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Note: This document is from the archive of the Africa Policy E-Journal, published
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West Africa: Women's Rights
West Africa: Women's Rights
Date distributed (ymd): 990714
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: West Africa
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +gender/women+
Summary Contents:
This posting contains a letter from the International Human
Rights Law Group, asking for international support for the
planned "Day of Action for Women's Inheritance Rights" (July
29, 1999) in eight West African countries.
Another posting also sent out today contains an action and
background information on the Magaya case in Zimbabwe, in
which the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe ruled against women's
inheritance rights.
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
International Human Rights Law Group
1200 18th St. NW #602
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-822-4600; Fax: 202-822-4606
For more information:
Marie-Elena John Smith
Coordinator for Africa
International Human Rights Law Group
africa@hrlawgroup.org
Sameena Nazir
Coordinator for Women's Rights Advocacy Program (WRAP)
International Human Rights Law Group
WRAP@hrlawgroup.org
Dear Friends,
This message is part of an initiative to raise awareness of
the critical issue of inheritance rights of women in Africa.
Please take the time to read and learn about this problem. We
are asking that you forward the attached sample letter, as is
or edited as you feel necessary, to the UN Special Rapporteur
on Violence Against Women, Radhika Coomaraswamy. If you could
also please forward this message to your own network, you
would contribute greatly to raising awareness of this
under-publicized but extremely important issue.
Thank you for your help.
July 6, 1999
Dear Friends,
This letter is an invitation for you to support and
participate in a landmark effort by a group of West African
women's rights organizations to promote awareness of the
devastating effects of discriminatory inheritance rights
practices on women and children in Africa. On July 29, 1999,
for the first time in West Africa, a "Day of Action for
Women's Inheritance Rights" will be occurring simultaneously
in eight West African countries. Women's rights activists in
Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria,
Senegal, and Togo are coordinating this effort with the
collaboration of the International Human Rights Law Group,
based in Washington, D.C.
The Day of Action is part of a long-term campaign to bring
national, regional, and international attention to customary
inheritance practices that deny women their right to inherit
land and other property. These practices persist despite the
presence of statutory laws in most countries that provide at
least limited protection of women's rights to inherit, and
result in the pauperization of millions of women and children.
Women's organizations in the eight countries will coordinate
a program of preparatory activities, such as developing drafts
of an ideal inheritance law from a women's rights perspective.
On the Day of Action, July 29, the main features of
coordinated activities throughout the above countries will
include:
- A march from a central point to a prominent institution such
as the Parliament Building, the Ministry of Justice, or the
Supreme Court in the capital city of each country;
- Presentation of draft model legislation on women's
inheritance rights to an appropriate member of the government,
legislature, or judiciary, along with a memorandum urging
adoption of the model legislation;
- A press conference at the local press center.
The women's organizations involved in this initiative came
together for the first time in Accra, Ghana in November 1998
with the facilitation of the International Human Rights Law
Group, based in Washington, D.C. All participants are
intensely involved in the struggle for women's inheritance
rights in their countries, and they sought to identify the
difficulties they faced in their work, and the assistance
needed to overcome those obstacles. Key obstacles they
identified included the low profile and lack of awareness of
the issue, particularly at the international level. The NGOs
present formed a loose coalition to implement a series of
activities aimed at overcoming these obstacles, including this
Day of Action on Women's Inheritance Rights.
If you would like to show your support to women activists
working on women's inheritance rights, and to contribute to
the process of raising awareness of this critical problem at
the international level, we invite you to e-mail the letter
attached below to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence
Against Women, copied to the OAU Special Rapporteur on Women's
Rights, whose mandate is to research and recommend measures
aimed at eliminating gender-based abuse of women, as well as
its causes and consequences, at the international, national,
and regional levels.
In addition, to become further involved or receive more
information on this women's inheritance rights initiative,
please fax or email your contact information to our number or
address listed below.
We appreciate your contribution to the establishment of a
global support network for women's inheritance rights.
Sample letter to Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
Radhika Coomaraswamy
UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
E-mail: radhika@sri.lanka.net
cc: ondziel@cafe.tg
Dear Ms. Coomaraswamy:
This letter is part of an effort to support and participate in
a landmark initiative by a group of West African women's
rights organizations to promote awareness of the devastating
effects of discriminatory inheritance rights practices on
women and children in Africa. Included in their initiative is
a "Day of Action for Women's Inheritance Rights", which will
take place on July 29, 1999, simultaneously in eight West
African countries. Women's rights activists in Burkina Faso,
Cameroon, the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and
Togo are coordinating this effort with the collaboration of
the International Human Rights Law Group, based in Washington,
D.C.
The Day of Action is part of a long-term campaign to bring
national, regional, and international attention to customary
inheritance practices that deny women their right to inherit
land and other property. These inheritance practices have
devastating repercussions directly on the lives of women and
children, the most significant of which is the loss of rights
to shared property, leading to destitution and pauperization.
Yet these practices persist, by virtue of tradition, religion,
and lack of information despite the presence of statutory laws
in most countries that provide at least limited protection of
women's rights to inherit.
The question of women's inheritance rights has become
particularly urgent in recent years for a number of reasons,
including the high incidence of HIV infection and AIDS and the
widespread civil strife that has engulfed many countries
throughout Africa. The result is that large numbers of women
are being widowed at a younger age -- at a time when their
access to productive resources are essential if they are to
continue providing for themselves and for their dependents.
The negative impact on countries' macroeconomic development is
also staggering, given that, in their most productive years,
half of the population are denied their means of production.
The Preamble to the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence
against Women states that violence against women is a
manifestation of historically unequal power relations between
men and women. Economic discrimination is an important aspect
of these power relations, since, as you have noted,
economically disadvantaged women are more vulnerable to
violence and exploitation. In your Preliminary Report on
Violence against Women, Its Causes and Consequences in 1995,
you stated that "denying women economic power and economic
independence is a major cause of violence against women
because it prolongs their vulnerability and dependence.. ."
(Par. 53)
Because the denial of inheritance rights of women is a form of
economic discrimination that has proven to be a major cause of
violence against women, we urge you, as the UN Special
Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, to use your mandate to
recommend measures at the national, regional, and
international levels to eliminate this significant cause of
violence against women. We request that you undertake a
regional visit to research and to report upon this issue. We
further urge you to contact and collaborate with the OAU
Special Rapporteur on Women's Rights, Julienne Ondziel, whose
mandate also includes reporting on women's inheritance rights.
She can be reached at ondziel@cafe.tg.
We congratulate you on your successful efforts to date and
hope that you will be able to include this important issue in
your work.
Sincerely,
Name
Organization
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the
Africa Policy Information Center (APIC). 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 and
individuals.
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