Despite laws forbidding the use of child labour - often viewed as the norm and an important source of income - enforcement has been anything but strict in Malawi, until recently. Since March 2007 up to 480 children have been 'rescued' from tobacco estates in the district of Mangochi, once an important centre of slave trading on the southern banks of Lake Malawi.

Zimbabwe's seven-year economic crisis has forced private companies to make some difficult decisions about workplace programmes for HIV-positive staff. How do you provide life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) medication, care and support, when you're struggling to keep your business afloat? "We are meeting real challenges in carrying out HIV/AIDS programmes at workplaces, and this inevitably comes from the macroeconomic problems that the country is going though," Nyika Mahachi, the HIV/AIDS programme advisor at the Zimbabwe AIDS Prevention Support Organisation (ZAPSO), told IRIN/PlusNews.

Mozambique will need to employ more than 100 000 teachers by 2015 in order to meet United Nations' millennium development goals for education, national media reported on Thursday. Radio Mozambique said in a report - quoting a study done by Action Aid International in Maputo - that the country needed to employ 109 000 teachers by 2015 in its primary schools to attain a ratio of 40 learners per teacher.

Africa is the "forgotten continent" in the fight against climate change and needs help to cope with projected water shortages and declining crop yields, the United Nations's top climate change official said on Sunday. Yvo de Boer said that damage projected for Africa by the UN climate panel would justify tougher world action to slow global warming even without considering likely disruptions to other parts of the planet.

United Nations peacekeepers will help the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) army disarm eastern dissident groups by force in violence-plagued North Kivu province, UN and Congolese commanders said. Army soldiers and fighters loyal to renegade Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda clashed again on Thursday a few kilometres from Rutshuru, where the dissidents attacked an army base a day earlier and forced thousands of civilians to flee.

The Biennial Commonwealth Summit takes place in Kampala, Uganda 22-24 November amidst the usual controversies that have surrounded these summits whose importance in a world in which Britain is nothing more than post imperial middle power whose claims to global leadership is no longer based on its imperial past but in recent years toadying to the USA (one of its former colonies!) The association of the organization with British colonialism has always been difficult for many radical anti colonialists to accept. However it is significant that apart from the USA that never joined most of Britain’s former colonies chose to join after their independence even countries with radical nationalists and militant anti imperialist governments like Nkrumah’s Ghana or Ghandi’s India. Instead of leaving the organization what has happened is that countries in Africa with tenuous or no direct links to British colonialism like Mozambique, Namibia and Cameroon have either joined or have some associate membership. Rwanda’s application to join has been pending since 1996.

The justification has always been that though these countries were forcibly colonized by Britain that experience has led to a number of shared institutions, histories and above all, English as their official language that could be the bases for technical, political, economic, cultural and diplomatic interface that goes beyond Britain. The Commonwealth, in typical British pragmatism, has been adjusting to the changing fortunes of Britain as a declining imperial power. It has evolved from White British Commonwealth, through British Commonwealth, to now simply, The Commonwealth. It has grown from being simply an adjunct to British diplomatic and political interests into an organization where former colonies can and do strike back and isolate Britain on many issues. Under Margaret Thatcher and her belligerent position in cosying up to Ian Smith (who incidentally died , as the Queen was heading for Uganda , Wednesday 21 November) and his ‘internal settlement’ in 1979 and her ignoble support for the apartheid regime, the British government could not get the support of the majority of the members of the Commonwealth. Indeed in spite of British support apartheid South Africa was expelled from the organization and only resumed membership after the country was liberated from Thatcher’s friends. To the right wing politicians and their media hirelings in Britain the Commonwealth is an anti-British organization therefore they query why Britain had to be providing the large support it gives towards running it.

The Commonwealth has also provided a means for the cheapest form of diplomacy for many poor countries and statelets to also fly their flag. In these countries the Commonwealth’s development cooperation, technical support and cultural exchanges are very crucial in providing capacity building on skills to the nationals and their governments. In these countries the Commonwealth perform much needed and therefore appreciated tasks that the best of UN system wide support do in many countries.

However the good work of the Commonwealth whether through education grants, training for different kinds of professionals, supporting judiciary, etc do not make headlines. One reason is that they are relatively quite modest. The other and more important reason is that the politics of the organization is what interests most people. It is Just like the way many people unfairly write off the UN because of their frustrations with the opportunistic power play in the security Council.

The focus on Commonwealth politics is not a misplaced one though they need to be tempered with due regard to other useful tasks it performs. In many cases I think there is an exaggerated expectation of what the Commonwealth can achieve. It is a talking shop with no real enforcement powers beyond expulsion of erring members. And that option has been rarely used. Zimbabwe withdrew before it could be expelled. But the exit of Zimbabwe has not diminished the controversy around the conflicts in the country within the Commonwealth. It continues to divide the organization with perceptible clear racial lines that pitches the majority members against the old White Commonwealth members (namely Australia, New Zealand, Canada and their mother country, Britain). They take a more hectoring line on Zimbabwe while the African, Caribbean and Asian countries tend to be more conciliatory towards Mugabe. The British simply do not have any moral or political right to lecture anyone about Zimbabwe. Their own inconsistencies also make them vulnerable to charges of multiple standards. The Zimbabwe conflict is parallel to Pakistan’s and the way Britain has been responding to Pakistan’s PERVERSE General Musharav is different from the way they talk to or about Zimbabwe. Why is it that what is good for the goose is suddenly not good for the gander? What has Musharaf lost by being expelled from the Commonwealth? It never affects its relations with London or his biggest backers in Washington? Although British hypocrisy does not mean that President Mugabe is right to be beating up his opponents and muscling the media, it gives his apologists ammunition to clobber opponents as agents of British colonialism and makes it even more difficult for Africans and African leaders in particular to be openly too critical of Uncle Bob and the excesses of his regime.

I thought Gordon Brown was more strategic and smarter than his predecessor, Blair, and would not be as sanctimonious as him but he has proven to be same, same. His threat not to attend the Africa-EU summit in Lisbon next month if Mugabe was invited has isolated him. He will soon discover as Blair did not just in Africa but also in the Commonwealth where even Britain needs friends. He should ask Mckinon, the Commonwealth Secretary General, about his experience at the AU summit in Accra in July. At a Pensioners’ Luncheon with the Leaders he looked on as these retired citizens praised Mugabe and demanded he address them. The wealth has never been common but it is no longer predictably British either. But when would it wean itself from the British Nanny by transforming into an organization that can welcome continued participation of Britain but can also do without it, as and when necessary.

* Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem is the deputy director of the UN Millennium Campaign in Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya. He writes this article in his personal capacity as a concerned pan-Africanist.

* Please send comments to or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/

The European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE), the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) and the Venice International University (VIU) are pleased to announce their annual European Summer School in Resource and Environmental Economics for postgraduate students. The 2008 Summer School will take place from the 6th to the 12th of July, at the VIU campus on the Island of San Servolo, in Venice, located just in front of St. Mark’s Square. The theme of this Summer School is Space in Unified Models of Economy and Ecology. Deadline for application: February 1st, 2008.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the move by management at the Guardian newspaper to end a 12-day strike by shutting down the newspaper and dismissing all its employees. The journalists and the other workers at the paper have been on strike since November 8 after negotiations with managers over a pay raise and better working conditions stalled. The Guardian online and print editions have not been published since then.

With your participation, WOUGNET in collaboration with Womensnet, South Africa and APC-Africa-Women (AAW), will be conducting an SMS-based campaign. The idea is to send out an SMS on each of the 16 Days of Activism that will allow individuals and organisations to Speak Out, Stand Out, and Commit to preventing Violence against Women. We would like you to send your slogan/message which highlights your resistance to violence against women.

New data show global HIV prevalence—the percentage of people living with HIV—has levelled off and that the number of new infections has fallen, in part as a result of the impact of HIV programmes. However, in 2007 33.2 million [30.6 – 36.1 million] people were estimated to be living with HIV, 2.5 million [1.8 – 4.1 million] people became newly infected and 2.1 million [1.9 – 2.4 million] people died of AIDS.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/broadcasts/Usu-Mallya.jpgUsu Mallya, the Executive Director of the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP), talks to George Njogopa about Tanzania and the Protocol of the Rights of Women in Africa, which the country ratified in March this year. She applauds the political commitment shown by the government but says it now needs to make sure that Tanzania’s laws comply with the protocol and that women are made aware of their rights.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/329/blogs_01_crossedcrocodiles.... of the leading topics on the African blogosphere this week is AFRICOM, the United States Africa Command. reflects the general mood among African bloggers with his argument that AFRICOM has no place in Africa:

“I don't think the greatest immediate danger posed by AFRICOM is from US soldiers and sailors. One of the things that worries me is that I suspect the mercenaries and mercenary corporations are what the US plans to use in Africa, in addition to training African military as US surrogates. These mercenaries may be employees of the US State Department, or some other US government department, as they are in Iraq. Or they may be the employees of giant corporations, such as oil companies. Whatever US objectives, arms and mercenaries can only destabilize. The presence of actual US military personnel may just be window dressing. The dirty work will be done by private armies and private CIAs. Already in the US these are taking over the functions of the military and intelligence. I am hoping a change in US administration may change the direction of this trend, but there are no guarantees.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/329/blogs_02_africa-speaks.gifThis view is shared by Africa Speaks who argues that:

“What Africa needs least is U.S. military expansion on the continent (and elsewhere in the world). What Africa needs most is its own mechanism to respond to peacemaking priorities. Fifty years ago, Kwame Nkrumah sounded the clarion call for a “United States of Africa.” One central feature of his call was for an Africa Military High Command. Today, as the African Union deliberates continental governance, there couldn’t be a better time to reject U.S. military expansion and push forward African responses to Africa’s priorities.

Long suffering the effects of militaristic "assistance" from the United States, Liberia would be the worst possible base for AFRICOM. But there are no good locations for such a poorly conceived project. Africa does not need AFRICOM.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/329/blogs_03_liberiaandfriends.gifLiberia and Friends blog however, takes a diametrically opposed view and insists that AFRICOM is good not only for Africa but specifically for Liberia:

“Why is it that so many African powers are against the United States setting up its African command on African soil? The answer is simple, African nations, at least those run by dictators, like Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, don't want more Americans, and their democratic ideas, upsetting the status quo…”

It then goes on to make the case for AFRICOM setting up its headquarters in Liberia:

“… coming out of almost two decades of civil war, and with our infrastructure, and economy in shambles… several hundred, or even thousands, of well paid American soldiers and civilians, would work wonders for the economy. And not to mention the huge financial incentive and the creation of thousands of jobs that would come with Africom requests for basing rights.

Another reason we Liberians should welcome Africom is because it would give pause to any future rebel group, or military commanders contemplating a coup.”
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/329/blogs_04_pickinjava.gifStill on the issue of security and western involvement in Africa, Pickin Java explains how western business and political interests use two myths to control oil in the Gulf of Guinea:
1. Business myth: "We are not involved in politics. We just make profits for our shareholders through managing the oil." Reality: Shell and other companies have been intimately involved with Nigerian state figures in creating the type of instability amenable to Shell's control of petroleum production, in order to suck the region dry and thus enrich elite political/economic/military 'shareholders'.

2. Military myth: ". . . in general, U.S. policymakers tend to be extremely well educated and dedicated professionals, earnestly working to advance U.S. interests. . . political and economic freedom, peaceful relations with other states, and respect for human dignity. . ."
Matthew V. Sousa and James J. F. Forest, Oil and Terrorism in the New Gulf: Framing U.S. Energy and Security Policies (Lexington Books, 2006), p. 148-149.

Because the Gulf is filled with dangerous terrorists and criminals that are against everything earnest U.S. policymakers believe in, it is important to prop up strong states with strong militaries to fight this menace. Reality: Provide the steel hand on which the velvet glove of business and politics can be worn. "Terrorists" are those who oppose Shell's, BPs and others' corporate interests.”
Pickin Java concludes by asking “How long until the U.S. finds the right kind of Musharraf for Nigeria?

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/329/blogs_05_africaflak.gifAfrikaflak tackles another contentious issue, China’s growing economic influence in Africa:
What the Chinese seem to have done [is to] directly cultivate the people – you know, regular Africans. They’re building roads, bridges, buildings, railroads… The Chinese have most likely banked a lot of goodwill this way: ameliorating the standard of living for run-of-the-mill Africans, those people who never feel the direct benefits of debt relief or well catered Friendship Summits or satellites in orbit.
…
The Chinese offer Africans something real and concrete while American (and to a lesser extent, European) promises are abstract, remote even: democracy, participatory government, rule of law – whatever you want to call it. The U.S. says, if you follow through on the first goals, the good stuff will follow. Later. Maybe much later.
The Chinese appeal to Africans’ base needs. This translates simply: If you have enough plastic crap, you won’t care about what junk the Americans peddle. In the end, everyone is happy: the stalwarts who get to remain in power; the family with their new tools to make their lives a little easier; and, the guy at the end of the street schlepping this stuff.”
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/329/blogs_06_thiswayplease.gifwww.dibussi.com

An anti-deportation campaign has been launched in aid of Amdani Juma, a Burundian refugee who has been refused indefinite leave to remain in the UK. Amdani, a torture survivor, came to the UK in March 2003 as a UN - sponsored asylum seeker and was granted humanitarian protection. Many of his family and friends were tortured and some were murdered. Many others like him were forced into exile. Amdani settled in Nottingham and worked at the Nottingham and Notts Refugee Forum (NNRF) for two years.

Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa, put his weight behind efforts to reform the IMF and the World Bank substantially. Addressing the G20 finance ministers and central bankers, Mbeki said the world's financial system, laid out in the Breton Woods arrangements after the war, have only served the minority interests of the world's leading economic powers. 'For a very long period we have had a multilateral system which in reality has been dominated of the many by the few,' he said.

The right to live free of violence and discrimination is the right of every human being. Yet, as we commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, this right is being violated on a massive and systematic scale. Violence against women continues in every part of the world and it limits social and economic progress and harms families and communities.

Welcoming the nomination of Nur Hassan Hussein as the new Prime Minister of Somalia, the senior United Nations envoy to the country has voiced hope that this move would pave the way for unity. In a statement, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah praised the concerted efforts of members of the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) that led to the decision and said he was pleased that the process was carried out in a peaceful manner.

President John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana has challenged auditors to fashion out multifaceted approaches to combat the nature of the threat posed by fraud and economic crime, which had the ability to erase gains made by government at improving public sector financial management.

Zimbabwe and China have relations dating back to the southern African country’s 1970s liberation struggle when Beijing provided arms and training to the black nationalist movement fighting the white minority government of Ian Smith. The friendship was rekindled when President Robert Mugabe, shunned by former friends in the West over the political crisis in his country, adopted a "Look East" policy forging stronger ties with countries like China, Malaysia, Indonesia and India.

Zimbabwe has launched the first commercial biodiesel processing plant in southern Africa, underlining the region’s resolve to move to cleaner and renewable sources of energy. This comes amid concerns about the impact of fossil fuels (coal, petroleum and natural gas) on global warming as well as depletion of the world’s petroleum reserves.

Widespread apathy exhibited by Algerian voters during campaigning for local elections has led the Ministry of the Interior and 23 participating political parties to trade accusations of corruption and blame for a potential boycott.

The Women’s Rights Protocol arguably demonstrated the maturity of the African women’s movement, showing the power of collective agenda setting and follow through in a systematic and coherent way, says Pamela Mhlanga.

As the second anniversary of the coming into force of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Women’s Rights Protocol) dawns, we need to pause and reflect. The adoption and subsequent coming into force of the Women’s Rights Protocol was a turning point in the struggle for the rights of women on the continent. Women’s rights discourse and practice was deepened and expanded, and the Women’s Rights Protocol has proved to be a source of inspiration for keeping the momentum to achieve women of Africa’s full equality. The reflection, during this second anniversary, should thus focus on what we know, what we have learnt, and what we are carrying forward to strengthen ourselves as a women’s movement, as well as the content and practice of women’s rights, thereby solidify the gains we have made and decisively tackling the gaps remaining.

The Women’s Rights Protocol arguably demonstrated the maturity of the African women’s movement, showing the power of collective agenda setting and follow through in a systematic and coherent way. It also signaled that the experiences, voices and engagement of women of Africa with human rights matter, and these nuances wee captured in the form of the Protocol. Significantly, it marked the further institutionalization and affirmation of the rights of women on the continent; there is now a ‘homegrown’ source of women’s rights to which we can refer, underpinned by universal human rights standards.

What we know, however, is that women ‘do not eat paper’, and we face the perennial issue of promise vs delivery, and, by extension, ‘paper rights’ vs substantive rights. What we also know is that African governments ratify international human rights instruments all the time, and, dare it be said, often with impunity, as a number of them dance the ratification dance at international level, yet show little sign of domesticating or implementing their commitments. A case in point is that all 14 Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries have ratified CEWDAW, and only 3 countries have domesticated it, due in part to unique constitutional provisions providing for self-execution of ratified international obligations. Another case in point, is numerous reports replete with empirical evidence of little progress in enlarging women of Africa’s entitlements to fully engage with rights, thus denial of rights is still rampant, from violations of bodily integrity, sexuality, and socio economic rights, to outright discrimination often entrenched in national legal frameworks; the long reach of patriarchy and sexism, and increasingly backlash and rise of fundamentalisms, continue to coalesce and pose a fundamental challenge to the positive steps thus far taken to claim our rights.

This contradictory picture of progress and regression begs the question, if substantive delivery on women’s rights remains such a challenge, how are we to reframe the struggle to claim our rights, and how do we continue to creatively use the Women’s Rights Protocol as a point of reference? Certainly for the women’s movement, the struggle for rights must not only remain deeply political, but also located and articulated within broader struggles for advancing participatory democracy, people centred development and good governance. It must go further and be framed as nothing short of an agenda for transformation; radicalising the empowerment project in a way that fundamentally shifts gendered stratifications in structures, processes, cultures and political ethos in new ways.

This agenda for transformation implies a reconceptualisation of indicators of success in achieving women’s rights as a ‘live’ and dynamic process, defined by what is working or not working for women at any given time, not confined to occasional reports, and defining one or two acts or promises by governments as evidence of ‘political will’. The current poverty eradication and HIV/AIDS response frameworks, for example, are not working for women, otherwise these devastating conditions would not have our faces imprinted on them; why after so many decades do we still talk about the feminisation of poverty?

It is absolutely essential that the ‘footsteps’ of women are traced, and their voices made visible in empowering ways, in order to excavate the authentic voice that will not be erased by sophisticated frameworks for advancing rights that are, at times, so complex many of us hardly recognise ourselves in them; the project, as one activist has pointed out, is as much about going back to basics in terms of raising critical consciousness amongst women about asserting our rights and dignity, as it is about sitting on high tables negotiating complex legal instruments based on our agenda and demands. The establishment of the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) is a point of departure, as the network is working towards harness this complex political agenda in the context of the Women’s Rights Protocol, in a way that aims to bridge the dichotomy between paper rights and substantive rights.

There is an understanding within the SOAWR network, made up of continental and national based women’s empowerment organizations, that the deployment of the Women’s Rights Protocol requires a deepening and broadening ownership of the content of the Protocol, achieved through mobilising a groundswell of support from all the places where women are, in order to create new opportunities for demanding accountability and delivery. Thus whilst some members are visible in key forums such as the AU and SADC Summits, others are taking the message to places where critical engagement is also essential, such as local communities. There is a recognition also that quiet diplomacy in pushing for change may be useful up to a point, so some members are working on public interest litigation cases, and using issue based advocacy such as gender based violence, to place the Women’s Rights Protocol on as many agendas as possible.

SOAWR members recognise the value of broadening the power base in order to ensure strategic influence at all levels, thus they have sought to engage both state and non state actors. In the years beyond this second anniversary of the coming into force of the Women’s Rights Protocol, there are various points of influence that will be necessary to continue to engage, not just by SOAWR but other initiatives, if the continent is to move from 22 ratifications to 53, and there is a fast and effective transition from ratification to domestication and implementation. These would include, amongst others, structured linkages with coalitions working towards an effective African Court on Human and People’s Rights, as well as groups addressing critical issues of people centred empowerment; closer ties with all Regional Economic Communities, supporting the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, a more pivotal role at every point of gender mainstreaming processes in institutions, structures and processes that matter to us, including stronger ties with the AU Gender Directorate and the African Centre for Gender and Social Development in the ECA, amongst others. Equally important should be the refusal to continue to engage in spaces that no longer serve us, but deepening our own internal engagement on lessons we have learnt and how we can leverage this learning to be more effective as a women’s movement, including ensuring mutually supporting each other’s efforts. The struggle continues.

* Pamela Mhlanga is Head of Programme, Women in Development Southern Africa Awareness (WIDSAA) Programme, at the Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC)

* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

As we approach the 2nd anniversary of the coming into force of the Protocol,Caroline Muthoni Muriithi takes us on a retrospective of the continental successes that SOAWR has achieved so far.

The Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) Coalition was created in September 2004 to speed up the ratification of the African Union (AU) Protocol on the Rights of Women and subsequently push for the domestication and implementation of the Protocol at the national level. Three years after its inception, the SOAWR coalition has evolved into a 26 member coalition all working towards popularization, ratification and domestication/implementation of the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women. As we approach the 2nd anniversary of the coming into force of the Protocol let us look back on the continental successes that SOAWR has achieved so far as we intensify the momentum of the campaign and renew our efforts to ensure universal ratification and implementation of the Protocol.

Continental campaign: Using the African Union policy space

The coalition took advantage of the new advocacy opportunities that came with the newly established African Union to engage the African Union member states. The transformation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to the African Union in 2002 created room for civil society engagement (CSO’s) and welcomed their contributions through the African Citizens’ Directorate (CIDO) which has the responsibility of facilitation of civil society engagement [1]. Although the collaboration and engagement between CSO’s and the African Union and its institutions has been limited, SOAWR managed to work with other AU departments such as the African Union Commission Legal Counsel Office which receives the instrument of ratifications and the Women, Gender and Development Directorate (WGDD) which has worked together with civil society to discuss African Union instrument such as the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa and the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women as well as strategizing on promoting gender equality within the African Union Commission.

Through this fruitful collaboration with the Women, Gender and Development Directorate (WGDD) the campaign has been able to reach a wide audience both within the African Union as well as citizens across the continent. In 2005, the WGDD helped to provide a space for SOAWR to hold a press conference at the Abuja Summit in January 2005 and has continued to collaborate with SOAWR in planning and hosting various activities such as : jointly publishing a book ‘Breathing life into the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women’ which was launched at the July 2006 African Union summit in Banjul, Gambia; organizing a joint North African Consultation on strategies for accelerating the ratification of the Protocol across North Africa in Tunis, Tunisia in April 2007 and has continued to engage in various discussion on the way forward for gender equality in Africa.

SOAWR members have also utilized the advocacy and lobbying opportunities at the African Union Summits. The African Union hosts two summits every year; January and July. Since its creation, members have used the summits as a way to make the campaign visible among government officials, African Union and the Heads of State and Government. The summits offer an opportunity to engage these leaders on the steps their governments have taken to ratify the Protocol and a chance to influence decisions made within the African Union.

During the summits, various creative strategies have been used to send the campaign message across. In January 2005, the rating cards strategy proved effective at holding governments accountable. The strategy was based on football penalty cards system: Red for countries that had not signed the Protocol; Yellow for those countries that had signed but not ratified; and Green for those countries that had ratified the Protocol. What made this strategy successful was the fact that country representatives where given the bright colored cards while either sitting in the plenary room or walking towards it making the room look colorful but at the same time arousing curiosity among the other delegates to know what the color cards were about. The color card also created competition among the countries while at the same time shaming those countries that had not ratified the Protocol. The strategy worked on the premise that most governments do not want to look bad before their peers and therefore would be pushed to sign and ratify the Protocol. It worked! On 25th November 2005 (a year after the formation of SOAWR) the African Union Protocol came into forces largely due to the pressure and all the strategic lobbying and campaigning by SOAWR members. Today many of the African Union officials as well as the country delegations are aware of the campaign and the Protocol.

The publication and distribution of policy briefs during every summit which links the Protocol to the current theme of the summit has made the Protocol relevant to all the African Union discussion and debates. These policy briefs are handed out to the African member states delegations as well as to the media. The presence of local and international media present at the Summit has enabled members to communicate the campaign agenda to heads of states and government by holding press conferences and distributing media statements and policy briefs. This has given visibility to the campaign effort in the country hosting the summit, through out the continent and beyond while popularizing the AU Protocol to the masses. To add icing to the cake, the secretariat has followed up by putting more pressure on African Union member states by writing to individual presidents urging them to honor their commitments by ratifying and implementing the Protocol.

The campaign has linked continental efforts with national campaign efforts by actively involving national SOAWR members and women’s organizations in the host country to link human rights violation of women in the country together with Protocol campaign and the Summit theme. For example at the Accra summit in July 2007, SOAWR hosted a public forum that discussed the Protocol at length; the ongoing African Union debate on Union Government and tied these discussions together with ‘trokosi’ a traditional practice in parts of Ghana where girls are enslaved for life in shrines to pay for the ‘sins/crimes’ of their relatives or family members

Women’s organizations across Africa have been mobilized and have joined the rallying call to push for the popularization, ratification and implementation of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in their respective countries. These groups have adopted the Protocol as a tool with which to champion their rights by adopting the Protocol’s provisions in their day to day activities. For example Voix de Femmes, a SOAWR member in Burkina Faso, have adopted article 5 of the Protocol as a tool to fight Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The Protocol is the first human rights instrument to specifically call for the elimination of FGM and has become a bench mark for the Voix de Femmes campaign against FGM.

Successes

At the time SOAWR was formed, only four African countries had ratified the Protocol (The Comoros, Libya, Namibia and Rwanda), however due to the aggressive campaign today there are 22 African states that have ratified the Protocol. The Protocol came into force one year after the launch of the campaign and two and a half years after the adoption by the Heads of States and Government making it the fastest human rights instrument to enter into force within such a short time in Africa.

The concept of holding member states accountable has been elevated to a new level never seen before at the African Union Summits. It is the first time that leaders have been put to task and have been shamed for failing to honour their commitments to African women expressed in the Protocol and the Solemn Declaration for Gender Equality in Africa.

The African Union Protocol has been featured in various African Union discussions and meetings and with more government officials being more aware of the AU Protocol on women’s rights. For example during the Accra Summit in July 2007, the SOAWR team realized that many of the country delegations were aware of the Protocol as well as the SOAWR coalition that had been pushing for the ratification and implementation of the Protocol. SOAWR campaign objectives have become visible through out the continent as well as the African Union level.

Due to the wide experiences gained at lobbying at the continental level and specifically within the African Union the SOAWR campaign has become a model to be replicated by others around the continent and beyond. SOAWR has been called upon to share its strategies with other civil society organizations around African and in particular the secretariat has received request for organizations to embark on a learning visit to learn about the SOAWR campaign and meet with coalition members. In January 2007, an Iranian woman’s groups visited the Secretariat to learn about the strategies that SOAWR was using to campaign for the ratification and implementation of the Protocol. The group picked up pointers that they intended to replicate back in Iran to develop a national protocol on the rights of Iranian women. In April 2007, the Secretariat hosted lawyers from the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA) who wanted to learn more about the campaign and meet with SOAWR members in Nairobi.

Due to the success of the continental campaign, the focus has begun to shift to those countries that have ratified the Protocol to start the process of implementing the provisions of the Protocol at the domestic level. The campaign will continue to target the 31 countries that have not yet ratified the Protocol in order to achieve universal ratification and subsequent implementation of the Protocol in all these countries. It is a large task ahead but the campaign continues to grow in strength and in numbers, recruiting women’s organizations from across Africa to work toward a common goal and objective, to ensure that the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women become a reality for all women in Africa. SOAWR has earned its reputation as,‘the coalition that makes things happen’.

Notes

1 AFRODAD, AFRIMAP and OXFAM GB, ‘Towards a People-Driven African Union- Current obstacles and New opportunities, 2007, p. 5

* Caroline Muthoni Muriithi is Assistant program officer, Equality Now

* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

The Kenyan situation as regards the ratification of the Protocol has become something akin to a game of ping pong. So far the position of its ratification remains unclear and efforts by different interested parties to obtain clarity on the position seem to hit a dead end, writes Anna Amadi.

The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights addresses African concerns, traditions and conditions. It provides for the enjoyment of rights and freedoms on the basis of equality and non-discrimination, the elimination of discrimination against women and the protection of the rights of women and children. The protections offered by the Charter are, however, not adequate and in 1995, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (hereinafter the ‘Protocol’) was adopted in Maputo by the OAU to supplement the Charter.

Kenya is a State party to many human rights treaties and declarations but has not ratified the Protocol. For a long time, the human rights discourse and the implementation of obligations outlined in the various human rights treaties and declarations have not been prioritized by Government. The implication of this has been that the human rights discourse has not been popular within Government ministries and departments. Further the human rights initiatives have not attracted adequate budgetary allocations within the Government. Noteworthy, over the years, the human rights agenda has been a preserve of civil society.

The Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) is a regional coalition of women’s and human rights organizations that came together to work for early ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. SOAWR was formed in 2004, its members alarmed that one year after adoption, only one country (The Comoros) had ratified the Protocol. The group of organizations formed a coalition that would deliberately encourage governments to take swift action in bringing the Protocol into force and ensuring its subsequent domestication. Indeed it was through the efforts of SOAWR that the Protocol came into force in November 2005, just two years after its adoption. So far 22 countries have adopted the Protocol and sadly, Kenya is not one of them.

The Kenyan situation as regards the ratification of the Protocol has become something akin to a game of ping pong. So far the position of its ratification remains unclear and efforts by different interested parties to obtain clarity on the position seem to hit a dead end. There have been myriad challenges in pushing for the ratification of the Protocol in Kenya. These range from lack of clarity on where and from whom to get information on status of ratification of, not just the Protocol, but other international and regional human rights conventions as well. Communication channels remain unclear and undefined. There is also a general lack of awareness and education on human rights and hence no candid discussions on the implications, advantages and disadvantages of ratification of given human rights instruments. These challenges have hampered appropriate consultations on the Protocol with relevant players.

In May 2007 during the 41st Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights held in Accra, Ghana, the Kenya Government reported that it had ratified the Protocol. The exact words of the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Honorable Martha Karua were “I can confidently say that the instrument will be deposited by the end of June.” We are now in mid October and nothing has come of the minister’s pronouncement. There is no evidence that any follow up has been made on the Minister’s declaration and clearly there was no commitment in stating thus- an empty promise, yet again.

The Attorney General’s office indeed confirms that the Protocol was debated and received cabinet approval for its ratification and so the AG’s role has been performed. The approval, however, is said to be subject to reservations particularly regarding the thorny issue of women’s reproductive heath rights. (The Protocol explicitly sets forth the reproductive right of women to medical abortion when pregnancy results from rape or incest or when the continuation of pregnancy endangers the health or life of the mother).

The office of the Secretary of Cabinet and Head of Civil Service also confirms that there was a cabinet approval and that this was communicated the Foreign Affairs Ministry way back in May 2006 and the latter was expected to prepare and deposit the instrument for ratification. It is frustrating that the legal office in the Ministry has been giving contradictory information, with claims that the approval was communicated but got ‘lost’, yet other sources claiming no such approval has been received .The Gender Ministry that should take the lead in the matter appears to be in darkness over the whole issue!

In 2005 the Kenya Government constituted an Advisory/Consultative Committee on International Human Rights Obligations with the function of advising the Government on measures necessary to comply with its international human right obligations. The committee works with stakeholders including relevant Ministries, Government departments, public bodies, civil society among others to coordinate the collection, documentation and updating information relevant to the Government’s obligations in order for it to meet and implement its obligations under the regional and international human rights instruments to which Kenya is a state party. FIDA Kenya which is a member of SOAWR sits on this committee, and this offers an opportunity for SOAWR to keep pushing for the ratification of the protocol. However, the committee only plays an advisory role, and cannot, for example, demand accountability from a government department when it fails to perform its duties.

So far, simply put, we are in a quagmire. Clearly there is need for us to continue seeking of audience with the various personalities charged with the responsibility of following up on ratification within government. It would also be useful to build the capacity of stakeholders on the processes and usefulness of not only ratifying but also domesticating the protocol. Women’s and human rights organizations must use of all opportunities that present themselves in different forums to make the case for early ratification of the Protocol. Regular and sustained strategy meetings amongst coalition partners need to be held to keep the agenda alive, with a vibrant communication strategy that ensures all interested parties are on the same wavelength. Media should be an integral campaign partner so that the activities around advocating for the ratification of the Protocol are were well covered for the attention of the concerned government bodies.

* Mrs Anne Amadi is deputy executive director of FIDA Kenya

* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Manal Abdelhalim reflects on the Sudan's progress towards ending violence and discrimination against women, within the context of the protocol.

The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on Women in Africa is considered as one of the important women’s rights protection instruments at regional level. It emphasize on women in conflict, women refugees, displaced, women under severe poverty and harmful practices. This article will reflect that the ratification of the protocol is crucial for Sudanese women because it highlights on the present situation on the Sudanese women.

Education- equal opportunity: the dream of millions of the girls’ child

While the article 12 of the protocol stated that “eliminate of all forms of discrimination against women and guarantee equal opportunity and access in the sphere of education and training” educational opportunities for women and girls are very limited, the rate of enrollment ranges between 86% in Khartoum state and between 21% and 30% in other states, particularly Darfur state. Dropout rates amongst girls in primary school are high. The curriculum is gender biased and does not consider the cultural diversity; it perpetrates stereotyping roles of women. The illiteracy rate amongst women is also very high.

FGM: from “prohibition” to “legislation”

Sudan is among 28 African countries which are heavily practicing the female circumcision/ FGM. It had been prohibited by Sudan’s penal code from 1946 (during colonial era) until 1983, the most sever form of female circumcision, infibulations, was prohibited by penal code. The offense was punishable by imprisonment of maximum five years and / or a fine. The law was initially enacted under British colonial rule and was ratified again in 1957 and 1974; this provision was apparently repealed with the promulgation of the 1983 penal code which included no provision on infibulations. The 1991 penal code also contains no provisions explicitly prohibiting F.C.

In 1981, a national workshop was held on F.C [1] issues and solid strategies were recommended and were set. The major achievement of the 1981 conference was the establishment of the Sudanese National Committee for the Eradication of Female Circumcision (SNCEFC); it was established by decree of the Minster of the interior and social welfare in 1984. The committee was eventually replaced by Eradication of Traditional Harmful Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (ETHP). However, the state has taken backward steps from its commitment. Regarding the injection of F.C. information within the educational curricula, it was meant to be introduced at primary school level (8thclass), and secondary school (1st and 2nd class). But the idea was widely resisted by the General Assembly members; accordingly, the textbook was withdrawn in 1999, and then resumed in 2000.

May conference on FGM: the wrong end of the rope

In May 2002, a large conference was held by the Women’s College of Omdurman Islamic University and sponsored by the Ministry of Guidance and Endowment. It was attended by physicians, scientists, religious leaders and NGO representatives. The main outcome of the conference was an official change of attitude towards “legalizations” of FGM as part of Islamic practice” and it was concluded that “the state [has] to encourage such a recommendation”.

Civil society and women organizations and some human rights organizations have to reorganize themselves to reshape an effective advocacy plans and to lobby the government’s concerned bodies for law initiation. Protocol articles on harmful traditional practices can be used as strong instrument in their advocacy plan.

Political participation- 2008 election can make a difference

Women’s participation in Politics is minimal and meager. Up to date the rate of women ministers at federal levels is only 6.8% compared to the male rate at states level, which stands at 8.6%.[2] The rate of women in parliament is 19.7% and until 2003 the participation of women in higher ranks of public service in different government bodies did not exceed 11%. The number of women in senior civil service posts in Khartoum was 343 out of a total of 1642 posts. In the states, the number is 3241 posts out of 10448 posts. There were only 67 female judges in Sudan, 2 ambassadors and 17 diplomats. In the public sector, women’s participation is 35% and in the private sector it is 10% in the state of Khartoum. Although women participate by 80% in agricultural operations, their calculated contribution in the national economy is only 26%. This is as well as and despite the effort they exert in performing household duties; which is not considered work [3].

The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), DPA AND EPA are providing a solid base for women to lobby the States Parties for effective representation and participation of women at all levels of decision-making. Sudanese women rights bottleneck: access to justice /access to law: The promotion of women’s legal rights is affected by the lack of legal awareness, inaccessibility and lack of availability of legal services for women. Legislation is drenched in technical language to the point that it excludes laypersons from understanding and exercising their rights. Furthermore, prevalence of discriminatory laws and Acts restricts women, cripples their status and restricts their freedom and mobility.[4] Examples of these laws include the Labor Law, Nationality Law, Criminal Act, the Public Orders Law, Land Ownership, Personal Status Law and Customary Laws, amongst others.

According to the Nationality Act, Sudanese women who have children born to a non-Sudanese father have no right to claim Sudanese nationalities for their children.[5] The Public Orders Law for Khartoum state 1996 raised controversial discussions and dialogue about its articles that control the freedom and mobility of women. Each State has its own law and there are no great differences in their contents. Article 7 forbids mixed dance and does not allow women to dance in front of men. Article 9 specifies one door and ten seats allocated for women on public transport. Article 16 sets the age at which a woman may manage her own hair dressing shop at 35 years of age. Article 18 prohibits men from practicing tailor work for women except after obtaining approval from local authorities. Although Sharia law should only apply to Muslim citizens, women belonging to other religions have to adopt an Islamic dress code. This includes the requirement for women to cover their heads with veils and prosecutions for those found brewing alcohol. Women are often convicted and their business merchandise confiscated.

Women in conflict: ending all forms of sexual violence

Sudan has been hardly attested by long civil wars and conflicts, accordingly women’s situations have been altered to cope with the war situation. They are the most affected by armed conflicts; they always end up shouldering the burden of loss of family members, displacement, fragmentation, identity crisis, insecurity and end up heading households. Also, their accessibility to food, shelter, resources, markets and income becomes increasingly limited. Sudanese women’s efforts to contribute in the Sudan Peace talks and negotiations have been largely sidelined. The prevailing situation (atrocities committed against women and girls) resulted from the latest conflict in Darfur and has created a wide spectrum of issues; yet, women are not powerless or victims to their circumstance. On the contrary, they are heads of households and community keepers; they struggle to keep their families, communities and their identity in tact to surpass any armed struggle.

It is great opportunity and it is a high time for Sudanese women to take the privileges and opportunities created by the existence of new peace settlement by the AU and the UN, particularly in Darfur to advocate for the protocol ratification.

More orientation is needed

Since the adoption of the protocol in 2003, very little efforts have taken place to diffuse the protocol’s content and lobbying for ratification. The first orientation session has been held by Mutawinat group following the adoption of the protocol. The objective of the session was to orient the civil society groups in Sudan by the existence of the protocol as well as to reveal the government attitudes towards the protocol.

Zienab Abbas (Sudanese women’s right activist participated on stages of the negotiations that the protocol has passed), according to Mrs. Zienab ‘’the protocol was exhausted extensive consultations, discussions and brainstorming, before its formulation so this why the protocol considered as a comprehensive and human rights document for African women”. “Unlike the CEDAW the protocol emphasized on harmful practices and for the first time FGM to be singled out as one of the most harmful practice in Africa. One of the most privileges of the protocol is considering the situation of women during war and conflicts, women refugee, displaced, women under severe poverty”

Mrs. Aisha Abuelgasim (Ministry of social planning Advisor) revealed the preliminary official reactions to the protocol; the government tends to make some reservations on the following articles:

Article no. 20-(b) (a widow shall automatically become the guardian and custodian of her children, after the death of her husband, unless this is contrary to the interests and the welfare of the children). The reason of conservation is that item contradicts with personal status matters law, 1991.

Article no. 7-(a) (Separation, divorce or annulment of as marriage shall…).

Article no. 14 (State parties shall ensure that the right to health of women including sexual and reproductive health is respected and promoted …..) Article no. 6 (State parties shall ensure that women and men enjoy equal rights and are regarded as equal partners in marriage.

According to Aisha the government did not submit a detailed justifications for such reservations but in generally the reason given is that these items are either contradicting with the prevailing laws or with Shari’a principles.

One step forward

SOAWR has played a great role to push the ratification issue in Sudan during the January 2006 summit. In collaboration with SIHA and several Sudanese organizations SOAWR hosted a well attended symposium on the Protocol addressing the Protocol’s various articles from an Islamic perspective. As an immediate outcome of the meeting, Sudan was red-carded with the Minister of Health receiving the card for President Bashir. Sudanese organizations also circulated a petition calling on the Sudanese government to deposit its instrument of ratification. SIHA also became a member of SOAWR and committed to expanding the campaign’s reach to its members in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Somaliland and the Sudan. More recently, SIHA has participated on a joint SOAWR/Oxfam GB Workshop to Review the Governance and Transparency Funding Bid. As a result a country strategy (2008-2012) has been developed as one step towards advocating for ratification and making the Protocol widely popular in the Sudan. The main aim of the strategic plan is to take advantage of new political and supportive atmosphere of the first general election, by 2008, following the signing of CPA, and to secure ratification by 2009.

* Manal Abdelhalim is programme director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA)

* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

For notes, see link below.

The 3rd International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training will take place from May 28 to 30, 2008 in Accra, Ghana. eLearning Africa is the premier gathering place for all experts and stakeholders engaged or interested in ICT-based education, training and development on the African continent. Everyone concerned with eLearning in Africa is welcome to share and learn. We encourage practitioners and academics engaged in an African context to apply by submitting a proposal. Deadline for receipt of all proposals is Friday, December 7, 2007.

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