Rural women end their conference in Entebbe

(AU Monitor)-- Women living and working in non-urban areas from 16 countries across Africa finished their two day conference held in Entebbe, Uganda between 21-22 July 2010 as part of the on going civil society consultations prior to the 15th ordinary summit of the heads of State and government of the African Union scheduled to begin on 25 July.

Co-organised by Akina Mama wa Africa and Fahamu-Networks for Social Justice on behalf of the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) coalition, the conference brought together women working on various issues in rural areas ranging from maternal health and reproductive rights to property rights among others. The women used the opportunity to share their best practices and challenges in advocating for the ratification and implementation of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (commonly known as the Protocol), which was adopted in 2003 by the African heads of State and government as a continental instrument to promote and protect the rights of African women and girls.

Since women are the most affected by the non implementation of the Protocol, they concluded their deliberations with key recommendations on maternal health, which is the theme of the upcoming heads of State and government of the African Union summit. ‘The time of promises is over, it is now time for actions’, said one of the participants.

The recommendations included: ‘All heads of State and government should sign, ratify and implement all their commitments to avoid unnecessary deaths of women; There should be partnerships between the civil society and the states when it come to implementing those commitments and the need for establishment of monitoring bodies of the processes of implementation of country members among many others.

As African leaders meet to deliberate on maternal health, they will be reminded of their many commitments on women’s rights such as the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa, the Maputo Plan on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, the African Women’s Fund-2010, the AU Women’s Decade 2010-2020 and the Campaign for Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA) that they have devoted to realise.

It remains to be seen whether the Kampala summit will not be another continental show where our leaders come to make empty promises while African citizens are suffering and dying day by day.

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