Sub Saharan Africa

The third Gender and Media (GEM) summit ended in Johannesburg yesterday, Tuesday, 12 August 2008, with a call for the adoption of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development that includes strong provisions for achieving gender balance and sensitivity in the media. The summit took place on the eve of the annual meeting of leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), 16 - 17 August, where the protocol that has been in the making for several years is expected to be adopted.

Gender activists breathed a sigh of relief when a long-delayed gender protocol was signed at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit this weekend. The protocol calls for 50 percent representation by women at all levels of government by 2015 and further calls for member states to put in place legislative measures which guarantee that political and policy structures are gender sensitive.
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President Yoweri Museveni has attacked Busiro East MP Susan Nakawuki (FDC) as a young and inexperienced politician who cannot effectively represent her electorate in the Parliament.
To read the full article, please visit the New Vision's Website.

Guinean women, under the auspices of the Women's Association for Change (CFC), have called for better representation in the country's political and social affairs. In a document which they plan to submit to Guinean Premier Kabinet Komara, they also called for the organisation of free and fair elections in 2009, suggesting that legislative polls be held in May and the presidential elections in December.
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Speaking during a Women’s Trust public discussion forum on the "Challenges and Opportunities for Women in Political Transition", in Harare last week, women speakers bemoaned the status of women in Africa saying this has been a disappointment from a rights-based perspective, both in terms of gender equality and gender empowerment.
To read the full article, please visit The Southern Times' Website.

Ms. Akua Dansua, Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, said incorporating gender perspectives in the national development budget at all levels, should not be misconstrued to mean women were calling for more money. Rather, she said, the call aimed at apportioning scarce resources to meet the strategic gender needs of society.
To read the full article, please visit the Ghana Business News Website.

Mozambique believes that women's emancipation is of key importance, but it must be handled in such a way that it empowers women, rather than simply making the statistics look good, said the country's First Lady, Maria da Luz Guebuza, in Brussels on Saturday.
To read the full article, please visit All Africa's Website.

African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) said incidents of violence against women and children in armed conflicts continued unabated in many parts of Africa.
AU Commission Gender and Development Directorate presented its report at the AUPSC 122nd meeting on Tuesday under the theme Mitigating Vulnerabilities of Women and Children in Armed Conflicts.

The Directorate said it is working towards mobilizing financial support for various programs and projects for women to fight poverty and close the gender gap and thereby halt Africa women’s marginalization.

The Africa regional review of Beijing +15 focused on progress in the 12 thematic areas, and was drawn from a survey conducted by the UN Economic Commission for Africa with responses from 41 of the 53 African countries. The review noted that the most recent development in this regard was the incorporation of the 50/50 target of women representation in politics and decision- making positions in the SADC gender protocol.