Africa: SOAWR update on the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa

Update on the campaign on the Popularization, Ratification, Domestication and Implementation of the Protocol on the rights of women in Africa
Equality Now, January-March 2007

Below is the quarterly update (January to March 2007) that Equality Now received from SOAWR members who are campaigning for popularization, ratification, domestication and implementation of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa; and also from other organisations that are doing work around the Protocol. Also included is information on the status of ratification, meetings attended by the SOAWR members and upcoming events.

Country Level Updates

Ethiopia
The Action Aid Office in Addis Ababa reported that there was no progress on the process of ratification in Ethiopia. They paid a visit to the Ministry of Women's Affairs where they were informed that the Protocol had been returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for review of some of the provisions. Action Aid will continue to follow up with the Ministry on the progress of ratification. They were further advised that there was no urgency to ratify the protocol as the national laws were already in harmony with the Protocol.

Action Aid is encouraging the violence against women coalition to take up the campaign on the ratification of the Protocol.
The Inter-African Committee on Harmful Traditional Practices (IAC) in Addis Ababa reported that its Geneva office on 6 February 2007 organized a Special Briefing session at the UN office in Geneva, in celebration of the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). At the event, there was a strong presentation on the Protocol to an audience which included African diplomats. In addition a statement from the African Union representative at the Special Briefing Session mentioned that the Protocol is a platform to combat FGM.

IAC also reported that at the 51st Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York, February 27, 2007, the IAC Executive Director, Berhane Ras-Work made a presentation at a Parallel Event entitled 'Protecting Girls from FGM/Cutting' during which the Protocol was promoted as one human rights instrument that helps in the elimination of female genital mutilation. And in Spain, at a Seminar on 'FGM and other Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women And Children in Africa', held from 5-9 March, Mrs Ras-Work also presented a paper and highlighted the Protocol as an instrument that can be used to combat FGM.

The Gambia
The African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) reported that the Solicitor General and Legal Secretary of the Gambia, Dr Henry Carrol, stated on 25 April 2006 that the National Assembly reversed the Gambia’s reservations on the Protocol. A legal consultant was hired to analyse the national laws and draft a women’s bill to address gaps in the legislation with the help of a technical and advisory committee. The team held various consultations with various stakeholders cutting across the public and private sectors and civil society, religious leaders, scholars, legal practitioners and women at the grassroots level. The findings of the review of laws and international conventions as well as the outcomes of the consultations resulted in the drafting of the women’s bill 2007 which was validated by all the stakeholders on 28 March 2007 at a meeting that was officially opened by the vice president and the secretary of state for women affairs. The women’s bill 2007 is currently going through parliamentary approval process.

Ghana
WiLDAF Ghana reported the good news that Ghana's Parliament ratified the Protocol on 21st March 2007. This was confirmed to WiLDAF Ghana by both the Chairperson of the Gender and Children's Committee and the Minister for Women and Children's Affairs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in the process of preparing the instrument of ratification for submission to the AU Commission.

Kenya
On 27 February 2007 the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Kenya attended a meeting at the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs for the Advisory consultative Committee on International Human Rights obligations. FIDA (K) sits on the Committee. The ministry gave an update of the government’s efforts to fulfill its international obligations including the submission of government reports to the different treaty bodies to which Kenya is a signatory. They informed the meeting of the most recent treaties they had ratified and reiterated their commitment to also ratify the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women. However, a member of the committee pointed out that the slow pace of ratification was due to the government’s inability to meet the resources obligation that some of these treaties require of state parties in order to fulfill the actualisation of the rights provided for in these treaties.

The committee was tasked with preparing a list of treaties including the protocol that Kenya has not ratified and to come up with recommendations on courses of actions for the government to advance the ratification process.

Mozambique
Fórum Mulher reported that its members continued with advocacy activities around the Protocol and in particular targeted the Domestic Violence Bill, which was submitted last year by civil society, with a view to winning the support of the Mozambican Parliament for its approval. The bill is presently being discussed by the Gender and Social Affairs Commission of the Parliament. In its advocacy interventions, Fórum Mulher worked closely with the women parliamentarians and appreciated that all activities in support of the bill were closely coordinated with the women parliamentarians.

Together with COMUTRA (trade union of women's workers), OMM (Mozambican women's organization), Fórum Mulher organized events to celebrate 8 March, international women’s day. They held a march which attracted approximately 1500 participants including several dignitaries such as the First Lady, several female ministers and six women parliamentarians. The event which included drama staging aimed at raising awareness on the Campaign on Violence against the Girl Child in Education.

Niger
Coordination Non-Gouvernmentale Associations Féminines Nigériennes (CONGAFEN) had a dialogue with five religious leaders on 25 January at a meeting held to share information with the religious leaders. CONGAFEN also held a meeting with women parliamentarians on 6 February 2007 where the protocol and CEDAW were discussed, and specifically worked with the Minister for the Promotion of Women, on 2 February 2007, on an advocacy plan on the protocol and the CEDAW in preparation for successful ratification of the protocol by parliament and for the removal of reservations entered against CEDAW.

CONGAFEN and several other women’s structures also met with the President of the Republic on 21 March 2007 following an article by a French actress that caught the attention of the politicians. The article highlighted the plight of women in Niger and talked of the harmful practices that women are subjected to. It mentioned the problem of fistulas and early marriages and noted that the actress would use the staging of the Vagina Monologues in Niamey to highlight these concerns. It also noted that the actress had the support of the Federation Internationale des Ligue des Droits de L’Homme (FIDH) or International Federation for Human Rights (www.FIDH.org). During the meeting with the President of the Republic, CONGAFEN, and the other women present, urged the president to intervene with the parliamentarians so that ratification of the protocol and removal of reservations placed on CEDAW would be realised. CONGAFEN felt confident that their call was heard.

Nigeria
Women’s Right Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) started its International Women’s Day celebrations in Oyo state on 21 March 2007, where it introduced the Protocol to representatives of the 23 local governments of the state. The working document gave an overview of the Protocol, its status, contents and benefits and was translated into the local language (Yoruba).

Copies of the abridged version of the protocol were also distributed and the representatives committed to share this with the local authorities for wider circulation among teachers and members of churches and mosques. WRAPA has also offered its willingness to provide technical support to the Oyo state to undertake sensitization activities at local government levels.

In order to reach as wide an audience as possible in support of the protocol, WRAPA has identified language experts who will undertake translation of the Protocol into the three major Nigerian languages. (Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo).

Similarly, the abridged version of the protocol published by WRAPA in 2004 will be reviewed, translated into the three languages and widely disseminated. A graphic artist has been identified to make pictorial depictions of the provisions of the protocol along side the concerns they address and the benefits to be derived by women if the protocol is domesticated and implemented. These will be displayed at strategic public locations.

WRAPA in partnership with the Nigeria Law Reform Commission & National Human Rights Commission facilitated two trainings on Gender-based Violence (GBV) for Judicial Officers, Law Enforcement and Security Agencies. The trainings were conducted in the North Eastern and Central zones of Nigeria from 22–24 January and 7–9 February 2007 respectively. The broad objective of the trainings was to improve knowledge on Gender Based Violence (GBV) issues and responses.

The specific objectives included sensitising law enforcement and security agencies on GBV issues; refocusing understanding and responses to GBV issues; and establishing commitment and directing thinking and action towards prevention of GBV. The collaboration strategy adopted for the design and facilitation of the trainings proved effective and enhanced the quality of delivery of the training content. The Ministry of Women Affairs relied on the vast resources within the work of recognized women’s rights groups who are grounded in GBV advocacy, sensitisation and interventions on behalf of survivors.

The strategy paid off as participants in both zones confirmed the enrichment of their knowledge as well as the reinforcement of their commitment to respond to GBV along lines of best practices. Both trainings received effective media coverage from the national and state radio and television stations. In Minna zone, six electronic and print media outfits covered the opening ceremony and the event was broadcast at peak hours on the National Television Authority (NTA).

In addition, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Youth Development with support from the Office of the Special Assistant to the President on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) designed and conducted eight zonal three-day trainings on Gender Based Violence for officers of law enforcement agencies and related services including officers of the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Armed Forces, the Prisons Service, the Immigration Service, the Judiciary and the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria.

The selection of the target group for the training is justified by the central role these agencies play either as first line institutions that a victim of gender based violence turns to or their strategic position of responsibility for stopping national and transnational forms of GBV especially human trafficking.

During January-March 2007, WRAPA gave priority to the political participation of women in Nigeria’s 2007 elections and hence organized several events ranging from capacity building support to advocacy actions calling to attention for relevant provisions in the African Women’s Protocol and CEDAW in support for women’s participation in decision-making; and quantitative and qualitative documentation of the political aspirations of women showing details of the numbers of aspirants and candidates who have emerged from party primaries; women’s positions in political party structures, challenges women face within the party and in their constituencies, the potential for support and/or threats to their success in the April 2007 elections.

In commemoration of International Women’s Day 2007, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Nigeria Gender Budget Network and Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) organized a policy dialogue, in Abuja on 13th March 2007, on Institutionalising Mechanisms for Addressing Violence against Women in Nigeria. The objective of the dialogue was among other things to highlight policy trends and undertake an analysis of Nigeria’s legal and institutional frameworks for advocacy on violence against women. This was within the IWD theme for 2007 which was on ‘Ending impunity for violence against women’. Key concerns highlighted the lack of enactment and domestication of key national and international laws. Participants agreed that this deficiency has aggravated impunity of offenders and deepened the vulnerability of women to violence in public and private spheres. Major outstanding Federal legislations identified included:

1. The Violence Against Women (Prohibition) Bill, 2003, was put together by members of the Legislative Advocacy Coalition on VAW as a legislative tool that can be used to deal with the rampant and often ignored problem of Violence Against Women in Nigeria. This Bill was first presented to the National Assembly on May 28, 2002. This Bill has gone through harmonisation and reviews but has not been formally raised on the floor of the house.

2. Domestic Violence Protection Bill 2005’ sponsored by Senator Daisy Danjuma and is hinged on violence in domestic settings. The Bill has passed through 1st and second readings and is at Committee level.

3. Draft Bill on Elimination of Violence in Society 2006 sponsored by the Executive which has also passed 1st reading at the National Assembly.

4. The CEDAW Draft Bill titled 'A Bill For An Act To Provide For The Enforcement Of The United Nations Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women in The Federal Republic of Nigeria and for the Purposes Connected Therewith- 2005' This has passed 1st reading at the National Assembly.

5. The domestication of the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa which Nigeria ratified in 2004.

Other key policy issues identified were the lack of concrete commitment to gender mainstreaming and an absence of linkage between resource allocation and gender concerns. The absence of gender disaggregated data and prevalence data on many forms of violations suffered by women were also identified as key concerns that must be addressed if women in Nigeria are to enjoy the promotion and protection of their human rights.

During the International Women’s Day (March 8th) BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights marked the day by hosting women’s political aspirants in some local government areas in Lagos State. The aim was to discuss challenges faced by women in decision making and devise strategies for overcoming these challenges.

BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights with support from the British High Commission has been engaged in human rights training from a gender perspective for Sharia Court Judges, Magistrates and the Police for the 12 states that have adopted the Sharia legal system in Nigeria. The aim of the training included enhancing women’s access to justice and personal security in Nigeria to sensitise judges and the police on gender issues and women’s human rights. It also aimed at highlighting the importance of International human rights treaties as a framework for the protection and promotion of women’s human rights in Nigeria.

The latest training was held in Sokoto and Kebbi States in February 2007. The participants found the trainings to be very effective and in particular the participants were happy to learn about the international human rights treaties such as the CEDAW and the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women. The next trainings will be held in Kano State for Kano and Jigara States participants in May 2007.

BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights recently facilitated the launch of a network called “Journalists against Violence against Women’ (JAVAW). The network is aimed at highlighting various issues around violence against women and using the platform of the media to address these issues.

Uganda
Akina Mama wa Afrika commissioned a filming company in November 2006 to create a documentary on the protocol. The documentary seeks to highlight the views of rural and grassroots women on the contents of the Protocol and give them an opportunity to share and deliberate on its contents. The documentary once completed will be used as an advocacy tool to popularise the protocol in Uganda. The documentary targets the views of rural and grassroots women around Uganda and so far has documented women from the west and south of Uganda. The documentary shoot is still ongoing and will proceed to cover the other parts of the region. It is hoped that they will finish shooting the documentary by the end of April 2007. Akina Mama Wa Afrika will keep SOAWR members updated on the progress.

Tanzania
Equality Now joined the Tanzanian coalition members, who are campaigning against female genital mutilation (FGM), during advocacy visits to two ministers: Hon. Mary Nagu, Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs; and Hon. Sophia Simba, Minister for Gender, Children’s Affairs and Community Development. Upon enquiry about the status of ratification of the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women, both Ministers responded that the last session of Parliament (which sat on 1st February 2007) had approved the ratification instrument. The same was confirmed in the Hansard dated 1st February 2007 (one of the local daily newspapers). The African Union Commission, however, has not received it and Equality Now, together with the coalition members, urged the Ministers to expedite the deposit of their instrument of ratification. The Ministers assigned their staff members to follow-up on this matter.

Status of ratifications
The status of signatures and ratifications remained the same as reported in the last quarter: 43 and 20 respectively. Though Ghana and Tanzania have reportedly ratified their instruments has not been received at the African Union Commission and hence are not officially acknowledged by the AUC.

Status of signatures and ratification
At March 2006 At March 2007
Total signatures 40 43
Total ratifications 17 20

The Protocol entered into force on 25 November 2005, 30 days after the fifteenth ratification by Togo on 26 October 2005.

RED-CARDED COUNTRIES (7)

01) Botswana
02) Central Africa Republic
03) Egypt
04) Eritrea
05) Sao Tome & Principe
06) Sudan
07) Tunisia

YELLOW-CARDED COUNTRIES (26)
01) Algeria
02) Angola
03) Burundi
04) Cameroon
05) Chad
06) Congo
07) Cote d’Ivoire
08) Democratic Rep. of Congo
09) Equatorial Guinea
10) Ethiopia
11) Gabon
12) Ghana
13) Guinea
14) Guinea-Bissau
15) Kenya
16) Liberia
17) Madagascar
18) Mauritius
19) Niger
20) Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
21) Somalia
22) Sierra Leone
23) Swaziland
24) Tanzania
25) Uganda
26) Zimbabwe

GREEN-CARDED COUNTRIES (20)
01) Benin
02) Burkina Faso
03) Cape Verde
04) The Comoros
05) Djibouti
06) The Gambia
07) Lesotho
08) Libya
09) Malawi
10) Mali
11) Mauritania
12) Mozambique
13) Namibia
14) Nigeria
15) Rwanda
16) Senegal
17) Seychelles
18) South Africa
19) Togo
20) Zambia

PAST EVENTS AND MEETINGS
The World Social Forum (20th-25th January 2007) Nairobi, Kenya
The World Social Forum was hosted this year in Nairobi, Kenya. This created a great opportunity for SOAWR to popularize the campaign on the protocol. On 21 January 2007, SOAWR held an event to launch the SOAWR/Fahamu book titled, Grace, Tenacity and Eloquence. The objectives of the meeting were to popularise the protocol on the rights of women in Africa; discuss some of the key provisions within the protocol; and provide space for interaction with participants to contribute ideas and actionable recommendations towards the struggle for women’s rights in Africa.

COVAW, FIDA-Kenya and Women Direct took the lead in organising the event. Faith Kasiva (COVAW) introduced the purpose of the meeting, the theme and the panelists. Roselynn Musa (FEMNET) gave an introduction to the protocol highlighting several provisions as examples of the many rights recognised in the protocol.

Faiza Mohamed (Equality Now) gave an overview of the SOAWR campaign citing the various strategies that the coalition engaged to secure speedy ratification. Janah Ncube (Acord) discussed challenges women face in enjoying the fruits of the protocol and offered some ideas to advance the human rights of women in the continent. She stated that even though international instruments on women’s rights such as the protocol have been adopted and ratified, women should not wait for these instruments to take effect but should in their daily lives strive to ensure that their rights are protected.

Manal Abdel Halim (SIHA) discussed sexual and gender violence in Darfur citing examples of cases; she also spoke about the challenges women in Darfur face in exercising their rights and how SIHA is supporting local groups to be empowered to take actions to protect their rights. This was followed by a plenary discussion and thereafter the address from the key note speaker, Dr Eunice Brookman Amissah of IPAS who stressed a great deal on the importance of securing reproductive rights for women so that maternal deaths in the continent could be significantly reduced; she highlighted international instruments and declarations that safeguarded women’s reproductive rights; cited challenges facing women and concluded with some recommendations on the role women could play to secure their reproductive rights. She then launched the book Grace Tenacity and Eloquence – The struggle for Women’s Rights in Africa. The vote of thanks and closing remarks were made by Maty Diaw (FEMNET).

The meeting was well attended and drew almost 40 participants. SOAWR members had the chance to distribute campaign materials and networked with participants from different parts of the world.

The 8th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
In January 2007, SOAWR members (Irungu Houghton-Oxfam GB, Roselynn Musa - FEMNET, Wangari Kinoti - Women Direct and Caroline Muthoni- Equality Now) attended the 8th African Union Summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Due to the activities at the World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, many of the SOAWR members were unable to attend the AU summit.

These four organisations represented SOAWR at the summit activities. On 25th January 2007, SOAWR organized a public forum and the launch of the SOAWR/Fahamu book Grace, Tenacity and Eloquence which had been previously launched at the World Social Forum in Nairobi.

The public forum which was meant to serve as an outreach to Ethiopian civil society organizations attracted about 40 participants, among them representatives from local NGOs and UN bodies. SOAWR encouraged the representatives of the Ethiopian NGOs present to take up the campaign on the popularisation, ratification, domestication and implementation of the Women’s protocol.

It has been noted that despite Ethiopia being the seat of the African Union, Ethiopia had not ratified the Protocol. During the public forum, participants got to know about the provisions of the Protocol and the work SOAWR has been doing around it.

The book was distributed to the participants to use it as a tool to inform their campaign and participants were also encouraged to use the Protocol as a tool to fight issues that most affect women in Ethiopia such as female genital mutilation; abduction, domestic violence, inheritance matters, etc.

On 25 January 2007, SOAWR distributed color cards to the Ministers during their Session depending on whether their governments had signed (yellow) or ratified (green) the Protocol or done neither (red). The colour cards continue to be an effective strategy to remind member states of their obligations and commitments.

Many of the ministers recognised the cards from previous Summits. For example the Minister from the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic upon receipt of the card proudly exclaimed that his country was no longer in the red category but was now yellow. SOAWR called on states to ratify the protocol and for those that had ratified the protocol to implement the provisions of the protocol.

SOAWR members also took the opportunity to distribute campaign press releases to media attending the Summit and gave interviews as a way to popularise the campaign.

During the AU summit, the Assembly adopted a decision calling on member states to implement all commitments made in the African Union Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa and urgently to submit their baseline reports on compliance to the African Union Commission.

The Assembly also requested the Commission to urgently organise a continental conference on Economic Empowerment of African Women in order to articulate strategies to elevate the economic status of African women including the establishment of the African Trust Fund for Women. Lastly the Assembly appealed to member states which had not ratified the Protocol on the Rights of Women to do so.

The next summit will be held in Accra, Ghana, in June/July 2007 at which time new Commissioners will be elected for both the African Union Commission and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Joint AFRODAD- AFRIMAP-OXFAM report launch Towards a people-driven African Union on 24th January, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The book launch attracted about 50 officials from embassies, the AU Commission and civil society organisations. The report was the first independent public assessment of the progress of the African Union towards the goals of accountability of the institution and accessibility by the public. About 400 copies of the report were distributed (in English, French, Portuguese and Arabic) during the summit and some countries including Ghana, Senegal, and Uganda formally asked for more copies to be sent to their capital.

Sub-Regional Workshop for North Africa - Realizing Women’s Rights through Human Rights Education in Algiers, Algeria 17- 20 March 2007

Caroline Muthoni, Equality Now, attended this workshop on behalf of SOAWR. The workshop’s objective was to contribute to the implementation of the UN World Program for Human Rights Education and create awareness about African Human Rights mechanisms and instruments.

The meeting was organised by the African Union Commission (Political Affairs) and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs of Algeria in collaboration with the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The workshop brought together participants from Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. It drew participants from various government ministries, civil society, and the African Union Commission among others.

The five countries each gave presentations on the work that had been done within the education system to incorporate human rights education. Libya being the only country in North Africa that had ratified the Protocol mentioned that prior to the ratification it had already incorporated similar provisions within its national laws.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Senior Legal Counsel, Mr Feyi, gave a presentation on the work and the role of the African Commission in the promotion of human rights education and talked about the African Charter and the Protocol on the Rights of Women.

Mrs Yetunde Teriba, Acting Director of the African Union Commission’s Women, Gender and Development Directorate, gave a presentation on the role of the gender directorate and spelt out obligations under the Protocol on the Rights of Women and the AU Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality.

She talked about the Commission’s collaboration with civil society and in particular SOAWR and informed the meeting about the North African Consultative meeting that is to take place in April in Tunisia. Ms. Souad Abdennebi (UNECA) gave a presentation on the World Program for Human Rights education and a review of the recommendations under the Beijing and Dakar Platforms for Action.

Mr Mounir Lallaly of the African Union Commission gave a talk on the AU Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism and advised states to ensure that in the implementation of the convention and fight against terrorism they must be careful not to erode the human rights of their citizens and must ensure that enforcement agencies such as the police and the military are trained in human rights.

Thereafter Mr Med Imed from the Centre of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR) spoke about the work that the centre is doing in regard to human rights education for young people. He urged the ministries to consult young people when preparing the curricula to hear their views and concerns.

Caroline Muthoni gave a presentation on the SOAWR campaign. She emphasized the challenges that girls face in accessing education and highlighted those articles within the protocol that addressed these challenges and the provisions that required states to incorporate human right education within the school curriculum.

Three working groups respectively discussed Implementation of the world program on human rights education at the domestic level; strategy for security and peace building through human rights education; and building partnerships at domestic level for the promotion of women’s rights education.

They came up with recommendations that were shared during the plenary and led to the adoption of a Plan of Action. The plan of action amongst other things noted that the protocol among other regional and international instruments was a crucial document for the promotion of women’s rights and its content should be included within human rights education programs and further urged North African countries to ratify the protocol within the shortest possible time.

The declaration that was adopted by the participants will be shared with SOAWR members when it becomes available.

Conference on Domestic Violence Urges 'Family Conversations: Let’s Tell the Secrets'
The Institute of Gender Studies of Addis Ababa University (AAU), in partnership with the United States Embassy and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, organised its first conference on domestic violence to celebrate the 2007 International Women’s Day under the theme 'Family Conversations: let’s tell the secrets'.

The aim of the two day conference was to bring together students, specialists, journalists and activists in Addis Ababa to create a joint platform for action against domestic violence.

The conference was also meant to broaden and strengthen the national network of gender specialists, professionals and students interested in gender issues, so that they can more effectively fight against domestic violence and promote the implementation of policies to decrease the incidence of domestic violence in Ethiopian society.

The event was also an opportunity to bring the research, analysis and policies relevant to this field to a broader public.

The conference was held in the backdrop of the first acid attack in Addis Ababa where a young woman was badly scarred when battery acid was thrown onto her face by a man who had stalked her for five years.

The conference delegates took part in a demonstration held after the close of the conference to condemn violence against women.

The workshop presented various researches by graduate students of the Department of Gender studies Addis Ababa university that painted a graphic picture of massive violations of women’s rights in prisons, in the home and through FGM.

In her presentation Marren Akatsa Bukachi, Executive Director of the East African Sub-regional Support Initiative (EASSI) – a member of SOAWR, noted that GBV was endemic in many parts of the world. She noted that women were not safe anywhere, even in their own homes and many countries did not have proper legislation to address this. She observed that Ethiopia was not yet a signatory to the protocol on women’s rights yet so many violations were practiced in its own back yard.

African Civil Society Forum: 'Democratizing Governance at Regional and Global Level to Achieve the MDGs' on 22-24 March 2007, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO) and the African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) co-organized this meeting in cooperation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Union Commission (AUC). The purpose of the Forum was to bring together representatives of national, regional and international NGOs from Africa to explore the most effective ways to partner with and impact on African institutions: the African Union, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD).

During the meeting a workshop was held on the perspectives if African NGOs on the Human Rights Council (HRC) and the need for African NGOs to input into the HRC institutional building processes. Participants also discussed the challenges brought by conflicts in Africa on its populations and the daily violence against women which were seen as serious setbacks to reaching the MDG targets.

51st session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)

Several SOAWR members attended the 51 Session of CSW held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The theme of the CSW was 'The elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child'.

SOAWR did not hold any side activities; however SOAWR’s presence was felt through the participation of Equality Now, FEMNET and Women Direct at the African Caucus meeting where the call for the ratification and implementation of the Protocol was made through the declaration of the Caucus.

Breathing Life into the African Union Protocol on Women’s Rights in Africa
Book Review
Silvia Tamale PhD, Associate Professor and Dean of Law, Makerere University, Uganda gave a review of the AUC/SOAWR book Breathing life into the African Union Protocol on Women’s Rights in Africa, which appeared in the Gender and Development Journal, Vol. 15 issue 1. While she commended the book and declared it as a must read for women’s rights activists, human right practitioners, development policy makers, and students from various disciplines; and recommended that it be translated into Portuguese, Arabic as well as major indigenous languages to ensure a wider readership; she highlighted some shortcomings of the book for example disregarding the agency of African women, uncritically perpetuating the rights versus culture polarisation and assuming the readers’ prior knowledge evident in references made to the African Court and Court of Justice to mention a few.

Her review can be found at www.informaworld.com or http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/40220
UP-COMING EVENTS

The North Africa Consultation on Strategies for Accelerating the Ratification of the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa the in Tunis, Tunisia, 2-4 April 2007
SOAWR together with the African Union Commission’s Women Gender and Development Directorate are organizing a North African Consultation meeting in Tunis.

The meeting is expected to bring together government and civil society representatives from Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, The Gambia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sahrawi Arab Republic, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Chad, and Tunisia. This consultation seeks to stimulate the emergence of national campaigns in countries in Northern Africa where ratification has not happened.

It will therefore focus on issues relating to the legal, cultural and religious challenges that have prevented ratification in most countries of this region so far and highlight good practices in member states from the region and from East and West Africa which experienced similar difficulties but managed to overcome them and ratified the Protocol. The consultation will also seek to encourage the invited countries to ratify the Protocol establishing the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Participants at the consultation are drawn from Ministries of Justice, ministries in charge of Gender and Women’s Affairs, National Parliaments, Civil Society Organizations, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), AU Organs, UN Agencies, the Media and other development partners.

Third Ordinary Session of the AU Conference of Ministers of Health 9th-13th April 2007, Johannesburg South Africa
The theme of the meeting will be 'Strengthening of Health Systems for Equity and Development'. The main objective of CAMH 3 will be to discuss pertinent issues related to health in general and the strengthening of health systems in particular.

Issues to be discussed include the state of African traditional medicines (ATM), human resources for health, the draft implementation plan for the outcome of the Abuja Special Summit on HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the draft plan of action on violence prevention, and the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa; the 'Africa Malaria Strategy' will also be launched during the conference. The main outcome of the conference will be the Africa Health Strategy and a Declaration on Strengthening Health Systems in Africa for Equity and Development.

The Conference will draw Ministers of Health of the African Union and health experts, officials from AU member states, AU Commission staff, UN Agencies, international organisations, Non Governmental Organisations and other civil society organisations.

The Second Meeting of African Union Women's Committee, on 18-19 April, 2007- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The meeting will be discussing the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa and reporting by member states in terms of implementation of commitments made therein. The AUWC also expects to generate its annual workplan. For more information visit the African Union website www.african_union.org

Forum on the participation of NGOs in the 41st Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the 15 African Human Rights Book Fair 12-14 May 2007 Accra Ghana
The African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHR) will organise the NGO forum to promote networking among human rights NGOs for the promotion of human rights in Africa.

The ACDHR will also organise the African Human Rights book fair during the forum and public sessions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to enable organizations to exchange their materials as well as publicize their activities.

The Agenda of the forum will be to discuss a number of thematic topics: The human rights situation in Africa, the Final Communiqué of the 40th Ordinary session of the African Commission and matters arising, the Protocol on women’s rights in Africa and the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa, the African Court, the Human Rights defenders, the death penalty, HIV/AIDS and trafficking in persons, corruption and Human Rights, Peace Building and Human Rights, Minority Rights and indigenous Peoples’ Rights in Africa and Human Rights education among others.

For more information on how to participate in the forum kindly contact the African Centre by either fax on +220 4462338/9 or email: [email][email protected] OR [email][email protected]

41st Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
The Commission’s Session will take place from the 16 - 30 May 2007 in Accra, Ghana.

Equality Now
30 April 2007