Gender Mainstreaming in the African Union Government

As part of the ongoing ‘Gender is My Agenda Campaign,’ aiming to mainstream gender in the African Union (AU), the women’s civil society networks have organized the 10th AU Pre-Summit Consultative meeting which was held in Accra, Ghana, on the 23rd and 24th June. This meeting precedes the 9th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union and will be the 10th in a series of consultative meetings of civil society networks concerned with gender issues and the promotion of women’s human rights in Africa.

The Accra Summit of the AU Heads of State is particularly important for the future of the African Continent as the discussions will be focusing on the possible creation of an ‘African Union Government’.

The main objective of this meeting was for civil society members of the campaign to ensure that women are fully included in the discussion and consultation process of this possible integration, not only at the higher levels of government, but also at the grassroots levels. In addition there was the call for the full and effective implementation of the Solemn Declaration, which calls for gender parity and gender mainstreaming, into the mechanisms of the African Union, and its member states.

The Pre-Summit meeting was also building upon the positive steps made at the 9th Pre-Summit Consultative meeting in Addis Ababa-January 2007.

On the Union Government:

The African Women of the Gender is my agenda Campaign urge the Assembly of Heads of State and Government to:

1. Include the gender parity principle in the new Constitutive Act of the Union Government and maintain it in all the Organs, structures and programmes of the African Union Government, Regional Economic Communities and National Governments as stated in the SDGEA;

2. Ensure that gender is mainstreamed in all the proposed 16 strategic focus areas and the eventual community domain of the Union Government;

3. Separate the existing Gender and Youth joint strategic area of focus in the Study on an African Union Government to become two separate and distinct areas of focus;

4. Give priority to women and gender issues by ensuring that it becomes the first strategic area of focus for the Union Government;

5. Establish a Gender and Women’s Council as part of the Council in Configuration as proposed in the study on the Union Government;

6. Use the opportunity of the establishment of the Union Government to review compliance with the AU Gender Parity Principle in the protocol setting up the Pan African Parliament in addition to the Commission on Human and People’s Rights and the African Court on Human Rights;

7. Make the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the AUWC be observers at meetings of the Peace and Security Council, and also ensure that this advisory body regularly report to the AUC Chairperson on progress made in the implementation of the SDGEA;

8. Strengthen the position of ECOSOCC by changing its status from that of an Advisory body to a Consultative Organ of the Union while the PAP should be upgraded to become the legislative organ of the Union Government as proposed in the study on Union Government;

9. Support the proposal of the Chairperson of AUC on the need to strengthen the African Union Commission as the driving force of the Union Government;

10. Create greater opportunities for the empowerment of African women within the proposed Specialised Financial Institutions to be established under the Union Government;

11. Adopt the proposal to impose five US Dollars on each ticket bought for interstate travels in Africa and ten US Dollars on each tickets between Africa and other continents as viable funding mechanism for the Union Government;

12. Finally, ensure that the New Union Government strengthen all existing African institutions; making them accountable and responsive to the needs of African People and in reporting on their commitments to the African Women;

For more details about the Gender is My Agenda Campaign please visit our website on www. genderismyagenda.com or Femmes Africa Solidarite( FAS) on http://www.fasngo.org.
The final declaration is available here: Gender_Mainstreaming_Declaration.pdf
For more details on the work of the African Union visit http://www.africa-union.org

FAS is an international women’s organisation with the ECOSOC Consultative Status working to empower African women to assume a leadership role in peace building, and conflict resolution. FAS programmes operate mainly in war-torn countries such as the Mano River and the Great Lakes regions. FAS also works closely with African sub-regional and regional organs such as ECOWAS and the African Union to ensure greater involvement of women in decision-making processes for peace and development.

<< Back to main