FEMNET’s current projects under the Advocacy Programme to promote the development, equality and human rights of African women are:

Monitoring Implementation of the Dakar and Beijing Platforms for Action (PFAs) at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)

ECOSOC Resolution 11(II) established the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) as a functional commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in June 1946. Its original mandate was to prepare recommendations and reports to ECOSOC on promoting women's rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields. The Commission also makes recommendations to ECOSOC on urgent problems requiring immediate attention with regard to women's rights. Following the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the General Assembly mandated that the Commission integrate into its program of work a follow-up process for the Conference, through which the Commission should play a catalytic role of regularly reviewing the critical areas of concern in the Beijing Platform for Action.

Engaging with international IGOs--notably the CSW--is of increasing importance to African women. But advocacy at the CSW by African women has been hindered by a number of factors, including the lack of a sustainable coordination mechanism or process for African women’s NGOs to: 

• prepare for (both in terms of making substantive contributions as well as developing lobbying strategies to ensure the inclusion of those contributions in outcomes) to the CSW in advance; 
• engage with and lobby while at the CSW; 
• distribute and follow up on commitments gained at the CSW after the CSW's annual sessions. 

Regional Protection for African Women’s Human Rights and Participation of African Women in the Processes and Structures of the African Union through Gender Mainstreaming 

The African Union (AU) was formed in July 2001 with the signing of the Constitutive Act and formally launched in July 2002, replacing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) formed in 1963. The OAU was a union of leaders, which lacked mechanisms and opportunities for participation by civil society, including women’s organisations. The AU, however, has established organs such as the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), the Court of Justice, the AU Commission and the Economic, Social, and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) for the participation of African people and civil society, including women’s organisations. 

In line with the five critical areas of concern hindering advancement on the implementation of the Beijing and Dakar PFAs (decision-making and political participation, globalisation, conflict, HIV/AIDS and women's human rights), FEMNET has undertaken an advocacy project to disseminate information and build the capacity for African women’s participation in the process and structures of the AU. 

The objectives of the project are to:

• enable African women to use international law and policy (with a special emphasis on the African treaty system) for development, gender equality and other human rights through advocacy at the regional level;
• assess progress on gender mainstreaming and women’s political participation;
• identify strategies and entry points for long-term work on gender mainstreaming;
• develop a collaborative and collective advocacy plan to implement strategies identified; 
• raise awareness within the African women’s movement of the relevance of the AU by building African women’s capacity for advocacy within and outside the AU.

The specific activities of the project are:

• Holding of a regional advocacy meeting to identify entry points for gender mainstreaming and strategize for long-term work on gender mainstreaming within the AU and its specialised mechanisms;
• Publishing and disseminating of the results of the regional advocacy meeting;
• Development of a gender mainstreaming framework targeting the AU and its specialised mechanisms for use by African women's organisations and policy makers at the AU;
• Hosting of a regional training workshop for African women's NGOs and CBOs on advocacy around African women's human rights within the AU, and its specialised mechanisms;
• Preparing and distributing advocacy materials on gender mainstreaming in the AU and its specialised mechanisms for use by African women's organisations and the AU.

Economic, Social and Cultural Human Rights: Lobbying and Advocacy for Gender Mainstreaming in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and National Macroeconomic Policies.

During the 1980s the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) promoted Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs) in developing countries in order to balance government budgets and reduce their debt burden. However, SAPs had adverse consequences for the majority of the people in these countries. Per capita incomes fell, especially among women, and there was a significant drop in the living standards of millions. Due to sharp criticisms and calls for debt cancellation from civil society organisations, the World Bank and IMF launched the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative to link debt relief firmly and transparently to poverty reduction. Under HIPC, countries are required to prepare Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) as a pre-condition for debt relief and/or loans. The objective of PRSPs is to reduce poverty along with creating economic growth. Furthermore, they are required to be country-driven, take into account the multi-dimensional nature of poverty and be based on partnerships between governments, civil society, private sector and the donor community. 

Since women consist most of the poor, it is impossible for any country to reduce poverty without considering its gendered dimensions. Women’s poverty is one of the major violations of their economic, social and cultural rights, which will continue to be violated as long as poverty reduction polices remain gender-blind. The Beijing PFA outlines strategic actions that governments can take to reduce poverty among women, such as: reviewing and maintaining macroeconomic policies and development strategies that address the needs and efforts of women in poverty; promoting women’s economic rights and independence, including access to employment and appropriate working conditions and control over economic resources; and facilitating women’s access to resources, employment, markets and trade. 

As a civil society participant in engendering the Kenyan PRSP, FEMNET identified various strengths and weaknesses of the PRSP process. This project therefore seeks to document the experiences of gender lobbies in the PRSP process and provide an analysis of women's poverty in direct relationship to the national macroeconomic policy. The project encourages the creation of national gender networks that influence the national budget through economic literacy among civil society organisations.

The main objectives of this project are to:

• strengthen the advocacy capacity of civil society to influence national budgets in support of women’s economic empowerment as well as sensitise economists on the gender dimensions of the economy and how to mainstream gender in economic planning;
• create national budgets in Africa that acknowledge gender’s role in production and in the well-being of society;
• create national budgets in Africa that secure access to and control over economic assets for women, support the gainful employment of women and have expenditure programs that ease women’s triple work burden;
• create national budgets that can meet the economic, social and cultural rights of African women.

The activities under this project include:

• documenting and publishing the experience of gender lobby groups in the PRSP process in Kenya; 
• developing and publishing a study on the gender dimensions of poverty reduction and macro-economics;
• developing and publishing advocacy materials to create awareness on women’s poverty and its relationship with the macroeconomic framework based on the documentation and the study;
• sensitising and training macroeconomists in the Ministry of Finance and Planning and research institutions on the gender dimensions of the macroeconomic framework and how to mainstream gender aspects in economic planning;
• strengthening the capacity of civil society on gender specific monitoring of the PRS process and the relationship between macroeconomic policy and poverty among women;
• strengthening the research and dissemination capacities of the media on the relationship between women’s poverty and the macroeconomic framework of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) and the national budget;
• documenting, evaluating and disseminating the results and lessons learnt from the project to promote gender awareness in the PRS process in other African countries.

The Men to Men Project: Men against Gender-Based Violence Regional Network

Gender Based Violence (GBV) is a distressing reality effecting millions of women and girls in almost all societies around the world. Not only has it has been recognised as one of the 12 critical areas of concern by the Beijing PFA, but is also recognised as one of the key reasons for the rapid spread HIV/AIDS among women. The continuous violation of women’s basic human rights through GBV hinders not only their development, but also the progress of the communities and countries they live in. In Africa and in most parts of the world, the root cause of GBV is the unequal power relations that exist between females and males and the low status of women. Since (most) males are the beneficiaries of gender inequalities, they can also play critical roles in eliminating gender-based inequalities. The need to involve men in the gender equality movement in support for women's empowerment was first explicitly articulated in the Cairo Plan of Action on Population and Development. Since then, it has been recognised as a powerful strategy to enhance the participation of men in programmes and projects for gender equality. 

FEMNET’s involvement in the Men to Men Project started with a men to men consultation held in December 2001. The consultation brought together men from Kenya, Malawi, Namibia and South Africa, representing community organisations, human rights and legal groups, religious organisations, universities and the police. The Consultation culminated in the development of a plan of action, which specified some follow-up action at the regional and national levels. Participants committed themselves to take action and requested FEMNET to host the African Network of Men Against Gender Based Violence. On the basis of this recommendation and the proposed follow-up actions, FEMNET developed the Men to Men Project. The project is being implemented with partners from Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and South Africa.

The main objective of the Men to Men Project is to create a core of male supporters for the long-term campaign to eliminate GBV in Africa and thereby contribute to the goals of the Dakar and Beijing Platforms for Action. The specific objectives are to:

• mobilise, sensitise and involve male gender activists and advocates in Africa in the campaign to combat GBV;
• develop a long-term program for male advocacy for gender equality, building on the FEMNET gender training program experience and the new experience working with men on GBV; 
• develop and use the FEMNET advocacy and communication program to support GBV efforts in participating countries, with FEMNET national focal points to ensure increased awareness and action to eliminate GBV in the region.
• in partnership with the Men to Men Project, create a critical mass of men who support the empowerment of women and the principles of gender equality, development and human rights from universities, religious organisations, professional groups, schools and the media. 
• equip men with the concepts, knowledge and skills for gender sensitisation and advocacy in order to transform their own attitudes, behaviours and influence among their peers and their communities; 
• develop relevant material, methodologies and modules to support male advocates and their groups in their efforts to promote gender equality in homes, communities, and workplaces.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives FEMNET is involved in:

• the creation of a Regional Network of Men Against GBV, which will be nurtured by FEMNET until it gains identity and autonomy;
• the provision of support to members of the Regional Network in organising activities within their organisations, communities and with the media;
• the allocation of space in FEMNET publications for sharing the regional Men against Gender-Based Violence network news and reports;
• the sharing of the African Men against GBV experience with global networks, including the INSTRAW and UNIFEM networks; 
• holding of regional conferences to bring the men groups together to create a critical mass of supporters and expand the program into new areas; 
• designing a media outreach program to disseminate men to men messages and discuss critical manhood and masculinity issues to change male behaviour and promote gender equality;
• developing training manuals for gender sensitisation, gender based violence and advocacy for the Regional Network.

Men against Gender Based Violence

The Men against Gender Based Violence Programme conducted a review of existing men groups in Malawi, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia and Namibia. FEMNET documented and hopes to share the experiences with other male groups in the continent to encourage formation of more men groups and in the process strengthen the Africa Network of Men for Gender Equality. FEMNET will also share the experience with national, regional and global networks, including the INSTRAW and UNIFEM networks. FEMNET launched the Men to Men Initiative in 2001, to mark the Sixteen Days of Activism Against Violence on Women. The FEMNET contribution to the campaign targeted men, and marked the beginning of a partnership to promote and increase male involvement and action to combat gender based violence at the Africa regional level.
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