Youth Join SOAWR Members during
Annual Conference
One of the coalition’s strategies on ex-
panding their constituency aimed at engaging the youth in the campaign to
promote the human rights of African
women. The annual review had in atten-dance four youth participants who were
winners of last year’s Essay contest titled
“What the Protocol means to me”
Below are excerpts of articles the youth wrote about their experiences of engag-
ing with SOAWR members.
From the 18th to 20th January 2012
SOAWR convened its annual review
and agenda setting workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The meeting whose
objective was to review the coalition’s
past two years activities reflected on member’s experiences and best prac-
tices at the regional and national level,
and adopted an action plan which included a road map to be implemented
during the year.
In ambit of the annual review meeting,
Coalition members also engaged in
advocacy and lobby meetings targeting embassies of countries that have not
ratified the Protocol.
Other activities that SOAWR members
engaged in included participation at the
African Union Summit which carried the theme “Boosting Intra-African
Trade.” and this provided an opportu-nity for FEMNET a SOAWR member,
to launch on 19th January 2012 a multi-
country research report and documen-tary on promoting women’s economic
empowerment through gender respon-
sive trade. For a full report of the above events please visit: http://
www.soawr.org/resources/
SOAWRJan2012AU%20Summit.pdf
The annual review meeting was partici-
patory and consisted of panel presenta-tions, working group discussions, and
strategy building sessions. One of the
issues discussed was progress on ratifi-cation of the Protocol. A representa-
tive of the AU Commission, Mr Ade-
wale Inyanda spoke about an initiative
Leah Chatta Chipepa (AMwA), Uganda and
Adewale Iyanda,,AU legal Counsel Office-
Addis Ababa-Ethiopia at the Annual meeting
that the AUC is leading on ratification and
domestication of AU treaties which in-
cluded development of a model law on ratification. He also highlighted some of
the challenges that countries face in ratifi-
cation of treaties and underscored the fact that SOAWR had done exceedingly well
in advocating for ratification of the
Women’s Rights Protocol and that there was a lot to learn from the SOAWR cam-
paign.
During a session on Domesticating the
Protocol, regional efforts and country
experiences were discussed including plans for a mult-sectoral framework train-
ing as a way of domesticating/
implementing the Protocol in selected countries that have ratified it. Members
also heard about outcomes of the second
domestication meeting held last year in Nairobi for 16 countries and training of
lawyers from 12 countries on application
of the Guide to Using the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa for Legal Ac-
tion.
The meeting took time to explore new
strategies of engagements and new con-
stituencies in the Protocol campaign. Is-sues discussed included use of opportuni-
ties to include elections and use of the
social media as an advocacy tool.
The meeting ended with development of
an annual action plan and election of new members into the SOAWR Steering Com-
mittee.
SOLIDARITY FOR AFRICAN WOMEN ’S R IGHTS PUBLICATION
ENGLISH EDITION
UPCOMING EVENT
The Summit of the African Union 9th to 16th July 2012, to
be held in Malawi. for informa-
tion visit http://www.au-summit2012-malawi.mw/
SOAWR Annual Review meet-ing takes place in Addis Ababa
1
2
South Sudan awareness raising on international/regional instru-
ments
2
SOAWR participates in the Africa UNiTE Campaign to
End Violence Against Women
3
COVAW convenes public forum on Protocol in Arusha
3
FEMNET Gives Visibility to
the Africa UNiTE Campaign
3
Tanzanian Youth Speak out in
Favor of AU Women’s Rights
Protocol
4
Advocacy for Ratification of the Protocol
4
Equality Now convenes Second Training for lawyers on Using
Protocol for Legal Defense
4
POWA, ACDHRS & WLSA hold side Event on CEDAW
and The Women’s Protocol
5
Women First Coalition em-barks on a Media Campaign to
Demystify and Popularize the
Protocol in Uganda
6
In the News
Statement Condemning strip-ping of women in Malawi
6
A New Victim in an Uneven
War
6
New members elected into
SOAWR Steering Commit-
tee
7
SOAWR Annual Review Meeting takes place in Addis Ababa
JANUARY-MARCH 2012
Four winners of the Youth Essay at the
SOAWR meeting
Believing that Women's Emancipation
is the Key-Jerry Laurence Lemogo
(Cameroon)
Young people are as it is said in my
country, Cameroon, the spearhead of the nation. They are ingredients to add
in every development achievement on
the African continent which is at the search of emergence. It is exactly in
support of this spirit that SOAWR
invited the African youth to reflect on the methods and strategies for the ap-
propriation of the Protocol. It is through
the ratification and domestication of this legal instrument which in our judg-
ment is unavoidable for factual contri-
bution of women in Africa to develop-ment.
Keys to the success of the Protocol
The Protocol needs to deploy more efficiently on the continent and thus the
of new methods towards (continued on
page 2)
Page 2
South Sudan – Awareness Raising on International and Regional Instruments on Women’s Human Rights
As a new nation, the Republic of
South Sudan has a lot of international
obligations to fulfill. Having applied
for membership into the East African
community, and having been ac-
cepted as a member of the African
Union as well as the United Nations,
South Sudan is clearly ready to take
its place on the international land-
scape. One of the key issues that
South Sudan will have to address as a
new member of the world’s family of
nations will be to ensure that the
human rights of women are upheld
particularly by ratifying international
conventions and declarations.
It is in light of the above that the
South Sudan Women Empower-
ment Network organized a two day
workshop on key international and
regional instrument on women’s
human rights from 22nd to 23rd Feb-
ruary, 2012 in Juba. The conference
examined regional, international and
national best practice towards achieving
ratification.
Alexandriah Muhanji, Equality
Now Program Officer, representing
the SOAWR coalition shared
SOAWR’s work on ratification,
Annual meeting ...continued...
domestication and implementation of the
African Women’s Rights Protocol; and
outlined steps South Sudan needed to take
in depositing its instrument of ratification.
The meeting raised concerns about the
increase of cases of violence, discrimina-
tion and women’s subordination. Partici-
pants urged the government to prioritize
and commit to contribute to a safe and se-
cure environment for women and children
in South Sudan. For women’s rights to be
realized, the meeting recommended that
the government ratify CEDAW, the Afri-
JANUARY-MARCH 2012
ratifying the Protocol, the resistance that it is faced with in the African Union member coun-
tries, SOAWR commitment and the innovative
solutions that it purports to achieve.
Life Before, During and After SOAWR Meet-
ing - Nonyelum Umeasiegbu (Nigeria)
Over the two days of the meeting I watched in awe as women activists defied even the barriers
of language to share progress, successes, lessons
learnt and most importantly, plan for 2012 cam-paign actions. The goals and objective were
clear in every dialogue; to sign and ratify the
Protocol in countries which have not, and to implement and domesticate its articles in coun-
tries that have.
My awe listening to these dialogues inspired
me. I was inspired by the various activities
being implemented across the continent, by the achievements being attained, and by the enthusi-
asm of the people doing them.
I also got the opportunity to experience firsthand
lobby and advocacy strategies. We paid a visit
to the Embassy of Egypt. The conversation was
engaging and we left with a commitment from the Ambassador to push for the government’s
ratification of the Protocol in light of the new
emerging era in Egypt.
I consider myself now a supporter of the
SOAWR coalition and will work both with SOAWR and individually to promote the
Protocol and its articles among youth in my
country.
My Addis experience - Anthony Itodo Samuel (Nigeria)
As a youth participant at the SOAWR confer-ence, I was practically in unfamiliar territory,
surrounded by women who are giving so much
in the service of bettering the lives of other women. While I listened I was impressed with
the efforts of members of the coalition across
several parts of Africa. The experience brought me in live contact with real change-makers,
something I have longed to be, a longing to
translate the several ideas I have articulated in my essays into reality. I remain committed to
promote African women’s rights.
Some of the opportunities that exist in the coun-
try include the constitutional making process.
Hence it was stressed that it is a responsibility
of the government with the help of civil socie-
ties to ensure that the above instruments are
ratified and are reflected in the new constitu-
tion.
The meeting ended with development of a com-
munique which highlighted that (1) the govern-
ment needs to conduct massive awareness rais-
ing on roles and responsibilities of government
and civil society on ratification, domestication
and implementation of all the relevant interna-
tional human rights instruments discussed at the
meeting; (2) the Republic of South Sudan rati-
fies and domesticates the three instruments,
mentioned above, without reservations and
draws up a national action plan on implement-
ing UN Security Council Resolution 1325; (3)
Civil Society organizations lobby for a joint
initiative with the key actors within the govern-
ment of the Republic of South Sudan in order to
ensure that minimum standards are reflected in
the new constitution and national laws and poli-
cies.
For a full copy of the communique and work-
shop report please visit: www.sswen.org
improving women’s status on the continent. This new strategy must evolve around the following axes:
1. Harmonizing different ministries’ agendas on
promotion of women’s rights 2. Engaging the youth: the youth must be involved in
the Protocol campaign. This echoes the African Charter
on the Youth in its article 23 sub-paragraph (c) which provides that it is necessary ‘to put in place awareness
raising programmes to get girls and women to know
their rights and the equitable opportunities to participate as equal members of the society.
Participation at the SOAWR meeting a Privilege and insightful Experience-Nelly Farah Nguegan ,
(Cameroon)
Given the definitely practical approach of the strategies adopted, one realizes the importance of lobbying in all
the forms of public action. The approach and the strate-
gies that are appealing to decision makers and leaders is paramount to the NGO movement in general, SOAWR
in particular. At the end, attending those various ses-
sions showed us that there is always a solution to the challenges that impose themselves. There are ways to
get things moving. There is a way to achieve gender
equality. In all aspects, this experience reshapes our perspective of the future and challenges. It enabled us to
track real success stories and to learn from their experi-ence. We have been able to appraise the issue of
Ms. Alexandriah Muhanji, Equality Now Pro-gram Officer, making a presentation at the con-
ference
Most, if not all, of these issues raised are addressed in
the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, which is why it becomes even more important for Afri-
can citizens to be aware of it, and to push for its ratifica-
tion and implementation.
Hearing such appalling experiences of VAW brings a
human face to campaigns such as UNiTE. It highlights the urgency of zero tolerance, the urgency of NOW.
The urgency of not only Speaking OUT and Breaking
The Silence, but of taking ACTION. Of each and every one of us taking responsibility; responsibility for the
way we raise our sons, the values we instill in our
brothers, the way we treat our sisters and our daughters. Let us UNiTE to bring an end to such a heinous crime
until we can say that no man or woman suffers from it.
If not us, who? If not now, when ?
RAISING HER VOICE PROJECT
SOAWR Participates in the Africa UNiTE Campaign to End Violence Against Women
Background
The Regional component of the United Nations Secretary’s global UNiTE campaign- Africa
UNiTE, was launched on 30 January 2010 by the
UN Secretary General and the African Union Commission Chairman, in Addis Ababa Ethio-
pia. The campaign builds on the AU’s policy
commitments on ending violence against women and girls as in the spirit of the Solemn Declara-
tion on Gender Equality in Africa and the AU
Protocol on Women’s Rights in Africa. The overall objective of the campaign is to address
all forms of violence against women and girls in
Africa through prevention, adequate response, policy development, implementation and ending
impunity.
In order to raise awareness on ending violence
against women and to accelerate efforts and
implementation of commitments in Africa, a Climb to the Mount Kilimanjaro was organized
from 5 to 9 March 2012, under the theme ‘Climb
Up, Speak Out !’ as major advocacy events of the Africa UNiTE Campaign were also staged
throughout the continent.
SOAWR Engagement
SOAWR as a member of the Africa UNiTE regional Steering Committee organized a series
of side events with the support of Equality Now.
The side events, whose objective was to publi-cize the campaign, highlighted some of the work
that SOAWR members undertook and how it
contributes to ending violence against women and girls in Africa. The opportunity also served
as an advocacy moment to push for ratification
and implementation of the African Women’s Rights Protocol. The SOAWR activities under-
taken during the UNiTE campaign are detailed
below.
TREK UP KILIMANJARO 5TH MARCH
2012
On the 5th March 2012, 75 men, women and
youth commenced a three day trek to the top of Africa’s highest mountain – Mt. Kilimanjaro,
standing at 19,341-ft above sea level.
The climbers represented 36 African countries
and signified Africa’s commitment to ending
violence against women and girls in our conti-nent. The Climbers
were flagged off by
H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President
of the Republic of
Tanzania, at the
Marangu Gate.
H.E. Jakaya Mrisho
Kikwete flags off the
campaign event
SOAWR members (Equality Now and
COVAW Kenya) at the flag off ceremony
at the Foot of Mt Kilimanjaro
There were also various solidarity climbs and events taking place across the continent. To
mention a few, the Kenya Chapter of Africa
UNiTE organized a walk on March 7th prior to International Women’s Day. Cameroon organ-
ized a Mt. Febe Climb on March 10th. Burundi
also organized a similar climb. South Africa organized bunjee jumping and Ethiopia held a
5k Women’s Run on March 11th.
Public Forum on the AU Protocol
Survivors Speak OUT!
The Coalition on Violence against Women (COVAW Kenya), on behalf of SOAWR, held a
public forum on the 7th of March 2012 to popu-
larize the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women while linking it to commitments by Govern-
ments to end Violence against Women and
Girls.
Women participants at the Public Forum
“I was beyond repair. But there is no beyond for God.” Those were the powerful and profound
words of one of the many survivors who coura-
geously recounted harrowing tales at the Public Forum. Over 200 women were in attendance,
and the energy in the room was palpatable.
Emotions were high as incidences of gender based violence were shared. Many of the inci-
dences resulted in loss of property, loss of rights
to inheritance, sexual and gender based acts of violence during post election violence in Kenya,
unsafe abortion, and lack of economic clout
among many other aspects.
Page 3
FEMNET put in place a communication strategy to
ensure that the campaign was widely known, but most importantly that it was inclusive and owned by
African citizenry. There were constant updates on
twitter, blogs, photos uploaded to facebook and videos to YouTube. A map was also put in place
that could locate various solidarity climbs and
events. All these can be accessed at the links below:
www.facebook.com/femnetsecretariat www.facebook.com/Solidarity-for-African-
Womens-Rights-SOAWR
www.youtube.com/femnet1 http://femnet.wordpress.com
www.femnet.crowdmap.com
Though the climb was a major event in this cam-
paign, it is simply the beginning of this campaign’s
fight to end violence against women and girls on our continent. Perhaps this is the legacy that we can
leave behind for future generations, an Africa free of gender-based violence.
And if not now, when? And if not us, who? Let’s
UNiTE to end all forms of violence.
For more information on the campaign please visit:
www.africaunitecampaign.org
FEMNET Gives Visibility to the Africa
UNiTE Campaign
RAISING HER VOICE PROJECT
International Women’s Day Celebration in Solidarity with the Africa
UNiTE Campaign Siha -Tanzania
Advocacy for Ratification of the Protocol
Page 4
In January 2012, SOAWR members lobbied ambassadors of several countries that have not ratified the Protocol.
In teams of 5-6 representing different countries and a youth member, SOAWR mem-bers met with ambassadors and deputy ambassadors of Egypt, Mauritius, Sierra Leone
and Tunisia. Members received cordial receptions and good dialogue with the various
officials who gave assurances that their countries were committed to ensuring women enjoy their human rights and promised to follow-up with their respective capitals on
expediting the deposit of their instruments.
SOAWR members with Egyptian Ambassador, H.E. Mohamed Fathi Edress
Training for Lawyers on Protocol Manual for Legal Action
Equality Now con-vened the 2nd Lawyers
training on use of the
Protocol for legal action in Arusha, Tan-
zania, from 26-27
March 2012. Eight-een lawyers from
Ghana, Lesotho, Libe-
ria, Malawi, Mozam-bique, Namibia, Nige-
ria, South Africa,
Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone bene-
fited from the training.
Justice Gérard Niyungeko, President of the African Court on Human and
Peoples’ Rights (in photos), officially opened the training and welcomed
collaboration with Equality Now and SOAWR in advancing the objec-tives of the African Court. He encouraged lawyers from countries that
have ratified the Protocol Establishing the African Court on Human and
Peoples’ Rights (The Protocol to the Court) and signed the declaration giving individuals and NGO’s access to the court to file cases before the
Court.
The lawyers were trained on using the Protocol in litigating on behalf of women and girls before national and regional judicial mechanisms. The
meeting learned that in the 10 countries represented in the training that
had ratified the Protocol there has been no jurisprudence that makes reference to the Protocol, even though there were a number of reported
cases which made reference to international human rights instruments
including the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW).
Faiza Mohamed , (EQUALITY NOW /SOAWR) hands a copy of the
manual to Justice Gerard Niyungeko (President of the African Court on
Human & Peoples Rights at the Lawyers training
One of the major challenges that was identified for having contributed to
the above was the inadequate capacity of application by lawyers and
judges on the use of human rights instruments while litigating.
Participants were further equipped with practical steps to identify and select cases to be filed in national and regional courts through a moot
court exercise. The case that was mooted was from Sierra Leone and was
being handled by one of the participant from that country representing AdvocAid which provides legal aid. from Sierra Leone.
As a way forward participants developed action plans which incorpo-rated strategies on creating awareness on the Protocol to fellow lawyers,
filing of cases in national and regional courts on women’s violations and
lastly popularizing the Protocol and advocacy so as to pressure on gov-ernments to enact new laws and policies that reflect the rights provided
for in the Protocol.
On the occasion of the International Women’s Day (8th March) the Network against Female Genital Mutilation (NAFGEM) in collaboration with Equality Now organized
a community march and celebrations which were part of Africa UNiTE campaign to
End Violence against Women. About 500 people were in attendance, including school children, former circumcisers, activists, government officials, and well-wishers whose
ages ranged from 3 to 83.
Students presented pictoral presentations in a competition dubbed “in their own
words” on what they consider Violence against Women (VAW) to be. Some depicted their mothers being beaten by their fathers. Others depicted the inequality of workload
among men and women, depicting a mother carrying a hoe, her baby, food on her
head while the husband walks idly
by.
Some shared their views of VAW in
writing. Some of the issues men-
tioned included early marriage, fe-male genital mutilation (FGM),
unwanted sexual advances, and being
pulled out of school as that would kill their dreams of becoming the
president!
The District Commissioner, Anna Rose Nyamubi, was on hand to offer support to the
women in her constituency and renew her commitment to them. Also present was a
male member of Parliament, Hon Aggrey Mwari, from Siha who urged community members not to wait for opportunities to be given to them, but rather to grab opportu-
nities as they come. He also reaffirmed his commitment to bring forth and champion issues in Parliament such as land and property inheritance and other VAW issues
affecting the women in the district.
Women’s groups and students performed skits, sang songs, recited poetry, and made
statements urging an end to all forms of discrimination and VAW/G. The message
came out loud and clear: “Let’s UNiTE to bring an end to VAW/G!”
RAISING HER VOICE PROJECT
People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA), in
collaboration with the African Centre for De-
mocracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS)
and Women and Law in Southern Africa
(WLSA), all members of SOAWR, held a paral-
lel side event during the Commission on the
Status of Women’s (CSW) 56th Session, in New
York on 29 February, 2012. The meeting was
attended by over 100 participants, including high
level senior government officials and representa-
tives of civil society organizations from around
the world. The meeting discussed the progress
made in implementing the African Women’s
Ms Florence Butegwa, UN Women Representative to
the AU and UNECA and Ms Sixolile Ngcobo, Oxfam,
speak about the potentials of the Protocol to guarantee
rights for women
Rights Protocol and CEDAW, the tools used, and
the challenges that member states are facing.
Specific focus was on the 3 countries represented
on the panel; the Gambia, South and Zambia.
From the presentations, the 3 countries seem to
have done fairly well in working towards the
implementation of the two instruments, with The
Gambia having successfully domesticated both
CEDAW and the AU Women’s Protocol through
their Women’s Act of 2010. Zambia on the other
hand, has also enacted a number of laws includ-
ing the Anti-gender Based Violence Act of 2011,
and the Anti-Human Trafficking Act No. 11 of
2008 which are both comprehensive pieces of
legislation providing for the prohibition and pre-
vention of gender-based violence.
According to the South African Minister of
Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities;
‘the legal framework is one of the country’s suc-
cess stories’, with the government having made
strides in ensuring that legislation is aligned with
the Constitution and international norms on
women’s rights. However, despite all the
‘THE AFRICAN WOMEN’S PROTOCOL AND
CEDAW: OPPORTUNITIES, GAINS AND
CHALLENGES’
Hon. Lulu Xingwana, Minister of Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities, South Africa, Ms Edwidge E M K Mutale, Permanent Secretary Gender and Child Division, Zambia and Dr.
Isatou Njie-Saidy, Vice President and Minister of Women’s Affairs, The Gambia at the side-
event
legislative progress and gains made, all countries cited challenges in ensuring effective
implementation due to prevailing negative traditional and cultural attitudes and lack of
adequate funding.
Ms Florence Butegwa (Representative of UN Women to the African Union and UN-
ECA) presented on opportunities that countries could leverage on to ensure the effec-
tive promotion and protection of women rights in Africa, through introducing the UN
Women multi-sectoral framework approach manual on implementing women’s rights
provision in Africa. She reported that UN Women, SOAWR, Oxfam and the AU Com-
mission’s Women’s Directorate had partnered and were going to hold a first training
on adopting a multi-sectoral approach on women’s rights. The discussion led to Zam-
bia and the Gambia indicating interest in taking part in the pilot training on the ap-
proach set to take place in Nairobi in April 2012. South Africa was already one of the
countries selected to take part in the training.
Page 5
ALLIANCES FOR AFRICA (AFA)-Nigeria
AfA under the RHV (Raising Her Voices) Nigeria and in collaboration with the National Coalition on Affirmative Action (NCAA) held a legislative advocacy meeting in Lagos on 16 March 2012 to
urge the Lagos State government to pass the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill into Law.
TRAINING/CAPACITY BUILDING
The Gender Justice in Africa Initiative Case and Selection forum held a meeting on the
21st March 2012 in Arusha, Tanzania. The meeting which was organized to coincide
with the 24th ordinary session of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ rights in
Arusha reviewed regional justice mechanisms as forums for protecting gender justice
particularly the African Court. Participants identified key areas of focus that women’s
groups and lawyers can monitor over the next 12 months.
For more information on the above initiative please visit www.alliancesforafrica.org
For a long time knowledge of the Protocol on the Rights of Women has been very low within the public and particularly at the
grassroots level. In order to increase support and create public demand for domestication of the Protocol, the Women First Coali-
tion spearheaded by Akina Mama wa Afrika embarked on a campaign to popularize the Protocol through talk-shows hosted on
local radio stations in 3 regions of the country. The goal was to take the Protocol closer to the grassroots, de-mystify and explicitly
show its relevance to empowering grassroots women and girls.
The guests on the talk-shows included members of the coalition representing the Uganda Women’s network (UWONET), Muslim
Centre for Justice and Law; and Action for Development (ACFODE). On one of the talk-shows in Northern Uganda commissioned
by UNWONET, it was noticed that many of the callers responding to the show were male inquiring about issues related to their
female relatives such as a sister, mother or daughter. The issues were related to women’s ownership and control of property, defile-
ment, cohabiting and concerns that the Maputo Protocol bearing an ‘external’ name (Maputo) was foreign and that not much had
been done for elderly women and widows. They also recognized that though there were laws in place to prevent Violence against
women and defilement the offences were still on the increase In another talk show organized by Muslim Centre for Justice and
Law (MCJL) the emerging issues were around fears by men on women’s liberation. The male callers were skeptical that women’s
empowerment was more with holistic development rather than women’s ‘misbehavior’ as a result of controlling their bodies, re-
sources etc. The women who called in were supportive of the Protocol and its potential in helping them achieve economic empow-
erment and to actively participate, add their voice in matters of decision making within homes.
During the talk show organized by ACFODE the callers were concerned that legalizing abortion was dangerous as it would be mis-
used and that domesticating the Protocol might turn out to be a backlash for women because women had been given power but so
far they were misusing it.
By and large, the issues raised focused on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, access to and control of property and the underlying
fears expressed by men were as a result of threats on the institutionalized patriarchal tendencies that influence stereotypes and be-
liefs such as women’s submissiveness and their role as secondary citizens. The organizers’ assessment is that the meetings were a
great success since the Protocol was successfully popularized and it is hoped that greater awareness for its relevance to promote
women’s rights in the different contexts will be appreciated.
RAISING HER VOICE PROJECT
Women First Coalition embarks on Media Campaign to Demystify and Popularize the Protocol in Uganda
Page 6
IN THE NEWS
Statement Condemning the Recent Stripping of Women in Malawi
In January, the SOAWR coalition launched a campaign in solidarity with the women of Malawi in particular to ensure their rights
and dignity are respected and protected. The coalition vehemently condemned the stripping of women wearing trousers and short
skirts by male vendors in three major cities in Malawi namely; Lilongwe, Mzuzu and Blantyre. A protest statement which was
endorsed by 100 people was circulated to the media and several Malawian embassies in countries where SOAWR members are
present. The statement urged the government to act swiftly in ending this violation, preserving the human rights of women and
prosecuting the perpetrators of the violence. Read the full statement at http://www.soawr.org/resources/StripMeNotfinal.pdf
Cote D’Ivoire Ratifies the AU Protocol Sudan-A New Victim in an Uneven War ?
In a press release issued on 23rd march 2012 SOAWR congratulated
The Republic of Cote D’Ivoire on its ratification of the Protocol to the
African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of
Women in Africa. The instrument of ratification was deposited to the
AU Commission on March 9th 2012. From Last year, Equality Now on
behalf of SOAWR, has been engaging the government to expedite the
deposit of its instrument. Cote D’Ivoire has become the 32nd Country to
ratify the Protocol.
See SOAWR Press Release on http://www.soawr.org/resources/CoteDIvoire.pdf
The Strategic Initiative on Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA)
has urged and called on the Sudanese government to urgently re-
form the Sudanese criminal code and abolish the Public Order Re-
gime in particular the state-based public order laws and four articles
(151, 152, 154,156) of the criminal code that emphasize restrictions
on women’s dress, conduct and manner of social interaction and
allow the Public Order Police unlimited authority that often leads to
the violent and humiliating persecution of women in public includ-
ing lashings.
For a detailed analysis of the public order regime see SIHA’s report
titled Beyond Trousers: the Public Order Regime and the Human
Rights of Women and Girls in Sudan available at http://
www.sihanet.org/index.php?option=com_docman&Itemid=6
In another talk show organized by Muslim Centre for
Justice and Law (MCJL) the emerging issues were
around fears by men on women’s liberation. The
male callers were skeptical that women’s empower-
ment was more with holistic development rather than
women’s ‘misbehavior’ as a result of controlling
their bodies, resources etc. The women who called in
were supportive of the Protocol and its potential in
helping them achieve economic empowerment and
to actively participate, add their voice in matters of
decision making within homes.
During the talk show organized by ACFODE the
callers were concerned that legalizing abortion was
dangerous as it would be misused and that domesti-
cating the Protocol might turn out to be a backlash
for women because women had been given power
but so far they were misusing it.
By and large, the issues raised focused on Sexual
and Reproductive Rights, access to and control of
property and the underlying fears expressed by men
were as a result of threats on the institutionalized
patriarchal tendencies that influence stereotypes and
beliefs such as women’s submissiveness and their
role as secondary citizens. The organizers’ assess-
ment is that the meetings were a great success since
the Protocol was successfully popularized and it is
hoped that greater awareness for its relevance to
promote women’s rights in the different contexts will
be appreciated.
Solidarity for African Women's Rights (SOAWR) is a coalition of 39 civil society organizations across the continent working to ensure that the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa remains on the agenda of policy makers and to urge all African leaders to safeguard the rights of women through ratification and implementation of the Protocol.
Women First Coalition embarks on Media Campaign to
Demystify and Popularize the Protocol in Uganda
Continued from page 3
Coalition Members
African Centre for Democracy And Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS), African Women’s
Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), African Women’s Development
Fund (AWDF), Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMWA), Alliances for Africa, Association des
Juristes Maliennes (AJM), Action for Development (ACFODE), BAOBAB for Women’s
Human Rights, Cellule de Coordination sur les Pratiques Traditionelle Affectant la Sante
des Femmes et des Enfants (CPTAFE), Centre for Justice Studies and Innovations (CJSI),
Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), Collectif des Associations et ONGS
Féminines de Burundi (CAFOB), Eastern Africa Sub-regional Support Initiative (EASSI),
Equality Now, FAHAMU for Social Justices, Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya
(FIDA-Kenya), Forum Mulher, Girl Child Network (GCN), Human Rights Law Service
(HURILAWS), Inter-African Committee on Harmful Traditional Practices (IAC), Inter-
African Network For Women, Media, Gender and Development (FAMEDEV), Legal and
Human Rights Centre (LHRC), NGO Gender Coordination Network (NGOGCN), Oxfam
GB, People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA), Sister Namibia, Strategic Initiative for the
Horn of Africa (SIHA), Tomorrow’s Child Initiative (TCI), Reproductive Health and
Rights Alliance (RHRA), Uganda Women's Network (UWONET), Union Nationale des
Femmes de Djibouti (UNFD), University of Pretoria Center for Human Rights, Women
Direct, Voix de Femmes, Women of Liberia Peace Network (WOLPNET), Women and
Law Southern Africa (WLSA), Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF),
Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternatives (WRAPA), Women NGO’s
Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL)
New members elected into SOAWR Steering Committee
African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET)
Alliance for Africa (AFA) - Nigeria
Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW)- Kenya
Fahamu for Social Justices
People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA) - South Africa
Inter-African Network for Women, Media, Gender Equality and Development
(FAMDEV)
Equality Now, the SOAWR Secretariat, remains as a member of the committee and
will continue supporting its work.
SOAWR Secretariat c/o Equality Now
P.O. Box 2018-00200; Nairobi, Kenya Phone: +254-20-2719832; Fax: +254-20-2719868
E-mail: [email protected]; Website: www.soawr.org
Status of the Protocol
In March 2011
In March 2012
Total Signatures 46 46
Total Ratifications 30 32
State Parties to the Protocol Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Co-moros, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Democratic Re-public of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozam-bique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sey-chelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda,
Zambia, Zimbabwe