WUNRN
Africa
Ministerial CSW 57 Preparatory Meeting
From 14 to 16 January 2013, UN Women, in partnership with the UN Economic
Commission for Africa (UNECA), and in collaboration with the African Union
Commission (AUC), convened a meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ministers
responsible for Gender and Women’s Affairs, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, and
senior government officials from Africa met to prepare for the fifty-seventh
session of the Commission on the Status of Women on the priority theme
“Elimination and Prevention of All Forms of Violence Against Women and Girls”.
OF
ON
PRIORITY
THEME: ELIMINATION AND PREVENTION OF ALL FORMS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND
GIRLS
Preamble
We, Ministers responsible for Gender and
Women’s Affairs, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, and senior government officials
from Africa, met in
The meeting was attended by 39
The meeting was organized by UN Women in
partnership with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and in
collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC).
The meeting objectives were:
(i)
to
reflect on and propose strategies to end Violence Against Women (VAW) in
preparation for the 57th session of the CSW to be held in
(ii)
to
forge a common understanding of the mandate, role and significance of the CSW,
and how Africa can better utilize the CSW outcomes to hold governments
accountable on their commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment –
and in particular on eliminating and preventing violence against women,
(iii)
to
exchange knowledge, and best practices emanating from regional and national
experiences,
(iv)
to
propose recommendations, priorities and key messages on how best to accelerate
global, regional and national action to end VAW,
(v)
to
develop a strategy for engaging actors to participate in and substantively
contribute to the CSW57 Outcome Document and its follow up, to propose
modalities for implementation of CSW57 Outcome Document at country level.
Recognizing that Violence
Against Women (VAW) is a global human rights and development phenomenon, that
is
pervasive, persistent
and insidious in nature, manifesting in multiple intersecting forms- including
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), rape, trafficking, forced marriage, early
marriages, domestic violence;
Acknowledging that Violence
Against Women and Girls (VAWG) occurs in conflict and in times of peace;
Deeply concerned about the use of rape as a
weapon of war in conflict affected countries such as
Recognizing that VAWG has regional and country
specifics and is deeply rooted in systemic gender inequality linked to some
harmful cultural practices that perpetuate bias, discrimination and
victimization;
Acknowledging existence of some positive
cultural, religious and traditional values on the African continent;
Reaffirming the significant commitments by
African Member States, governments and people through the ratification of
international standards, and regional frameworks to end VAW including-The Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA), The
Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW),
United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325, 1820, 1880, 1890; UN General
Assembly Resolution on intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of
violence against women; General Assembly Resolution (2012) on Eliminating
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM);
Further acknowledging; The Protocol to
the Africa Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Human Rights of Women in
Africa; The AU Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality The International
Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR Protocol on the Prevention and
Suppression of Sexual Violence against Women and Children; ICGLR Heads of
State’s Kampala Declaration on Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV); and The
Africa UNiTE Campaign on ending VAW;
Noting in particular Article 14 on Health and
Reproductive Rights, of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and
People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa which calls on “State Parties to ensure that the right to
health of women, including sexual and reproductive health is respected and
promoted” and “to protect the
reproductive rights of women” (Maputo Protocol, 2003);
Cognisant of the Africa Union Commission’s exemplary
leadership on gender equality commitments;
Appreciating the platform provided to voice
Africa’s determination, commitment and greater action to end VAWG and in that
regard UN Women’s vision and leadership and UNECA’s strategic partnership in
organizing the Africa Ministerial preparatory meeting for the 57th
Session of CSW; ;
Noting the gap between commitments and action;
and reaffirming zero tolerance to VAWG;
WE DECLARE that in
Africa Ending Violence Against Women IS NOT AN OPTION but a priority for
development, peace and security, human rights, economic and social
cohesion;
WE DECLARE ZERO
TOLERANCE to all forms of VAWG in
We RECOMMIT to
strengthen laws, policies and implement strategic actions to end VAWG; to take
measures to PREVENT VAWG, so that it does not happen in the first place, and to
RESPOND appropriately whenever it happens as follows:
I.
ON
PREVENTION
We
Commit to:
1.1 Establish, monitor and
assess effectiveness of measures to enforce zero tolerance to end VAWG;
1.2 Strengthen existing
positive cultural practices of respect and non-violent relationships in
families, schools, communities and public institutions;
1.3 Review education curricula
at all levels to incorporate sexual and reproductive health in accordance with
Article 14 of the Maputo Protocol;
1.4 Promote awareness raising,
sensitization and training of the Police, Prosecutors, Judiciary, Military;
religious, cultural, community leaders, and the community at large on women’s
rights and ending VAWG;
1.5 Involve and engage
traditional leaders, men and boys in VAWG prevention initiatives;
1.6 Document harmful practices
that perpetuate VAWG and formulate clear strategies for their elimination;
1.7 Enforce the ICGLR Protocol
on prevention and suppression of sexual violence against women and children as
a way to end impunity in conflict and post conflict situations;
1.8 Scale up best practices at
regional, national and local levels on strengthening families and community
initiatives and other preventive strategies;
1.9 Continue empowering women at the grassroots levels so that they
can claim their rights;
1.10
Enforce a policy of not granting amnesty to
perpetrators of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict;
II. ON RESPONSE
We
are determined to:
2.1 Ensure that the
elimination of VAWG is a priority area of the post-2015 agenda with clear
targets and indicators;
2.2 Enact and enforce
laws and policies on VAWG;
2.2 Ensure
that the right to health of women, including sexual and reproductive health, is
promoted through education and service provision in line with Article 14 of the
Protocol to
the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in
Africa;
2.3 Domesticate and
implement General Assembly Resolution on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) (2012)
in countries where the practice exists;
2.4 Implement a multi-sectoral approach including the One
Stop Centers to effectively engage all stakeholders in providing services and
support to survivors of VAWG;
2.5 Enhance
the buy-in of all Ministries to end VAWG, including Ministries responsible for
Finance, Economic Planning, Health, Justice, Education, Home Affairs and
others;
2.6 Advocate
for adequate allocation of resources to end VAWG from public and private
sectors and donors;
2.7 Set
up special funding mechanisms for ending VAWG in all conflict, humanitarian and
development settings;
2.9 Intensify
economic empowerment initiatives for women as a means of uplifting the status
of women and preventing VAWG;
2.10 Ensure effective
representation and participation of women in all peace processes and community
peace building and reconstruction initiatives as per UN Resolution 1325;
2.11 Utilize the Africa UNiTE Campaign and the
Africa Women’s Decade as advocacy platforms for Zero Tolerance throughout
2.12 Make provisions, at national and community
levels to fast track investigations and prosecution of perpetrators of VAWG
including but not limited to special courts;
2.13 Establish regular mechanisms to collect,
analyse and disseminate data on VAWG, monitor and assess effectiveness of ZERO
TOLERANCE to end VAWG;
2.14 Increase men and boys participation/engagement
in programmes to end VAWG;
2.15 Include civil society in regional and national
norm setting, programming as well as in government delegations for a more
holistic representation of regional and national concerns;
2.16
Put in place a monitoring framework for the implementation of the 57th
CSW session outcomes at national, regional and global level.
ADOPTED ON this sixteenth day of January 2013, in