STATEMENT: African Union Pre-Summit Statement: Gender is My Agenda Campaign

Source: 
WOMEN'S UN REPORT NETWORK
Duration: 
Thursday, February 7, 2013 - 19:00
Countries: 
Africa
PeaceWomen Consolidated Themes: 
Peace Processes
Initiative Type: 
Statements

21st PRE-SUMMIT CONSULTATIVE MEETING ON GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN THE AFRICAN UNION

January 22-­23, 2013 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

GENDER IS MY AGENDA CAMPAIGN

We, representatives of African civil society organizations and African women and youth leaders meeting under the umbrella of the “Gender is my Agenda Campaign” (GIMAC) at the 21st Pre-­‐Summit Consultative Meeting on Gender Mainstreaming in the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 22-­‐23 January 2013;

Welcoming the decision of African Heads of State and Government to devote the 20th Ordinary Session of the Summit of the African Union to the theme, “Pan-­‐Africanism and African Renaissance;”

Recognising African women's active contributions to Pan-­‐Africanism and African
Renaissance as the AU celebrates its 50th anniversary, and the critical role of gender
equality in Africa's development;

Recalling the African Union Gender Parity Principle (2002), the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003), the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (2004), the African Youth Charter (2006) and United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 (2000);

Welcoming the vision of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-­‐Zuma, of “A Prosperous Africa at Peace with Itself”;

Urge the Assembly of Heads of State and Government to consider and adopt the
following recommendations:

1. Include women as key partners in peace, mediation and negotiation processes in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Mali, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan.

2. Protect the rights of women in conflict and end impunity for sexual and gender-­‐ based violence, and allocate financial resources towards reparations, medical and trauma services for survivors of sexual and gender-­‐based violence.

3. Ensure women's equal participation in all spheres decision making, and the equitable distribution of resources in the post-2015 development framework.

4. Enact and implement legislation for women to access land and actively involve women farmers in the design of adaptation strategies to address the impact of climate change on agriculture.

5. Facilitate access to land, credit, training and new technologies to encourage youth participation in agriculture.

6. Improve quality of education at all levels, and prioritize the education of girls in Science, Mathematics and Technology through appropriate scholarship programmes.

7. Develop a certification process to monitor the application of gender equality principles in the private sector.