Highlights from this issue
Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa: A pre-condition for health and food security
2005-01-20, Issue 190
http://pambazuka.org/en/category/highlights/26453
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It is women who make up 50 percent or more of the population of most African countries and it is women who face growing responsibility - nearly 50 percent in some countries - for heading their households in the face of discriminatory laws, societal prejudice and sometimes violent oppression.
Yet towards the end of this month an elite circle of men will meet in Abuja, Nigeria with the power to make a significant difference in changing the lives of women on the African continent. The African Union meeting of African leaders in Abuja will consider food security and health. In their discussions, African leaders should be aware of statistics which show that in both these areas, much work needs to be done. For example, in the field of health 600 000 women –many in the developing world – are believed to die from pregnancy-related causes every year. In agriculture, women are believed to produce 80 percent of food on the planet, yet they receive less than 10 percent of agricultural assistance.
The list of statistics is endless – and nearly none of the statistics reflect well on the policies of countries. African leaders should keep in mind that failure to consider the rights of women will lead to failed policies, while the continual oppression of a significant portion of their populations will not contribute to overall development.
When it comes to the rights of women, African leaders have at their disposal an effective mechanism to enforce the rights of women. The African Protocol on the Rights of Women is a comprehensive legal framework to guarantee the rights of women on the African continent. But 15 individual countries need to ratify the Protocol before it can come into force and domestication of its provisions in national laws can begin. So far only seven countries have completed the ratification process – despite the fact that the Protocol was adopted in July 2003.
This edition of Pambazuka News is focused on the rights of women. Most of the articles are about the experience of African women in the areas of food security and sexual and reproductive health rights. They highlight the situation of women and the guarantees that the Protocol will offer to women. There is also information about the campaign by a coalition of civil society organisations - operating under the banner Solidarity for African Women’s Rights - to speed up the ratification and implementation of the Protocol.
The rights contained in the Protocol should not be considered as optional by African leaders. These rights are not trinkets to be handed down from on high. They are not even rights that should have to be fought for. Without them the very right to life is compromised.
Nor is the ratification and domestication of the Protocol an exclusively woman’s affair. It is not a charitable act. The freedom of men is conditional on the freedom of women and therefore both sexes have a vested interest in ensuring that the rights of women are protected and enforced.
FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE:
A. Promising health and food security
Political will, political will and political will: This is the essential ingredient to make sure that women are able to access their rights to health and food security, states SAUDATU MAHDI from Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) in Nigeria.
B. Making reproductive health rights a reality
The politics of control must not be allowed to gain prominence over the right of women to choose, argues ANNE GATHUMBI from the Coalition on Violence Against Women.
C. Unlocking women’s right to land
Barriers facing women in their access to land are complex, but the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa does offer hope, says this article from women’s rights organisation EQUALITY NOW.
D. Towards human rights of all women in Namibia
When the women’s rights organization Sister Namibia held workshops using the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women, participants were amazed at the rights to which they were entitled. LIZ FRANK says the work will continue so that women can stand up for their rights.
E. Pambazuka News Background: The right to food, the right to life
Laws governing land, unfair economic policies and an HIV/AIDS epidemic all conspire against food security for women. But securing food security for women is key to unlocking a host of other rights.
F. Pambazuka News Background: The right to health, the right to life
It’s taken decades to build up the international framework that guarantees women’s sexual and reproductive health rights. Now is the time for governments to make those rights realities or face the consequences.
G. Masculinity, Peace Processes, Impunity and Justice
War, with disastrous consequences for women, is the only solution that a masculine-ruled world has to resolve conflicts. Peace processes, writes ANA ELENA OBANDO, are opportunites to imagine a new world.
H. Djibouti is well down the road to ratification of the Maputo Protocol relating to women’s rights in Africa, says ZEINAB ALI KAMIL
Djibouti s’engage vers la voie très prochaine d’une ratification du Protocole de Maputo relatif aux droits des femmes en Afrique
I. What’s happening around the continent?
An update on the campaign for the ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa
J. Signed and sealed, but hard work ahead
A Profile of the seven signatories to the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa
K. Ten facts and figures on women’s rights
Books And Arts. A review of ‘Tears of Hope: A Collection of Short Stories by Ugandan Rural Women’