Leaders urged to implement affirmative action for women
Women representatives from Africa's Great Lakes region have urged their
heads of state and government to implement an affirmative-action policy to
ensure that half of all members of decision-making bodies are women, as set
out by the African Union (AU), at all decision-making levels.
This was included in a 15-point declarations the representatives made on
Saturday in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, at the end of a three-day women's
regional meeting. The event was held as part of the preparatory process for
the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, sponsored by the UN
and the AU.
In a statement made available, the office of Ibrahima Fall, the Special
Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the Great Lakes, said the
women called on the region's leaders to apply a regional mechanism "with
requisite resources to ensure women's equitable representation and effective
participation in peace, governance and development processes at national and
regional levels".
Participants at the meeting were representatives of the "core" members of
the international conference initiative: Burundi, the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. South Africa's
attendance was as a "co-opted" member.
They expressed their concern with the multidimensional conflicts in the
Great Lakes region, which they said had resulted in untold suffering of
communities, especially women and children, and caused loss of human lives.
The women called for the enactment and enforcement of legislation that
protects and upholds human rights and dignity of all females.
They said leaders should take concrete measures to end the culture of
impunity and enforce punitive action against perpetrators of crimes against
humanity - particularly genocide, massacres, rape and other forms of
gender-based violence.
Among other declarations, the women also urged the region's heads of state
and government to provide adequate resources for the effective
implementation of all women and children's rights as well as peace and
security instruments.
The participants' discussions were based on regional views on the themes of
the International Conference on the Great Lakes region. The themes are peace
and security; democracy and good governance; economic development and
regional integration; and humanitarian and social issues.
Their recommendations were be presented to regional heads for endorsement
when they met in November for the first of two summits in Dar-es-Salaam,
Tanzania. (Source: www.irinnews.org :
NAIROBI, 12 Oct 2004)