Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) Public forum

The Public forum on the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women and regional integration was held on 26th June 2006 at the British Council Hall, Accra Ghana. The public forum was set out to discuss the relevance of the Protocol within the grand debate on African Union Government or Regional Integration which is the theme for the African Union Summit. The Public forum was also discussed the gender perspectives within the proposed continental government.

The Public forum started with a welcome address from Charity Binka (Women Media and Change-WOMEC) who welcomed the participants to Ghana highlighting it was the right time to be in Ghana which had just celebrated its 50th anniversary after independence. She also mentioned that Ghana had just got a female Chief Justice. She encouraged the participants to think about the role of women as equal partner in development and hoped that the discussions would enable the participants gain some insight into the Grand Debate on Continental unity. Faiza Mohamed (Regional Director for Equality Now, Africa Office) welcomed the participants on behalf of Solidarity for African Women’s Rights Coalition (SOAWR). She gave a brief background on SOAWR and the campaign objectives which are to popularize the protocol and ensure universal ratification and subsequent implementation of the African Union’s Protocol on the Right of Women in Africa. She expressed concern that the women’s issues and perspectives were not being raised adequately in the continental debate that is going on and expected this forum to carry forward these concerns and perspectives into the grand debate on the Union Government. She highlighted some examples on discrimination against women I regards to trade, freedom of movement and citizenship and urged the participants to consider some questions; such as what did the continental government mean for women; how would harmful traditional practices such as the troskosi in Ghana be addressed within the Union Government and how would the citizenship issue be addressed to ensure that “business will not remain usual” when continental government is set up.

Irungu Houghton (Pan African Adviser, Oxfam GB) highlighted that the discussion was devoid of clear engendered studies on the union or the voice of women, he stated that if women could not claim the policy space they should claim the political space. He urged the participants to think of what type of Union Government would tackle women’s issues such as right to property and citizenship among others. He pointed out the AU Protocol on the right of women created common standards and entitlements for women across the continent. Women must reach out to policy makers, Heads of States and Government and send a clear message that in their debate they must include women and their issues; he noted that it would be tragic if the only woman Head of State (President of Liberia) did not speak out for women but it would even be more tragic if the rest of the Heads of State ignored her. He also urged women to reach out to the national delegations attending the African Union Summit at various intervals.

Dr. Dodzie Tsikata (Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research – ISSER) gave the key note address and discussed the relevance of the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa in the United States of Africa. She started her address by stating that the Grand debate on regional integration was the best opportunity to discuss the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women. The regional integration would allow for more opportunities and rights of citizens and improvement of their livelihood. It was a time to discuss documents that were relevant to human rights and lay down the principles and standards to be observed through out Africa. She emphasized that the Protocol was relevant both in form and content. The Protocol could be used to gauge the progress of women, it could be used to inform strategic action in the grand debate and match up the provisions of the Protocol amongst the 16 key areas identified for the discussion at the AU level. She highlighted the provisions within the Protocol and reminded the participants that the Protocol is an AU document and therefore makes it a good building block for the Unity Project. She cited some of the challenges such as the slow pace of ratification and suggested that the ratification of the Protocol could be among the criteria to be satisfied before countries join the Union Government. She urged women to ensure that the debate was continuous even after the summit and demand for more consultations. She also urged women and women’s organizations to start to analyze the various structures and institutions within the AU to enable them demand for more gendered processes to be activated and ensure that women are not left out and marginalized.

During the second session of the public forum Sarah Mukasa (Director of Programs African Women’s Development Fund - AWDF) gave a presentation on the Continental Government from a gender perspective. She called for principles of gender equality as a minimum standard within the Union government and the end of impunity for both state actors and non state actors. She called for measures and sanctions to be embodied within the Union government. She called for an Africa that affirms women as its people, that protected women’s bodily integrity and that grants its women all human rights and freedoms including the right to citizenship and an Africa where patriarchy’s ugly head is absent. She condemned the neo-liberal economic growth models and the commoditization of social services as this would be detrimental to women. She urged women to ensure to safeguard the gains made for women on the continent and the principle of gender parity was maintained. She called for the strengthening of the gender machinery within the African Union and made reference to the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa which among the various commitments governments undertook to set up of a women’s fund however this promise has never materialized three year later. She urged women’s organizations to be pro-active and familiarize themselves with the structures within the African Union as well as create strategic alliances.

Patience Vormowo (International Needs Ghana) discussed the Trokosi Practice in Ghana, she brought along with her two young ladies who were survivors from the trokosi to give their testimonies. She started by explaining the trokosi practice. It involved taking virgin girls to shrines after a tragedy had befallen the family or when a member of the family had committed a sin. These girls remained in the shrine and become the property of the priest. The girls were exposed to sexual abuse by the priests and lived under miserable conditions and were denied education. International Needs had been working for 12 years to rescue the girls from this bondage and help them acquire basic skills to sustain themselves. The two ladies who were both rescued from the shrines by International Needs gave their testimonies and described how they got into the shrines, shared the shocking experiences they had and how they managed to be free.

Dr. Tajudeen Abdulraheem (UN Millienum Campaign) urged women’s rights organizations to conduct gender audits and governance auditing and seek accountability from their governments. He noted that although women had obtained gender parity within the AU, they still did not occupy decision making positions. He emphasized that women should be interested in the Union debate as well as participate fully because they were the ones that were often disposed of citizenship. When women married foreigners in many countries they automatically loose their citizenship or cannot pass on the citizenship to their children. They do not represent the constituent where they were born once they marry a foreigner, neither are they viewed as constituents in their husbands constituency. He urged women to fight for their cause and not get distracted from their struggle. He stated that women were the true pan-africanists.

Samia Ahmed Mohamed (Strategic Initiative for the Horn of Africa - SIHA) highlighted the need for awareness about the Union debate. She noted that in Sudan this debate had not been heard of and the people did not know anything about it. She pointed out that the pan-African movement was not known to all Africans and therefore it was important to engage all African citizens in the debate. She shared the Sudan experience with the African Union. She said that in Sudan people knew about the AU through the peace keeping missions posted there. She noted that in issues of peace and security women were not actively involved and that numerous gaps existed in the peace agreements in Sudan. She emphasized that it was important that women were engaged in the debate and especially the women living in conflict areas. If this was not done the Union Government could further marginalize women. She urged the participants and key stakeholders to work hard towards taking all people on board the debate.

The presentations created numerous discussions on the Union Protocol with an overall consensus that indeed Unity was the way forward for Africa. However the issues needed to be clarified and a clear understanding on what the Union Government would do for its citizens. The issue of culture drew numerous debates and especially the Trokosi practice which many participants felt that the Government of Ghana should be more active to eradicate. The panelist urged participants to be more pro-active and try and get information on what commitments their governments were making to ensure that their interests were always upheld and also enable citizens and especially women to hold their governments accountable.

Report by Caroline Muthoni Muriithi, Equality Now

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