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Africa Women's Forum

28 - 30th May, 1998 Arthur's Seat Hotel
Cape Town, South Africa 

Summary Report

 1.   The Africa Leadership Forum in collaboration with Akina Mama WA Afrika convened in Cape Town, South Africa, the Africa Women's Forum from the 28 - 30 May 1998. The meeting was convened in furtherance of the core recommendations adopted at the end of the 1997, ninth annual international meeting of the Africa Leadership Forum held in Accra, Ghana on the theme: Preparing Women for the 21st Century.

 2.  The theme of the three-day meeting, which was convened by H. E. Mrs. Graca Machel, was communication and leadership for empowerment.  H. E. Mrs. Ruth Perry, former head of state of Liberia, delivered the keynote address; while Mrs. Baleka Kgotsisile, Deputy Speaker, Parliament of South Africa, gave the opening statement. In attendance at the meeting were 60 participants representing a cross section of the various networks within the women's movement in Africa, members of parliament, ministers and women from the professions including among others representatives of the UN ECA (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa) and UNDP (United Nations Development Project). 

 3.  The objectives of the meeting were to:

- Assess, review and evaluate progress made since Accra 1997 in promoting the empowerment and participation of women leaders in political and economic activities in Africa;

- Establish a consensus on priorities and mechanisms to sustain the gains of, and build continuity from the Accra meeting;

- Devise strategies aimed at enhancing the visibility and effective application of the leadership capacity of women in decision making positions;

- Promote and strengthen women's network in the region;

- Build an effective movement based on networking and  collaboration, around the African Women's Forum on key areas of concern for African women;

- Strengthen links between community leaders and development professionals.

 4.  Following up on these objectives of the meeting and using a combination of training and discussion sessions, the meeting then deliberated on the following issues: review of progress since Accra, overview of women's networks in Africa: emerging priorities and strategies; leadership development into the 21st century, and creating a vision for the Africa Women's Forum. 

 5.  Airing the session on the review of progress since Accra, participants commended the Africa Leadership Forum for seeking to consolidate the gains of the Accra meeting especially in convening the Africa Women's Forum and in its choice of a collaborating partner the Akina Mama Wa Afrika. Thereafter, the meeting paid tribute to the wisdom and vision of Nigerian President General Olusegun Obasanjo in establishing the Africa Leadership Forum .

 6.  Further noted the salutary efforts made in the interim to improve the role and status of women on the African continent, especially in the areas of conflict management and peace building initiatives in the Great Lakes sub-region. However, the participants expressed regret and dissatisfaction at the continued exclusion of women from the negotiating process in the region and called for steps to be taken to ensure the maximum participation of women at the highest levels of conflict resolution processes.

 7.   The apparent lack of obvious progress on other fronts was also noted even as the meeting urged the leadership of the women's movement to seek a more engaging and robust response to the myriads of challenges confronting African women. In particular, current operational frameworks/models for facilitating increased participation of women in leadership roles have not proved effective in assuring a marked change in the status of women in Africa. This was in part attributed to the apparent self-exclusion on the part of young women themselves from opportunities to acquire and exercise leadership skills. This suggests that the cultural barriers hindering the formulation of positive self-perception on the part of the girl child and young women need to be specifically addressed. The meeting expressed hope that the Index on The Status of Women being currently undertaken by the ALF when completed will strengthen the Africa Women's Forum as a platform for negotiating and securing a positive and qualitative improvement in the status of women in Africa in the years ahead.

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