The newsletter of the AU Commission Issue 1 2015 Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063 Disclaimer The AU ECHO is produced by the Directorate of Information and Communication of the African Union as a compilation of contributions from African Citizens and staff members of the African Union, as a result of a call made by the Directorate for such contributions. In this respect, the views contained therein are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the official position of the African Union nor of its Commission. © African Union Commission 2 Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063 3 CONTENTS Foreword 05 Breaking Gender Barriers: Political Representation and the Economic Self-Empowerment of the Cameroonian Woman 06 Maximising Economic Empowerment Schemes for Women 11 ‘2015 year of women’s empowerment and development: what is in it for women smallholder farmers? 13 Women’s Empowerment and Development in Africa: Strides and Tides 17 Women in Agriculture: Addressing the Gender Gap through Relevant Agricultural Frameworks 22 In the Africa we want, girls will be girls, not brides 25 Pan-African Organizing for a Collective Approach to Agenda 2063 28 Avenues for Women’s Economic Empowerment in Southern Africa: Formalising Informal Cross-Border Trade 32 Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development Towards Africa’s Agenda 2063 36 Liberté d’expression, Participation citoyenne et non-violence chez les jeunes filles égyptiennes 38 La Petite Fille et Les Stereotypes Sexuels 41 Renforcer le rôle des femmes dans la gestion des forêts aux Comores Femmes 43 47 ميحرلا نمحرلا هللا مسب 4 FOREWORD It is my great pleasure to present this issue of the AU ECHO, the newsletter of the African Union Commission, which we are publishing under the theme of the African Union Summits for 2015 i e “Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063” The newsletter is published each year according to the annual themes of the AU as decided by our Heads of State and Government The AU ECHO provides a vital linkage between the African Union and the African people It is an avenue through which we can share knowledge and experiences that enhance our integration and unity By giving voice to African people to tell their own stories of development, it helps us to achieve our desire to be a people centered African Union, especially now as we focus on Agenda 2063 The manuscripts in this edition cover a wide scope of areas in which progress has been achieved and where challenges remain in terms of achieving the true empowerment and development of women The theme for our Summits this year deserves a special place in all our hearts Women constitute more than half of Africa’s population They give birth to the other half Women make up seventy- five per cent of the agricultural workforce They constitute the bulk of cross-border traders and still provide for the well-being of communities, the workforce and our societies, as well as being custodians of our culture The continent has taken many decisions towards the emancipation of women and gender parity The African Union’s gender architecture includes important documents such as Article 4 (L) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa, the Fund for African Women, and the African Women’s Decade The African Union Commission, and more importantly the member states, have to implement these decisions This newsletter allows us to hear from the people how the decisions made by our leaders are impacting their lives As you read through this newsletter, you will find that the contributors have presented us with well researched information that can be used by others in their own programmes on empowering women The writers also point to areas where we as the African Union, member states of the African Union and societies in general, should adjust and re-focus if we are to achieve gender parity by or before 2063, as set out in the Agenda 2063 framework May this short overview on women’s empowerment and development arouse your own interest to learn how policies adopted by African Heads of State and Government are making a difference to the people of this continent Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma Chairperson: African Union Commission 5 GENDER EQUALITY: WHAT DO AFRICAN CITIZENS THINK? Women have traditionally played critical roles in our African societies Gender equality flourished in ancient lands where African women occupied positions of responsibility While there were so many, our history books recognized only a few of them: Queen Ann Nzinga of Angola, Makeda the Queen of Sheba in Ethiopia, Queen Ahmose-Nefertiti of Egypt, Mbuya Nehanda of Zimbabwe, Yaa Asantewa of the Ashanti Empire, Buktu of Mali and Didon, Queen of Carthage (Carthage now known as Tunisia was the first State in the world founded by a woman) There are many, many other women that held very great responsibilities in our ancient civilisations, whose good deeds continue to Habiba El Mejri Scheikh influence us today Director Information and Communication Yet African women still do not have equal access to African Union Commission opportunities and services 2015 has been called by the African Union the Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development Towards Agenda 2063 The African Union Commission’s Directorate of Information and Communication sent out a call in September, for papers to be published in the AU Echo at the January 2015 Summit of the African Union The call was sent out to organs and employees of the African Union, and to African citizens in general, men and women, who wanted to share their successful experiences as well as some of the challenges faced toward the gender equality process Involving the people of the continent in the African agenda gives a voice to African citizens in the process of the AUC leadership’s policy aimed at building a people’s union through communication, information and outreach The results have been pleasing, both in their quantity and quality I would like to thank all the contributors who have made this publication so rich May we all use this publication to learn from each other and encourage the further empowerment of women on our continent 6 BREAKING GENDER BARRIERS: POLITICAL REPRESENTATION AND THE ECONOMIC SELF-EMPOWERMENT OF THE CAMEROONIAN WOMAN By ALOBWEDE NGOME JOHN Senior Administrative & Teaching Assistant CERIS – Brussels, Final Year PhD Candidate: Vrije Universiteit Brussels & Canterbury Christ Church University , Dept of Politics & International Relations [email protected] Abstract Introduction This paper analyzes the implementation of the African Durable socio-economic development can only thrive in Union’s (AU) vision in Cameroon to empower women Cameroon through the enforcement of gender parity and economically and politically This strategy is pulling down the economic empowerment of women The improvement gender and ideological barriers (gender parity) to catalyze of the political representation and participation of the development and to boost the political representation of Cameroonian woman and her economic empowerment women in Cameroon Cameroon is signatory to the legal at the grassroots (rural women) is bridging the gender gap and institutional arrangements that inform the AU’s policy and triggering socio-economic development, although framework on gender policy Given its commitment to the challenges remain AU’s mechanisms for fostering gender mainstreaming, the Government of Cameroon has taken steps over the last Women constitute 52 percent of the entire population of decade to improve the participation of women in the political Cameroon They are actively involved in fighting poverty and decision-making processes (government and parliament) in households and thus make a crucial contribution at the national level as well as the economic empowerment of to development of the society The status of women in rural women at the grassroots level, to catalyze development the Cameroonian society that was often dwarfed and Using the feminist theory, this article analyses the subordinated to that of men by culture and state institutions implementation in Cameroon of the gender equality vision is gradually being reversed with the adoption of the AU’s and mechanisms designed by the AU to empower women in Institutional and legal framework on gender equality and order to enhance development The paper equally assesses the the economic empowerment of women progress made in empowering the Cameroonian woman as A perfect avenue to push for the economic emancipation a vector of socio-economic development Important strides of rural Cameroonian women is through the promotion of have been made However, significant challenges abound community-based projects Women who possess economic Key Words: Gender Equality, economic empowerment and political power contribute to the wellbeing of their of women, development, political representation and households Their empowerment is a commitment of participation the government of Cameroon to catalyze development Combining the political representation of women with the grassroots approach of economic empowerment with micro projects is proving effective, in reaching women in all spectrums of the Cameroonian society The success of micro projects is contributing immensely to the welfare of poor and widowed families They are learning to map out their economic future without