The two-day gender expert and ministerial meeting on the validation of the feasibility study on the operation of the African Women Trust Fund and on the road map for the African women's decade (2010 – 2020), concluded on Saturday at the Jerma Beach Hotel. The objective of the meeting was to review and recommend for adoption the African Women Trust Fund, the Gender Action Plan, the Beijing +15 implementation status and to build new alliances to prioritize the promotion of gender equality and women empowerment amongst other things.
In her key note address earlier at the opening, the Vice President and Minister of Women's Affairs, Ajaratou Dr. Isatou Njie-Saidy, said the meeting of experts and ministers of gender and women's affairs, which coincided with the eighth African Regional Conference on Women, gears towards women empowerment and gender equality in Africa.
The Vice President further noted that the African Union has provided leadership in promoting gender equality and women's empowerment through provisions similar to those espoused by the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Beijing Platform for Action and the millennium development goals. She said civil society organizations should ask themselves the actions taken, positive outcomes and achievements made towards the advancement of the cause of women and girls.
Commenting on the efforts of the government of The Gambia, the Vice President said the government has drafted a women's bill which attempts to domesticate the CEDAW and the protocol on the rights of women in African, under the leadership of His Excellency the President, Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya AJJ Jammeh. Gambian women, she went on, have seen unprecedented development, ranging from free education for girls at the basic education level, free maternal and antenatal care, and the remarkable presence of several women in key decision making positions among others.
She urged participants to diligently review and give solid recommendation for the adoption of the feasibility study of the operation of these laudable initiatives.
In her closing remarks on the final day of the forum, the chairperson of the meeting, Ms Fatou Mbye, said the meeting provided the opportunity for experts to network and share experiences and work diligently to ensure that the meeting's objectives were achieved. She noted that as a result of hard work and commitment through the realization and women's empowerment, the roles of women have advanced greatly over the years in many African countries. She however noted that the attainment of gender equality still faces both old and new challenges; such as poverty, illiteracy, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the growing inequality between the rich and the poor, climate change, religious misinterpretation and traditional set back amongst other.
Ms Mbye then commended both the Vice President and President Jammeh, his government in providing resources for the successful hosting of the AU expert meeting.
The chief gender expert of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Ms Thokozile Ruzuidzo, reiterated that it is an opportune moment for women to be able to access resources that are critical for their own economic empowerment.
She said the African Union has also set the gender policy which only not provides the guideline for them to implement the various policies that already exist in the country level but also to provide the harmonization of the different policies that exist across the continent.
By Alhaji Ceesay
|
