotion and protection of women’s human rights as an African struggle. Despite its imperfections, it is a potential force for freedom and justice for African women. If properly harnessed, it could serve as an effective empowerment tool for African women. Empowering African women, who make up more than half of the continent’s population, will have a positive multiplier effect that will end with happier, healthier and wealthier African families.

As more countries ratify the Protocol, the challenge shifts from ratification to domestication, implementation and rights’ realisation. From experience with the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and national legal frameworks, a number of obstacles will stand in the way of harnessing the potential force of the Protocol. At the societal level, the strength of patriarchal (interpretations of) culture, tradition and religion, the co-existence of multiple legal systems and the public/private dichotomy continue to disempower African women. At an organisational level, the weakness of the African women’s movement and key alliances and partnerships within it continue to mitigate against African women’s empowerment. At the national level, gender machineries in several African countries are characterised by powerlessness and poor resources.

Furthermore, there is little awareness about the Protocol and the standards that it sets for Africa. This fact is compounded by the low use of international human rights instruments and the poor record of compliance of States Parties to these instruments. The Protocol itself does not contain sanctions for non-compliance. And uncertainties abound regarding the merger of the Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Court of Justice of the AU. It is as yet unclear how the merger will affect the AU’s capacity to promote and protect human rights. In addition, countries will also have to make a declaration accepting the competence of Court to receive individual complaints before their citizens enjoy its protection.

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SMS messages in support of the Solidarity for African Women's Rights campaign:

1. Thanx 4 the update. Its gd progress. I'll share the information with my colleagues. Tanzania

2. Hooray 4 the gd news. Uganda

3. Youth dev't forum uganda do recommend the ratification of women's rights in africa and world over,and we do commit ourselves to advocate for it and stand, Uganda

4. Great news! Thanks 4 the hard work sisters, South Africa

5. Great News. We should continue our fight for more ratification. DRC

6. I am in support of the ratification of the protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. Nigeria

7. African leades: Walk the talk on women's rights. Ratify and implement. Kenya

You can send an SMS message in support of the SOAWR by sending a message to +27-832-933-934 with the word petition followed by your full name

Nearly 4 000 people have told African leaders to ratify the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa.

You can join then now by signing a petition to African leaders online, by email or through sending an SMS message.

To sign online, visit http://www.pambazuka.org/petition

To sign by email, send a message to [email protected] with your full name in the body of the email

To sign by SMS, send a message to +27-832-933-934 with the word petition followed by your full name

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Contents

* Challenges of Domestication: The Protocol To The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on The Rights of Women in Africa

Once 15 African countries have ratified The Protocol To The African Charter On Human and Peoples' Rights On The Rights of Women in Africa, its provisions will have to be included in country-level legislation. This is the next challenge facing the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights Campaign, says Sarah Mukasa, who assesses some of the potential stumbling blocks inherent in the domestication process. “It is imperative that strategies adopted for this campaign take into account these factors and prepare for the resistances that will surely come,” she warns.

* HIV/AIDS – A challenge to the successful implementation of the protocol

HIV/AIDS poses an enormous challenge to gender equality in Africa, states Elize Delport. She writes that The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa has the potential to ensure the development of a strategic human rights response specifically suited to those most affected by the pandemic – the women of sub-Saharan Africa.

* Regulation of information during conflict situations: The role of women

If women are to participate fully in brokering peace, in decision making, and in post conflict reconstruction, it is imperative that they work in partnership with all forms of media at their disposal to raise awareness, to ensure participation of women of all ages, to influence policy decisions, and to ensure accountability on the part of governments, NGOs, and international organizations, writes Amie Joof- Colé?

* Strategies for civil society organisations in moving from ratification to implementation in West Africa

Most West African countries have signed and ratified international and regional instruments on women's rights, notes Aminata Dieye. But despite the legal arsenal, statutory inadequacies and weaknesses translate into continued existence of discriminatory provisions. It has become crucial, she argues, that organisations are better mobilised and more vigilant so that change in African women's lives becomes a reality. (French version also available)

* Who will Bell the Cat? Restoring Rights to African Women

Macro-economic reform, armed conflict and weak democratic political institutions are some of the limitations to enacting laws that protect women. A strong political will by African governments against these forces is crucial for the enforcement of laws that protect women, writes Eve Odete.

* Women and the MDGs

In 2000, 189 world leaders signed the Millennium Declaration and committed to "free all men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty". As a result eight Millennium Development Goals were formulated with a target to half poverty by 2015. The 2005 World Summit of the UN General Assembly will be held from 14-16 September to review progress towards these goals. Karoline Kemp examines what the MDGs say about gender and how they relate to African women.

* Women’s rights: Campaign updates from around Africa