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Africa: ECA African Women Conference
Africa: ECA African Women Conference
Date distributed (ymd): 980123
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Continent-Wide
Issue Areas: +economy/development+ +gender/women+
Summary Contents:
This posting contains the announcement and overview theme statement of
the Economic Commission for Africa's 40th anniversary conference, scheduled
for 28 April to 1 May 1998. The conference will focus on "African
Women and Economic Development: Investing in our Future."
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ECA Press Release No. 39
ECA TO STAGE MAJOR INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GENDER
Addis Ababa, 20 January 1998 - The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
is to stage an international conference aimed at promoting the pivotal
role of women in Africa's economic development.
The Conference, entitled "African Women and Economic Development:
Investing in our Future," due to take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
from 28 April to 1 May 1998, is being organized in the context of ECA's
mandate to follow implementation of the regional Dakar and global Beijing
Platforms of Action, which place poverty reduction through the economic
empowerment of women as a top priority.
The Conference is being organized in partnership with the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and a number of other sponsors.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will attend the Conference, set to coincide
with the Commission's 40th anniversary. In addition, the gathering will
bring together a number of Heads of State and Government, African policy
makers, UN organizations and specialized agencies, representatives of civil
society, and the donor community. Overall, some 500 participants are expected
to attend.
In staging this conference, the Commission hopes to encourage links
between the goals of recent UN conferences (Beijing, Cairo, Vienna and
Copenhagen).
It seeks to do so by:
- sharing experiences on how public policies should equalize opportunities
between women and men and redirect resources to those investments in which
women's participation brings about the highest social returns;
- drawing strategic lessons from on-going efforts to implement the Beijing
Platform for Action;
- identifying best practices and validating programme modalities for
country-level implementation of actions recommended by the Conference;
- forging partnerships for post-conference development and implementation
of the recommended actions and programmes.
The four-day conference is being organized around four main themes:
- Developing African Economies: The role of women;
- Achieving good governance: The essential participation of women;
- African women and the information age: A new window of opportunity;
and
- Creating opportunities for Africa's new generation.
The event will get under way with an opening plenary session, followed
by two days dedicated to focused discussions in smaller working groups.
On the third day, A plenary devoted to the work of selected UN agencies
will begin with keynote address by the UN Secretary-General, while a forum
of Heads of State on Day Four will provide space for conference participants
to share their perspectives with the leaders.
The Conference is expected to evolve a concrete plan for follow-up actions
to be undertaken by ECA and its partners.
To ensure maximum participation in the conference, a planning meeting
will be convened from 17 - 20 February in Addis Ababa, bringing together
representatives of some 25 key organizations.
(END)
For more information, please visit the Conference Home Page at: http://www.un.org/depts/eca/eca40th/index.htm
Overview from ECA 40th Anniversary Page
(http://www.un.org/depts/eca/eca40th/overview.htm)
African Women and Economic Development: Investing In Our Future
International Conference on the occasion of the 40th anniversary
of ECA
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 28 April - 1 May 1998
An Overview
Significant progress has been made in improving the situation of women
across the world. This is reflected in narrowing gender gaps in major socio-economic
indicators. However, gender disparities are still apparent almost everywhere,
particularly in Africa.
A series of recent global conferences have indicated the serious social
and economic cost to society of excluding women (half the human population)
from existing development strategies and decision-making structures. Consequently,
many governments are demonstrating their political willingness to redress
this situation through affirmative action among other strategies.
At the close of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing
in September 1995, governments adopted a Global Platform for Action with
one of the top priorities being poverty reduction through the economic
empowerment of women. One of the mandates of the Economic Commission for
Africa (ECA) is to monitor and assist in the implementation of the recommendations
of the Platform at the continental level. ECA has also mainstreamed the
gender equality theme throughout its programmes.
Closing the gender-gap and enhancing women participation in development
is essential not only for achieving social justice, but also for reducing
poverty and contributing to economic growth. While investing in women is
so central to sustainable development, African women still face many barriers
in benefiting from, or even contributing to, development. A concerted,
multi-pronged effort is therefore needed to promote a stronger role for
African women and achieve long-term change in their conditions.
In this regard, ECA is taking the opportunity of its 40th Anniversary
to organise an International Conference from 28 April to 1 May 1998 in
Addis-Ababa under the theme: "African Women and Economic Development:
Investing in our Future."
Through this Conference, ECA aims to:
- Share experiences on how public policies should equalise opportunities
between women and men and redirect resources to those investments in which
women's participation brings about the highest social returns;
- Draw strategic lessons from relevant on-going women's programmes for
implementing the Beijing Platform for Action;
- Identify "best practices" and validate program modalities
for country-level implementation of actions recommended by the Conference;
- Forge partnerships for post-conference development and implementation
of the recommended actions and programmes.
The Conference is organised around the following four themes:
- Developing African economies: the role of women. The persistent inequality
between women and men perpetuates a lower level of productivity and, ultimately,
holds society to a lower level of economic growth. How can public policy
initiatives be used to secure the equal access of women and men to productive
resources (land, capital, infrastructure facilities and technology) and
to basic services (education, health and employment) so as to increase
economic growth and people's wellbeing?
- Facilitating good governance through women's participation. The near
exclusion of women from the centres of power has contributed to the absence
of women's voices and perspectives, leading to an impoverished debate,
and often, distorted policies. Strong participation of women in political
and community affairs through civil society organisations with strong links
to the state are a powerful instrument for improving governance and forging
gender equity in public policies and programs. How can women's organisations
and mobilisation machinery be strengthened and sustained as key building
blocks to good governance? How can we bring expanded numbers of women into
senior leadership positions in Africa, foster communication among women
and men, and encourage changes in laws and policies that will protect women's
rights?
- African women and the information age: a new window of opportunity.
The ECA Conference of Ministers responsible for Planning adopted the African
Information Society Initiative (AISI) in 1996, as an action framework to
build Africa's information and communications infrastructure, maximise
opportunities for harnessing information for Africa's development, and
to expedite the information revolution in Africa. Through the Initiative,
measures will be taken to ensure that gender sensitive information services
are a major focus of national attention and action, with appropriate international
support. Sector applications of information technology are planned in the
fields of electronic commerce, library resources, global health networks
and economics, virtual university, distance education, and telematics for
African media. How can the African Information Society promote and facilitate
dialogue and partnership around the priority concerns of women?. How can
women ensure their full participation in, and benefit from, the new information
technology?
- Creating opportunities for Africa's new generation. Perceiving and
practising gender equity should be developed in the early formative years
of children. There is a need to create (at the household and formal schooling
levels) opportunities for the New Generation to develop consciousness to
gender equality. The youth would also greatly benefit from skills for promoting
men and women as equal partners in society. What innovative strategies
can be adopted to equip the new generation with the life skills necessary
to create societies based on gender equity?
Partnership: A strategy for attaining Conference objectives:
Partnerships between government, civil society, non-governmental organisations,
bilateral donors, and international agencies are necessary for synergy
in the resolution of the issues before the Conference. Strong partnerships
are also necessary for mobilising resources needed to implement programs
that are beneficial to women. The Conference will bring out "best
practice" modalities for such partnerships and will suggest measures
to strengthen and make more effective the existing ones. This will help
to forge a consensus on policies and program actions.
Participants
The Conference will bring together:
- Top policy-makers in Africa from various sectors (ministries responsible
for Women's Affairs, Finance and Planning, Education, Trade, Industry,
Agriculture, Health, Justice, Water Supply);
- Representatives of civil societies (women's associations, youth associations,
parliamentary groups, private sector, NGOs, trade unions and local authorities);
- Representatives of African sub-regional and regional organisations
(both IGOs and NGOs); and
- Representatives of the international community, donors and financial
community.
Organization
The Conference will be a four-day event.
At the opening Plenary Session, the conference themes will be presented
within the context of the challenges to the economic empowerment of women
and their roles in and contributions to the African economy in the 21st
Century.
Two days will be dedicated to guided discussions in small working groups,
a system that will give every participant the possibility to contribute
effectively to the results of the Conference. These working sessions will
form the core substance of the conference. Each working group will focus
on a specific sub-set of the agenda themes. The Working Groups will identify
the most important problems and issues in that area, and identify concrete
actions that the participants, decision makers, international organizations
and civil society can undertake to address them.
- Action-oriented Plenary Sessions
After the two days of working groups, the findings and recommendations
will be reported and discussed in The Second Plenary Session. This is intended
to bring consensus that will lead to actionable plans.
The Third Plenary Session, to be chaired by the President of The African
Development Bank, will focus on the subject: Towards Gender Equity: Framework
for Partnerships. This session is intended to crystallise the discussions
into concrete actions for follow-up after the Conference. The key outputs
of the Conference will emerge in this Plenary.
At The Fourth Plenary Session the keynote address by The UN Secretary-General
will be delivered on the subject: Post Beijing: The United Nations and
African Women. It will be followed by a panel discussion involving the
Heads or Senior Representatives of the United Nations Fund for Population
Activities (UNFPA), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United
Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Bank, and the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP). This session will accord to heads of
UN agencies the opportunity to listen to, and learn from, the beneficiaries
of their programmes in Africa. It will also give the opportunity to key
players at the community level to express their views and influence donor
policy and allocation of resources.
- Forum of Heads of State and Government
Based on discussions of the previous days, the concluding session will
be the major opportunity for Heads of State and Government, Partners, and
participants to achieve convergence on concrete action plans. The Heads
of State will share their perspectives in a discussion with a panel of
women who will present the views of conference participants. The Secretary-General
of the Organisation for African Unity (OAU) will chair the Panel discussion,
which will be moderated by a prominent African woman. It is expected that
after the Conference, the Heads of States will, in turn, effect policy
advances in their own countries to improve the position of women and girls,
as part of a gender equity development strategy that will emerge out of
the conference. It is also expected that there will be greater effort to
advocate, in regional fora like the OAU summit, for the strategies and
commitments made at the conference.
The outcomes
The expected outcomes of this very special convocation on behalf of
Africa's future:
- Promoting linkages between the goals of the different United Nations
conferences at Beijing, Cairo, Vienna and Copenhagen;
- Influencing policymakers and securing their commitment to make fundamental
changes for the empowerment of women in their countries;
- Partnerships for development and implementation of strategic programmes
elaborated on the basis of discussions during the Conference.
Secretariat of the Conference for information and correspondence:
Economic Commission for Africa African Centre for Women (ACW)
P.O. Box 3001 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel: (251.1) 51 89 19 (Direct)/51 72 00 Ext. 33700
Fax: (251.1) 51 27 85 (Direct)/51 44 16 or 51 22 33
E-mail: eca40th@un.org
Internet: http://www.un.org/Depts/eca/eca40th
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the Africa
Policy Information Center (APIC), the educational affiliate of the Washington
Office on Africa. APIC's primary objective is to widen the policy debate
in the United States around African issues and the U.S. role in Africa,
by concentrating on providing accessible policy-relevant information and
analysis usable by a wide range of groups individuals.
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