The African Union (AU) has launched a continental campaign to accelerate the realisation of gender equality and women empowerment.
The AU, through its ‘What African Women Want’ campaign, seeks to rally more action from member states to the commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment.
The campaign was launched on International Women’s Day last week and is set to popularise and advocate speedy and full implementation of the AU’s Strategy for Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (2018/28).
The strategy entails an actionable roadmap and communication instrument for partners, state and non-state actors, practitioners, a bridge for policy coherence and harmonisation towards regional integration and an accountability mechanism for women and girls.
Agenda 2063
It is also an operational plan that identifies actions to be taken at the continental, regional and national levels to ensure gender is reflected in and through Agenda 2063.
AU is advocating the implementation of programmes earmarked as part of the African Women’s Decade of Women’s Financial and Economic Inclusion (2020/30) at the national, regional, continental and global levels for women to realise, enjoy and benefit from their rights and expand the spaces for empowerment.
To make this a reality, the campaign is supporting the ending of child marriages, gender violence and harmful traditional practices. It further champions the eradication of preventable maternal mortality and HIV/Aids and seeks to ensure affordable, accessible, youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights services.
The AU is also championing women’s equal access to productive resources, including mining, land, credit, and information, communication technology (ICT), and training in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (Stem) subjects.
Other initiatives to be undertaken include guaranteeing equal pay for work of equal value; rewarding the unpaid work of women; enhancing women’s effective participation in decision-making through public, private institutions and the media; and engaging men, boys and the youth in the struggle for gender equality.
Gender management systems
Building strong gender management systems, including gender-responsive budgeting at all levels, is also part of the agenda.
The continent has witnessed years of activism, which has birthed legal reforms that have helped many countries to witness progress in women’s rights and status in societies.
However, the continent still lags behind in realising the goals set in continental legal frameworks, including the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa, commonly known as Maputo Protocol, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
Despite the legal frameworks, the rights of women and girls not being upheld and their full contribution to society being hampered by, amongst others, underlying structural inequalities that perpetuate harmful cultural practices, negative social norms and lack of bodily autonomy.
Aspiration Six of Agenda 2063 intends to have inclusion of women in decision-making, regardless of gender, political affiliation, religion, ethnicity, locality, age or other factors.
The agenda also seeks to ensure women are fully empowered in all spheres, with equal social, political and economic rights, including the rights to own and inherit property, sign contracts, register and manage businesses.
Rural women
It is, in addition, keen to ensure rural women have access to productive assets: land, credit, input and financial services, and eliminate gender-based violence and discrimination against women and girls.
The 2063 Agenda also seeks to secure full gender parity, with women occupying at least 50 per cent of elected public offices at all levels and half of managerial positions in the public and private sectors.
According to a 2019 report, The Power of Parity: Advancing women equality in Africa, although some countries have made tremendous progress towards gender parity in some areas, gender inequality remains high on the continent.
Women account for more than 50 per cent of Africa’s combined population, but in 2018 generated only 33 per cent of the continent’s collective GDP, a situation that reinforces and fuels inequality and compromises Africa’s long-term economic health.
The report notes that overall, progress towards gender equality has stalled over the past four years and at the current rate of progress, it would take Africa more than 140 years to reach gender parity. BY DAILY NATION