Ethiopia: IGAD Calls for Means to Tackle Violence Against Women
By: Dagnachew Teklu

May 15, 2007 - (The Daily Monitor) The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) said there was a need to put in place the right mechanisms to minimize the problem in the continent.

"It challenges us to put in place the right tools and monitoring mechanisms that will enable governments, NGOs, regional and international organizations to implement at different levels the existing instruments, protocols and agreements pertaining to gender violence," said Dr. Attalla Hamad Bashir, IGAD executive Director.

The regional development organization, which is convening here a regional forum on violence against women in the region called for international support to fight the violence against women in Africa.

Attalla indicated that the problem is being observed in more than 50 % of the continents population, estimated to be over 800 million. "Law enforcement agencies are therefore duty bound to take urgent and effective action to addresses the problem. We call up on them and partners to join us in our effort to totally eradicate this evil but unfortunately wide spread practice of violence against women from our region," Attalla said.

He said that women need to be empowered both politically and economically to be able to assume their role at all levels of decision making. "Gender equality is central to human development, peace and security, as stated in the AU Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa as well as in the IGAD Gender policy document among others," he added.

Shitaye Minale, Deputy Speaker of Ethiopian parliament on her part told the gathering that there was also a work to be done at house level in order to minimize the problem. "To effectively tackle violence against women, we first of all, must grasp the full depth and extent of the challenges beginning from the family to national and to our region," she said.

The 2006 report of the UN secretary General describes violence against women as a pervasive violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality in every country in the world. During the coming two days representative from IGAD member states, UN agencies and NGOs will carry out an in-depth discussion and critical analysis of the problem based on their respective experiences.

Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda are the current members of IGAD. Eritrea, which was member states of the IGAD, has recently suspended its membership from these regional development organizations.

From: http://allafrica.com/stories/200705150342.html