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11. In a briefing on the degree of realisation of commitments made at 1997 annual meeting of African Leaders and the May 1998 inaugural Africa Women's Forum in Cape Town South Africa, the Africa Leadership Forum outlined progress made including the following; · The creation and launching of the Africa Women's Forum in May 1998 by the Africa Leadership Forum to be a regional network comprising organisations as focal points in each country, for the exchange of experiences and development of strategies to promote the access of women to critical positions of leadership; to accelerate the advancement of women and to promote solidarity and mutual reinforcement of concerns; regular exchange of experience and peer training, the holding of yearly conferences and the organisation of other activities.

· The effective development of the Index on the Status on the Women as a negotiation platform for women and civil society organisations in Africa, for the purposes of which a team of consultants was identified and engaged.

· The creation of the Africa Women's Forum website as an information exchange and discussion medium for African Women. The website presents amongst things, The Index on the Status of Women in Africa, information and pictures galleries on past AWF events,

· The creation of the AWF Monitor, an electronic newsletter on information including, announcements of gender-focused events, strategic partnerships and opportunities, book reviews etc · The strengthening of the Gender Desk at the ALF secretariat with a Gender Programmes Officer The Africa Leadership Forum also indicated that negotiations with donor agencies that that indicated interest in supporting the compilation of a directory of African Women Networks were unfortunately, not fruitful. A preliminary consultative meeting had also been held with Akina Mama wa Afrika on the Oral literature Project to properly document and disseminate the experiences of Africa women leaders.

· Akina Mama wa Afrika also presented a brief description of regional leaderships skills training programmes which hey had organised since the Accra and Capetown Meetings.

BUILDING THE CRITICAL MASS OF WOMEN POLITICAL LEADERSHIP IN AFRICA.

12. Participants recalled that women account for more than half of unpaid and unrecognised development contributions, and are at the core of most of African economies, contributing about 70% of total agricultural labour, and accounting for some 60% of informal sector activities. It was noted that women's marginalisation is, perhaps, most evident in the political sphere, and even though governments have declared their intentions to redress the imbalance in this area, has parity has not been effected anywhere? Women in Africa therefore, continue to be underrepresented in public governance and other institutions at both the local and national levels. Participation of women in Africa's leadership, it was reiterated, is a crucial element of good governance, which must be taken into consideration, by ensuring that the processes of policy making and resource allocation are undertaken in a just, gender-balanced, equitable and efficient manner.

13. While also recalling the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, participants reiterated that the equal participation of women and men in decision-making is the means by which a balance that more accurately reflects the composition of society can be struck, thus strengthening democracy, promoting its proper functioning and ensuring a solid base for the rule of law. Furthermore such parity, as Mrs. Pintasilgo stressed in her Keynote Address, is the only relation that could procure the full universality of human rights and as such compels the re-thinking of other relations, notably work and the family, human organisations, culture and politics. Equality of access to political decision making was therefore described both as "unpublished" and because in nature- subversive unpublished because it has never was never been fully attained and because its outcome is equally not known, and subversive, because it demands a radical change in the paradigm in the most fundamental areas of relationship between men and women, not only in the case of inter-personal relationship but also in the allocation of social functions. Clearly, the past and present disequilibrium in these relations, she observed are incongruent with the desired parity between men and women that enables possibilities of pluralism, transparency and greater responsibility in the exercise of the functions of elected persons in any democracy. The goal of gender equality, participants agreed , is not a technical and practical goal, but rather a political process in which each of us can make an appreciable contribution.

14. Bringing about meaningful actions towards greater gender equality, participants agreed would require new ways of thinking in which the stereotyping of women and men gives way to a new philosophy that considers people, irrespective of gender, as essential agents and beneficiaries of change. There is thus the critical and urgent need for eliminating the barriers that continue to obstruct greater access of women to leadership positions for sound and sustainable development in Africa. The relevance of the empowering of women for equitable and sustainable development in the next millennium, it was noted, is thus a matter of high priority and a joint and collaborative rather than confrontational responsibility of both women and men .

15. Participants noted that in spite of widespread mobilisation by women, strong poles of resistance still persist the need for more collaborative rather confrontational approaches to engage men toward greater gender equality. Women's organisations and initiatives must as a way out continue to initiate more transformatory actions, capable of eliminating the underlying causes of gender discrimination that are largely rooted in erroneous interpretations of cultural norms and values, such as female genital mutilation, some of which are unfortunately suffered by women.

16. In her Keynote Statement, Mrs. Pintasilgo also regrettably pointed out that regrettably, women were more often than not constrained to assimilate the masculine cultural values drawn from the public life as a result of the rejection by women themselves of women-specific values and culture, in their eagerness to work on an equality basis with men. Whereas when equality becomes synonymous to total integration of women to the world of men folk, it can create another form of inequality. The resultant invisibility and silence that follow further weigh down the women, resulting in an enormous loss of a vast unexploited potential in terms of innovation in social and political life. It was also pointed out that mechanisms employed to enhance the process of gender equality in the political field often have perverse effects that do not only negatively affect women but also indicate the non-existence of real agreement and commitment towards a new democratic framework and an adequate public policy that will meet the demands of today's society.

17. While not underestimating the relevance of legislation to improving the status of women in Africa, participants cautioned that countries must not be allowed to flag legislation just to pay lip service to improving the status of women, while making very few changes. It was noted that legally, most countries have been enshrining equal rights for women in constitutions or in legislation, while in reality equal rights are enjoyed by very few people. For the status of women to be improved, legislation must be backed by changes in former discriminatory views and in behaviour. Changes in laws are important but laws need to be effectively implemented for them to be meaningful for the vast majority of people. Participants noted that women's empowerment requires not only State enforced legal rules, but also socially-enforced norms and practices that go in the way of transforming, or where necessary eliminating patriarchal practices that impede the realisation of the goal of gender equality. Without this, there can not be real behavioural change. While also stressing the critical importance of structural and behavioural changes for the realisation of meaningful gender equality, Mrs. Pintasilgo observed that is rooted in the order of life which is impossible without change. This is because change is the driving force behind the human quest for adequate solutions to all the problems faced in the evolution of the human specie, she stressed therefore that the quest for responses to further address both the individual and collective needs of people, by bringing meaningful changes to their lives, must remain the key preoccupation of women in the political field.

18. Mrs. Pintaligo pointedly observed observed that thanks to the World Conference on Women and ensuing innumerable studies, the similarity of women's experiences irrespective of their legal status, geopolitical environment, age or culture has demonstrated beyond doubt that women emerged as a cross-cutting international social category in the new millennium. That means the presence of women in politics is no longer a marginal question. The centrality of gender equality to sustainable development and the social and cultural values inherent in women's participation in decision-making, participants agreed, would be decisive for the future. This is because of the resultant broadening of the collective imaginary mind, and the extension of the spectrum of possibilities will be more open in the management of public interests if society recognises the need to nurture and develop women's perspectives. She re-echoed the point that the removal of all the barriers against the equality of women, also translates into the elimination of deep rooted cultural taboos that relegate them to unrecognised private and domestic functions. The question of women's representation in decision-making therefore does not exist in isolation. It is constitutes only a subset of a larger and a complex socio-political ensemble of societal challenges whose global examination is a condition sine qua non to the question of gender equality. It is not a women's problem but a profound societal problem, and just as in the case of the multiplicity of deeper underlying causes of discrimination, participants agreed that there is no single solution to the while problem.

19 Describing the irreversible dawn on women's rights as synonymous with the end that is the social contract that centered on the sexual contract, Mrs. Pintasilgo warned that it would be illusive, to conceive the change of the sexual contract without touching the other components of social contract in which power poles within society are rooted. Many components of the social contract have to undergo serious transformation if women and men must participate in decision making. She suggested possible approaches to effecting changes in both the social and sexual contracts including ;

i. The revisiting of the processes of globalisation and regional groupings, a resultant consequence of which has been erosion of the citizenship strengths because of, which can become expanded sovereignties, whereby even smaller countries have to bear the responsibilities of becoming part of regional groupings and some other responsibilities vis-a -vis other societies.

ii. The revisiting of the global mechanisms and regulations of economic and financial power, expected to chart a new world order, that have inflicted unjust and strangulating misery on some societal categories of our times.

iii. The setting up of minimum standards of social rights capable of reducing the gap between this last right and what remains of our world.

iv. The re-definition of work in an active society characterised by transparency and accountability in the public.

v. The internal revival of the informal sector must merge in all aspects of labour, and greater shared responsibility for domestic tasks by both men and women, in such a manner that allows for the improvement of women's livelihoods.

vi. Associations and organisations must also be acknowledged not only as important components of civil society, but also as true social partners. A major challenge for the civil society is to extend to these organisations the status, which has been monopolized by syndicates and the employers' organisation, while ensuring the participation of the concerned organisations in the process.

20. In a statement of support for the Index on the Status of Women in Africa from the Global Coalition for Africa (GCA) Mrs. Aileen Marshall, Senior Advisor, strongly commended the Africa Leadership Forum for undertaking the innovative and fact-finding initiative. She described the Index as an action-oriented vital tool that will tremendously inform the dynamic process for addressing those underlying structural constraints that disadvantage women in Africa. She presented the GCA, an inter-governmental policy forum which is committed to promoting gender equity and the full participation of women in decision making process at national and our international levels, as she also expressed the hope that the Index will enable the Coalition to carry further its support for the advancement of the rights of women in Africa.

21. Mrs. Marshall however cautioned that the realisation of necessary changes will not be without difficulties. Changes, she said, will be variously resisted because this will require shifts in existing societal power poles and structures, in the course of which some will stand to lose. There will be ignorance-based resistance. There will also be the fear that is sometimes associated with change from usual or habitual societal norms and practices. Improving the status of women implies changing the balance of power in societies. This is not a linear process and achievement will not be made equally. However, achievements in legislation must be remain because other progress not backed by legislation and formal rules are easily revised and gains can very quickly be lost. She outlined various forms of discrimination and violence suffered by women, which in the end leave them with limited choices and access to vital resources such as land and credit, she expressed confidence that the Index on the Status of women provides the basic line against which progress can be measured, and also challenges countries and all of us to work toward narrowing the gap between men and women and the opportunities that they are provided.

22. In an brief statement, the Minister for Social Protection and Family Affairs for Benin, H.E Ramatou Baba Moussa commended the Africa Leadership Forum for organising the Meeting to address the pertinent questions on the issue of the Status of women in Africa. The Minister recalled past international efforts at improving the status of women while however regretting that their implementation in Africa has been hampered by environmental and man-made calamities, notably disease, fratricidal and global governance instruments and wars which compromise women and children's chances of progress and well-being. She called on all women in positions of authority to take concrete measures to foster women's development and leadership agenda and change the socio-cultural and customary barriers to resolving problems of discrimination. The Minister observed that the under-representation of women in politics is closely linked with their vicious economic difficulties, calling men to give up monopolised privilege for greater partnership and a new joint leadership with women for development in Africa.

23. Opinions were convergent on the point that several women have been able acquire considerable skills and resources guaranteeing their self-reliance but generally do not engage in politics. Attracting self-reliant women to politics therefore must be a crucial of goal of the women's empowerment process. Nonetheless, adequate strategies must be devised to move women in lower echelons of leadership to higher levels, and to help those already in leadership position maintain their positions for periods enabling them to effect meaningful changes. Most importantly, the mobilisation of support for women with interest and demonstrable leadership potentials is a key factor towards increasing the numbers of women rising to leadership positions. Women leaders must in turn, devise strategies for maintaining continuing collaboration with women's organisation, fostering women's agenda, and collectively concretely addressing women-specific concerns, without breaching loyalty to their respective political springboards or platforms. >>>continued

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