Africa: Women's rights - How far to go?
Each year when International Women’s Day comes round it is an opportunity to celebrate advancements that have been made in the fight for women’s rights. It is also a time to chart a way forward to achieving even greater equality and recognition of the vital role that women play in society. In 2003 the African Union adopted the protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, as a supplement to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. This wide-ranging document served to firmly entrench the right of women to participate as equal partners both in the public and private spaces that they inhabit. This document is however only as good as its implementation.
In Africa, women continue to bear an inordinate share of the burden of underdevelopment. When the there is armed conflict, women and children are most vulnerable. In countries like Liberia and The DRC women have been brutalized and murdered by combatants in the conflicts.
Poverty comes with reduced means to livelihoods. Women tend to be affected more when there are fewer prospects for work, and yet in most cases they are responsible for looking after families and communities in need. In rural settings women still bear a heavier burden of work, often having to juggle between looking after their families and earning a living. In urban settings women are still not remunerated at the same level as their male counterparts and employment equity still remains largely elusive, despite great the great strides that have been made in countries like South Africa and Rwanda to achieve gender parity.
A study conducted in East Africa found that whereas the legal statutes implicitly recognise a woman’s right to own property, customary laws still make it difficult for women to own or inherit property. This has far-reaching effects on women’s ability to access credit or even earn a livelihood independent of men. These findings can probably be generalized for the rest of the continent.
Environmental degradation continues to affect women adversely. In rural communities, women have to work harder to access water and cultivate the land. Frequent droughts, environmental disasters and advancing desertification are all placing rural communities and, especially women, in an increasingly vulnerable position.
The AIDS pandemic has affected women most, with levels of infection steadily rising. A woman’s position is exacerbated by her inability to negotiate her sexual rights and access basic health care. Pre- and post-natal care is still beyond the reach of most of Africa’s women.
With the passing of another International Women’s Day, the call goes out to governments, communities and every individual to play a more active part in upholding the rights of women. It is only when women achieve their rightful place that true development and societal progress can be achieved.
* Related Links
African Union - Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa
United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/