Rainitou Sow for Make Every Woman Count –  WNN Opinion

(WNN) OPINION: One year ago, the African Union declared 2010-2020 as African Women’s Decade. The theme of this year is “Health, Maternal Mortality and HIV/AIDS”. This decade is a promise from African governments and the African Union to promote women’s rights and achieve gender equality in Africa.

The African Women’s Decade is quite significant and unique. It officially puts women at the centre of every initiative or work that will be undertaken in Africa by the African Union, and its member states in the next 10 years.

Thirty years after the adoption of CEDAW (United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women), many women and girls still do not have equal opportunities to realise rights recognised by law. In most countries, women are denied the right to own property or inherit land. They face social exclusion, ‘honour killings’, FGM (female genital mutilation), trafficking, restricted mobility and early marriage, among others.

Women in Africa face dual legal systems wherein customary laws on inheritance, property ownership favour the men over the women and patriarchal traditions which consider men as heads of the family. Cultural marginalisation severely limits women’s education opportunities, which results in high illiteracy levels and a lack of qualifications and skills. These factors block women’s participation in politics, decision making and leadership positions. It is often notable that traditional and religious practices relegate women to traditional households roles.

Violence and discrimination against women are social epidemics and despite the progress made by women’s rights movements in identifying, raising awareness, and challenging impunity for women’s rights violations, serious discrimination continues to target women in Africa. In conflict-ridden areas like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Ivory Coast, and Darfur region in Sudan, women are raped as a weapon of war with no impunity.

In the past years, there has been some encouraging progress regarding gender equality in Africa. Some states have made considerable advancements in protecting women from sexual violence and encouraging women to participate in politics and election. Most have gender policies or some kind of national women’s mechanism, such as a Ministry of Gender or Ministry of Women’s Affairs. There are aspects of gender equality in many constitutions and some countries have passed other laws on different aspects of women’s rights.

Despite growing numbers of women’s parliaments, women’s participation in politics is still far from adequate in Africa. However, according to the UN MDG’s (Millennium Development Goals) 2011 report, Sub Saharan Africa has registered an increase from 13 percent in 2000 to 20 percent in 2011, with North Africa also seeing a similar increase, with 3 percent in 2000 up to 12 percent in 2011.

There has been some recent progress regarding women’s political participation with Ethiopia, Madagascar and the United Republic of Tanzania recording improvements in 2010. Women’s representation in parliaments in Sub-Saharan Africa is now higher than in South Asia, the Arab states or Eastern Europe. Rwanda has proven to be a regional leader in terms of gender main-streaming, access to legal aid and women’s political participation with 51% of females holding parliamentary seats; the highest in the world.

In April 2011, The president of Mali appointed Cisse Mariam Kaidama to be the country’s new prime minister. Kaidama is the first woman to take on the top job in Malian politics. In July 2011, Angola took a step forward for women’s rights by enacting a Law to criminalise domestic violence and offer protection and support to victims and their families. Kenya and Guinea-Bissau have become the latest countries to make genital mutilation illegal by passing a law prohibiting the practice, and Equatorial Guinea ratified the Maputo Protocol and so became the 31st country to do so.

Most African countries have ratified CEDAW (with the exception of Sudan and Somalia), and so far, 31 out of 53 countries have ratified the Maputo protocol with the latest being Equatorial Guinea.

By placing women at the centre of it all, African women and girls will have an opportunity to flourish and become advocates and leaders. However, there is a need for African Governments to back up their commitments with actions. We need to empower African women and girls with the tools they need to become agents of change. In 10 years, we need to look back at the African Women’s Decade and be proud of what we have achieved as individuals and as a global community.

___________________________________________________________________

In June 2011 The White House (U.S.) sponsored the Young African Women Leaders Forum where First Lady Michelle Obama traveled to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa and Gaborone, Botswana to meet with young women who are making an impact in their own countries with human rights and equality. Toyosi Akerele from Nigeria is one of these women. This 1:45 min video is a production of The White House Office of Public Engagement.

___________________________________________________________________

For more in-depth information on this topic:

“Africa Women’s Decade: One Year On,” Make Every Woman Count report, October 30, 2011.

_______________________

Rainatou Sow is the founder and executive director of Make Every Woman Count. MEWC – Make Every Woman Count is a young women-led organisation committed to actively promoting and advocating for the empowerment and rights of African women and girls and to raise awareness of the African women’s Decade. The  MEWC website aims to be a comprehensive online resource to support the empowerment of African women and girls. Make Every Woman Count focuses on 6 priority areas that are vital to women’s rights and gender equality: Human Rights of Women, Women, Peace & Security, Violence Against Women, Political Participation, Economic Empowerment, HIV/AIDS & Reproductives Health.

_____________

©Women News Network – WNN
Opinions in WNN commentaries have been released to allow open discussion and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of WNN. No part of this commentary may be reproduced without prior permissions from WNN &/or the author.
__________________

  Africa women, africa women inheritance, africa women land rights, africa women law, africa women property, african girls, african governments, african hiv/aids, african rights, african union, African women, african women’s decade, CEDAW, cedaw africa, chad, cisse mariam kaidama, Clinton Global Initiative, Congo, cultural marginalisation, darfur, domestic violence africa, early marriage, educating women africa, equality africa, ethiopia, female genital mutilation, FGM, gender equality, gender policies, guinea, honor killings, human rights, human rights africa, human trafficking, Kenya, land rights women, madagascar, mali, maputo protocol, maternal health, maternal mortality, MDGs, metered, michelle obama africa, Millennium Development Goals, ministry of women’s affairs, parliamentary women, property rights, protecting women, Rainitou Sow, rape as a weapon of war, Rwanda, sexual violence africa, sub-saharan africa, Tanzania, the white house, UNICEF, United Nations, violence against women, wilpf, wnn, wnn opinion, women decision makers, women discrimination, women education africa, women empowerment, women illiteracy, women in government, women in parliament, women leadership, women legal africa, women politics africa, women social exclusion, women’s equality, women’s rights, women’s rights Africa