AFRICA MOBILE PHONE USERS RALLY FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS
“Text Now 4 Women’s Rights”
Press Release
Fahamu
www.fahamu.org
29 July 2004

Contrary to the opinion that Africa has yet to take advantage of the information technology explosion, a growing constituency of mobile phone users in Africa is being mobilised to send text messages in support of a petition for women’s rights in Africa. Mobile phone users across the world can now send SMS’s (Short Message Service/ text messages) from their mobile phones to sign an online petition in support of a campaign urging African governments to ratify the African Union’s Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa.

“To our knowledge, this is the first time that SMS technologies will have been used on a mass scale on the African continent in support of human rights,” said Firoze Manji, Director of Fahamu, a human rights organisation that developed the technique. “The facility enables those with poor or non-existent internet access to sign the online petition and takes advantage of the fact that there are about eight times more mobile phone users compared to email users in Africa.”
Initial testing of the SMS function indicates that it will be possible for mobile phone users to send SMS’s from many countries and mobile phone networks in Africa. “We cannot be certain that people in every country will be able to use this facility, but we think most should be able to," said Manji.

The Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa was adopted by the African Union on 11 July 2003 but has not yet entered into force because only three countries (Comoros, Libya and Rwanda) out of a required 15 have ratified it to date. The Protocol covers a broad range of human rights issues and is a comprehensive legal framework that African women can use to exercise their rights. A coalition of human rights groups, spearheaded by women’s rights organizations Equality Now and FEMNET, together with Oxfam, CREDO for Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights and Fahamu, has developed a campaign to promote the ratification and popularization of the Protocol, which includes a petition addressed to African leaders. “Once it enters into force the Protocol will be a powerful new tool to achieve equal rights for women in Africa. It could well serve as a model for the rest of the world,” said Faiza Jama Mohamed, Africa Regional Director of Equality Now.
But African countries have been slow to follow through. Echoing concerns about the lack of political will on the part of African countries to push forward with ratification, Mary Wandia of FEMNET noted, “Until it comes into force, the rights granted to women in the Protocol will simply remain hypothetical and the strenuous lobbying efforts undertaken by civil society groups to ensure that the Protocol reflects a comprehensive list of rights for women will all be wasted.”
“African leaders need to wake up to the fact that women constitute half of Africa’s population of roughly 800 million. To indefinitely delay the institutionalization of women’s rights is tantamount to indefinitely delaying the development of the African continent,” emphasized Rotimi Sankore, Coordinator of CREDO for Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights.
In the light of the UK Treasury announcement that UK aid is set to increase by UK£1 billion from next year, this technology could further assist to ensure that African people can influence the way that these funds will be spent in Africa. “The use of such mass based technology is going to be critical in getting people’s voices heard in the 2005 G8 meetings to be chaired by Britain’s Tony Blair,” said Irungu Houghton, Oxfam’s Pan Africa Policy Advisor.
Africa currently has 52 million mobile phone users and figures indicate that the continent has caught on to the global SMS fad, with 450 million SMS messages sent in December 2002, compared to 350 million for December 2001, nearly a 30% increase in one year. As one of the fastest growing mobile phone markets, Africa is set to reach 67 million mobile phone users by the end of 2004.

Commenting on why IDRC had supported this initiative, Sandy Campbell said, "Fahamu's strategy with SMS marries advocacy with the technology people actually have, not the technology we hope they have."

Notes for editors:

1. Those wishing to SMS their support for the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa can do so by sending an SMS to +27-832-933934, with the word ‘petition’ and their name in their message. Senders will be charged the cost set by their network for sending an international SMS. People wishing to subscribe to free SMS alerts can sign up at www.pambazuka.org The campaign will run until December.
2. The online petition can be signed at: http://www.pambazuka.org/petition
3. Fahamu developed the technology enabling people to sign the online petition using mobile phones with the support of the Canadian development agency, IDRC, and Oxfam GB.

CONTACT DETAILS:
Firoze Manji Tel: +44-(0)-7980-985-997 firoze@fahamu.org
Patrick Burnett Tel: +27 –21-788-3607 Patrick@fahamu.org.za
Faiza Jama Mohamed Tel. +254-722-805539 fmohamed@equalitynow.org
Mary Wandia Tel. +254-733-860036 wandia@femnet.or.ke
Rotimi Sankore Tel: + 44 207 7875501 media@credonet.org
FAHAMU: Unit 14, Standingford House, Cave Street, Oxford OX4 1BA
Fahamu SA Trust: PO Box 70740, Overport, Durban, KwaZulu Natal 4067, South Africa
[ENDS]

FACT SHEET
The Reality for African Women and the
AFRICAN UNION PROTOCOL ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA
Armed Conflict, Violence and the Right to Peace and Safety
African women are increasingly playing a critical role in peace building efforts and conflict resolution in Africa. In conflicts flashpoints such as Darfur-Sudan and DRC among others, women and girls are vulnerable to all forms of violence including sexual violence and exploitation, torture, rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution and trafficking.
In many parts of Africa, violence against women is shocking. A survey by the Kenyan Women Rights Awareness Program revealed that 70% of men and women interviewed, were aware of neighbours who beat their wives. In South Africa, it has been estimated that a woman is raped every 83 seconds, while in Zimbabwe, domestic violence accounts for more than 60 per cent of murder cases at the Harare High Court.
What the protocol says:
_ Every woman is guaranteed the right to peace.
_ Women refugees must be accorded full protection and benefits guaranteed under international refugee law.
_ States parties are required to reduce military expenditure significantly in favour of spending on social development in general and the promotion of women in particular.
_ States must ensure the full participation of women in processes for conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation.
_ The protocol calls for education to end harmful practices and stereotypes that negatively impact on women.
_ States should introduce measures to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women including the provision of budgetary and other resources to prevent violence against women.
Economic disempowerment and the right to a livelihood
In sub-saharan Africa, women comprise 60 per cent of the informal sector, provide about 70 per cent of total agricultural labour and produce about 90 per cent of the food. However, they receive less than 10 per cent of total credit to farmers. In addition, women in Africa on average work 50 per cent longer than men. Yet despite this contribution, women live in situations of acute insecurity with weak ownership over land, lack of access to resources such as credit and education.
What the protocol says:
_ Women will be guaranteed the freedom to choose their occupation.
_ States will adopt measures to promote equality of access to employment; promote the right to equal remuneration for jobs of equal value for women and men; ensure transparency in recruitment, promotion and dismissal of women and punish sexual harassment in the workplace.
Disease, HIV/AIDS and Sexual and Reproductive Rights
Poor health infrastructure, loss of control over women’s sexuality and the right to choose impacts on millions of African women daily. Financial and material dependence on men means that many women in Africa cannot control when, with whom, and in what circumstances they have sex or conceive.
Women account for 55 percent of adults in sub-Saharan Africa with HIV/AIDS. Poor women affected by HIV/AIDS are less economically secure and are often deprived of their rights to housing, property, inheritance and access to adequate health services. In rural areas, AIDS has resulted in the collapse of coping mechanisms that have for long helped women feed their families during times of difficulty and natural catastrophes.
More than 90 million African women and girls are victims of female circumcision or other forms of genital mutilation. Doctors in Cote d'Ivoire, for instance, estimate that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) causes 25 percent of infertility cases amongst Ivorian women. Less than five percent of women in Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Niger and Sierra Leone have access to modern contraception. While many countries in Africa have restrictive abortion laws, eleven thousand unsafe abortions occur each day (four million unsafe abortions each year) in Africa.

What the protocol says:
_ States are required to prohibit and condemn female genital mutilation.
_ Women and men must have equal rights in relation to marriage.
_ Obligates governments to guarantee women a right to adequate and paid pre- and post-natal maternity leave.
_ Recognizes that the reproductive rights of women must be protected through access to abortion in certain circumstances.
_ Guarantees the right to protection against sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS.
Right to Education
Accelerating efforts to get more girls into school is key in meeting the global goal of poverty reduction. Illiteracy rates are still far higher among women than men. At least 9 million more girls than boys are left out of school every year in sub-Saharan Africa, where the number of girls left out of school each year has risen from 20 million in 1990 to 24 million in 2002.
What the protocol says:
_ States will be required to guarantee equal opportunity and access to women in the sphere of education and training.
Marginalisation and the right to freedom
Some countries still have laws that perpetuate discrimination on the basis of personal status, marital status and violence against women. These include Algeria, Mali, Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, Lesotho, Cameroon, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Morocco. Certain customary laws and practices facilitate harmful practices such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), early childhood marriages, forced marriages, inheritance of widows, slavery and trafficking in women, child custody and maintenance and burial laws. In several African countries, women are still regarded as second-class citizens, minors or the property of their husbands.
What the protocol says:
_ It seeks to highlight the human rights of women in Africa and promote the principles of equality, peace, freedom, dignity, justice, solidarity and democracy.
_ It covers broad issues including employment, education, voting rights, nationality laws, rights in marriage and divorce, health care, reproductive rights, and equality before the law.
_ State parties to the protocol will have to adopt legislative, institutional and other measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women.
_ It recognizes the need and seeks the protection of elderly women.
_ It mandates that any woman whose rights have been violated is entitled to a remedy determined by a competent judicial, administrative, legislative or other competent authority provided for by law.
Right to Participate in Government and Public Affairs
Between 2000 and 2002, number of women parliamentarians increased in 17 out of 23 elections held in sub-Saharan Africa. For instance, South Africa’s parliament this year registered a 10 per cent increase in women representation from 120 to 131. Rwanda, with 49 per cent women representation, has the highest number of women parliamentarians in the world. The overall proportion of women parliamentarians has increased to 32.8 per cent from 30 per cent in 1999. This is double, the average number of women represented in national parliaments. Although Africa is one of the world’s poorest regions, women's representation in parliament is now higher compared to many developed countries.
What the protocol says:
_ Governments are obliged to promote the participation of women in governance.

PETITION ON THE RATIFICATION OF THE PROTOCOL ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA
To African Union Heads Of State
Your Excellencies:
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa
We the undersigned write to you regarding the ratification of the Protocol on the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa by member states of the African Union and urge your Excellencies to ensure the fast tracking of its ratification by your respective governments by December 2004.
As you will recall, the Protocol was adopted in July 2003 during the Second Ordinary Session of the Heads of States held in Maputo. Its adoption was celebrated by African women, women's and human rights organizations in Africa and the diaspora as a major step towards finally securing a legal and rights framework for the protection and advancement of the human rights of African women.
However, two weeks after its first anniversary only 31 of the AU's 53 member states have signed the Protocol and only three (Comoros, Libya and Rwanda) have ratified it. This record undermines the stated intention of African governments to protect and promote the rights of all their peoples.
Many women and their families experience social, cultural and economic rights abuses and political discrimination on a daily basis. Physical violence, vulnerability to life-threatening diseases most notably HIV/AIDS, poor educational opportunities and legal barriers around rights to property combine to keep women in Africa as second class citizens as well as inhibiting their ability to contribute fully to the prosperity of the continent.
Our call for the urgent ratification of the Protocol by all countries of the African Union deserves your serious consideration. Ratification will send a clear signal that women and men can and should enjoy equal rights and responsibilities. This enjoyment, in turn, will realise benefits to the whole of the continent.
We in civil society share the dream of the Heads of States that Africa's social, economic and political well-being rests on enabling women's resourcefulness at this time. We trust therefore that you will recognize the urgency of the situation and will facilitate the speedy ratification of the Protocol thereby completing the good work that your Excellencies began in Maputo last year.
Yours Sincerely
Mary Wandia, African Women's Development & Communication Network (FEMNET) – continental organization Kenya
Faiza Jama Mohamed, Equality Now, Africa Regional Office, Kenya
Rotimi Sankore, CREDO for Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights, UK
Firoze Manji, Fahamu, UK
Rose Gawaya, Oxfam GB, South Africa
Sarah Mukasa, Akina Mama wa Afrika, Uganda
Morissanda Kouyate, SG CPTAFE Guinea (Conakry)
Saudatu Mahdi, WRAP, Nigeria
Anne Gathumbi, COVAW, Kenya
Hannah Foster, ACDHRS, Gambia
Gladys M’Sodzi Mutukwa, WiLDAF, Zimbabwe
Nairobi, London, Oxford, Pretoria, Kampala, Conakry, Abuja and Serrekunda July 2004
And close to 600 others