WUNRN
SOUTHERN
AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
The SADC Member States are Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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SOUTHERN AFRICA:
SADC
SIGNS GROUND-BREAKING GENDER PROTOCOL
By Zahira Kharsany
JOHANNESBURG, Aug 18 (IPS) - 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. Women bear the brunt
of social injustice and problems on the African continent, ranging from access
to clean water, poor health care, access to economic opportunities or adequate
protection before the law.
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. It draws up a plan of action setting specific targets and
time frames for achieving gender equality in all SADC countries as well as
effective monitoring and evaluation.
The document covers 25 articles on different aspects ranging
from access to justice and education as well as ensuring women's rights is
included in member states' constitutions.
One of the highest priorities within the document is putting
legislative measures in place to promote and ensure practical realisation of
equality of women. The protocol states: "Member states shall adopt and
implement legislative and other measures to eliminate all practices which
negatively affect the fundamental rights of women, men, girls and boys, such as
their right to life, health, dignity, education or physical integrity".
SADC counties who sign the protocol agree to support equal
access to education and to free quality primary and secondary education to aim
for the eradication of illiteracy by 2020. "They (member states) should
eliminate gender discrimination and stereotypes in the curriculum, career
choices and professions while putting in place gender sensitivity training
programmes for educators and stakeholders," the document states.
The gender protocol also calls for governments in the region
to prohibit all forms of gender-based violence, including marital rape. The
document has a provision which will ensure perpetrators of all forms of
gender-based violence are tried by a competent court of justice.
HIV/AIDS is also addressed. The SADC region has the highest
number of fatalities across the globe. The protocol calls for necessary steps
to be taken to prevent the transmission of HIV and AIDS among women, men, girls
and boys, including persons with disabilities. It also stresses the importance
of female-controlled prevention methods.
"These prevention efforts will be based on an
understanding of the underlying gender power relations that fuel the pandemic,
the challenges encountered by women in insisting on safe sex and the need for
behaviour change."
Long overdue
Seven years in the making, the document is seen as a
ground-breaking commitment that will put gender rights at the forefront of the
SADC plan of action and provide a clear roadmap for the region's leaders to
move towards gender equality. Regional heads of state had postponed signing the
document on two previous occasions and activists are hoping that this would be
implemented on schedule.
Though it was signed by 12 heads of state, the protocol met
opposition from Botswana and Mauritius at this year's summit. Speaking to IPS,
a member of the Mauritian delegation, who wished to remain anonymous, voiced
concern that the protocol meant that their constitution would have to be
changed.
"For just one word we would have to change our entire
constitution," he said. "Also the amount to change our constitution
will cause financial constraints on our country."
He was referring to the affirmative action clause found in
the protocol. It is believed that the same objection was raised by the Botswana
delegation.
Next challenge: implementation
In a statement, 180 media practitioners, analysts,
activists, critics and editors who participated in the Gender and Media Summit
just ahead of the SADC meeting described the Protocol "as the most far
reaching of any sub-regional instrument for achieving gender equality."
Participants said it was time for southern Africa to move
from being "a region of commitments, to one of action".
Colleen Lowe Morna, executive director of GenderLinks, a
South Africa-based NGO which works across the southern Africa region for the
equal participation of women and men in public and private life, told IPS that
she was thrilled by the outcome.
"It has been a very long journey for us. The protocol
has been watered down and we are not entirely happy by that. But there are 23
concrete targets set down that each country must work towards. It is one of the
most concrete and explicit document on gender equality in the region, and it
will be a challenging target to all governments."
The watering down that Morna is referring to is the
exclusion of key provisions on marital rape, cohabitation and the rights of
vulnerable groups. She also pointed out that contradictions between customary
law and constitutional provisions for gender equality are not explicitly
addressed.
Morna emphasised that the economic provisions provided in
the protocol's affirmative action plan were "superb".
Morna said that the challenge now was putting in place the
structures and strategies within each of signing nations over the next seven
years.
The Africa Protocol Alliance, which unites 42 organisations
from all 14 SADC member states, is developing an action plan to support
governments in meeting the targets set for them in the next seven years. The
protocol calls for governments to launch public awareness campaigns and report
bi-annually on progress towards achieving the commitments outlined in the
protocol.
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