Presented by Ms. Thokozile Ruzvidzo Coordinator – African Centre for Gender

Presentation Outline Looking back : Beijing reviews Outcome of the Beijing reviews Planning forward: Advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment in the Post 2015 development agenda

Beijing +20 Africa Review Website plus-20/pages/documents

Banjul Declaration Economic empowerment of women through poverty reduction, employment creation, social protection and use of information and communications technology; Peace, security and development; Violence against women; Representation and participation of women in all areas of decision-making; Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS; Climate change and food security and Financing for gender equality

20 years of implementation of the BPfA: Key Achievements: 1.Near-achievement of gender parity in primary education (North Africa’s gender parity index ; sub-Saharan Africa ); 2.Notable reduction in maternal mortality by 45 % with 1 country already achieving MDG 5 and remarkable progress witnessed in the continent as a whole; 3.Implementation of various policies, programmes and projects whose objective is to accelerate economic empowerment of women in a wide variety of sectors by all responding member states; 4.Representation and participation of women in key political decision-making positions (2 female Heads of State – H. E Ellen Sirleaf Johnson – Liberia & H. E. Catherine Samba – Panza – Central African Republic) ; AU Chairperson; more than 30 % national parliament representation in 12 countries; significant female representation in cabinet and local governance levels); 5.Public-private partnerships (PPPs) between governments, private sector, CSOs, development partners and research institutions to support and strengthen institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women by all responding member states; 6.Domestication of various global and regional legal frameworks aimed at promoting and protecting the human rights of women and girls (CEDAW, Maputo Protocol, Solemn Declaration, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child);

20 years of implementation of the BPfA: Key Challenges: 1.Persistent gender inequality at secondary and tertiary education levels; 2.Perennial under-resourcing of national gender machineries – in terms of human and financial resources - curtailing their efficiency and effectiveness; 3.Reversals in the progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment fueled by: the Ebola outbreak in West Africa; an increase in the number of African countries experiencing conflict and crises; 4.Persistent poverty with differential impact on women and children; with women having disproportionate access to food, health, education, training and opportunities for employment ; 5.Inadequate data and statistics disaggregated by age, sex, gender and other diversity leading to difficulties in the formulation and implementation of targeted policy and programmatic interventions; 6.Ineffective implementation of legal and normative instruments on women’s human rights; exacerbated by existence of plural legal frameworks – statutory/customary/religious.

Analysis of Beijing reviews Success in enhancing the capabilities of women in the social sectors (education and health); Progress in enhancing women’s voice and agency in political power and decision- making;

Analysis of Beijing reviews……ctd Very limited progress in pulling women out of poverty due to inadequate and ineffective provision of economic opportunities

Planning Forward

Critical interventions

African-driven and people-centered transformative development model Women, Girls, Youth Agriculture Extractive industries Education (All levels) Power & decision making Labour & employ- ment Innovation & Technology Trade & Commerce Health Social Protection

economic opportunities for women: Upstream, downstream and side- stream linkages Employment- generating growth and development Ripple effects throughout the economy BROAD-BASED INDUSTRIALIZATION IN HIGH-PRODUCTIVITY SECTORS e.g agriculture, mining

Why inclusive broad-based industrialization? Women & youth achieving greater global competitive ness feeding back into higher growth increasing value addition in commodity exports promoting inter- linkages between sectors developing high- productivity sectors

Sample value-addition in mining (ASM): Where are women positioned?

Characteristics of Inclusive and transformative industrialization Broad-based educational strategies Industrial strategies that link industrial policies to initial economic and social conditions Investment, trade & human development policies Social services and social protection policies Gender responsive

Achieving “visible change” for women Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Agency/VoiceCapabilitiesOpportunities

Which way forward post 2015? Gender-responsive sector-specific support services in agriculture, the extractive industry, trade, entrepreneurship. Expanding economic opportunities for women Building women's ability to identify and act on economic, social and political opportunities: Challenging harmful social and cultural norms. Strengthening women's agency Formulation and effective implementation of non-discriminatory legal frameworks that support gender equality and women's empowerment. Facilitating institutional frameworks

Key questions to ponder What policy frameworks should African countries put in place to promote gender-responsive industrialization and transformative development in the post 2015? Should African countries seek gender-responsive transformative development across multiple sectors simultaneously or select a few high-impact sectors first? Which ones? How to ensure that African priorities from this Beijing +20 regional review are given priority attention in the negotiation processes for the post 2015 development agenda?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION