AU Commission assures on gender declaration implementation

June 27, 2006 – (Angola Press) The first reports on the status of implementation of the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA) are to be submitted for consideration by the African Union summit in January 2007, an AU Commission official said Monday.

Winnie Byanyima, Director, Women, Gender and Development Directorate of the AU Commission, made the disclosure here Monday at a women`s forum on the implementation of SDGEA, which was made by African leaders in July 2004. SDGEA calls for the continued implementation of gender parity in the AU and at the national level, among others.

In their declaration, African leaders also made a commitment to report annually progress in mainstreaming gender into the activities in the areas of health, education, peace and security, economic development, human rights and governance. But two years after the adoption of the declaration, no report has been made on its implementation.

Byanyima said as part of efforts to ensure SDGEA`s implementation, Ministers of Women Affairs from member States met in Dakar, Senegal, last year to discuss and adopt an implementation framework and guidelines for monitoring it. She assured the two-day forum, being held at the expansive Kairaba hotel in the Gambian capital, that her directorate would support the efforts of the network of women`s groups in ensuring the declaration`s implementation.

"Our role is to facilitate efforts of the women of Africa to lead claiming the rights for their daughters," the AU Commission official told the forum, which is pushing for SDGEA`s implementation under the "Gender is my Agenda" campaign. She added: "Our challenge as a directorate will continue to be that of facilitator. We look forward to playing that role as you speak for the African women whom you represent."

From: http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=451453