by Barbara Lopi – SANF 07 No 40
SADC leaders have deferred the signing of the Protocol on Gender and Development because some member states need more time to conclude internal consultations following late changes to the document.
A communiqué presented at the end of the 27th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government in Lusaka on 17 August 2007 read, “…Summit noted progress on the negotiations of the protocol on gender and development and agreed to defer its signature to allow some member states to conclude their internal consultations”.
At a media briefing at the end of the Summit, President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia who is the new SADC Chairperson, said he was hopeful that the protocol will be considered for signing at the next Summit next year.
“It came to our attention during Summit that some countries needed to consult before they could sign the protocol. There were some amendments to the document that were added at the last minute,” Mwanawasa said in response to a press query on why Summit did not sign the protocol.
Regional and national women’s rights groups had expected the protocol to become a reality in August 2007 and have expressed their disappointment at the delay.
The draft protocol passed through various formative and preparatory stages over the past two years, including broad consultations among stakeholders, however recent meetings of gender ministers and justice ministers made significant changes to the draft that had been considered previously at national level.
The protocol is the most binding of SADC legal instruments. Once it is signed and comes into operation, the SADC protocol on gender and development will provide a legal and institutional framework for the region to accelerate implementation of commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Despite some progress, implementation of gender targets in southern Africa still falls short of stated commitments as gaps and obstacles that prevent gender equality from being a reality still prevail.
This caused a few countries to reflect on their commitments in a very practical manner and to request more time to consider the protocol and their plans to meet the targets.
The draft protocol contains specific goals and targets to ensure accountability in addressing inequalities in constitutional and legal rights; governance; education and training; productive resources and employment; gender-based violence; health; HIV and AIDS; peace building and conflict resolution; and in the media, information and communication.
Some of the targets in the protocol are to:
- Endeavour that women hold 50 percent of decision-making positions in the public and private sectors by 2015;
- Ensure that all legislative measures are accompanied by public awareness campaigns which demonstrate the vital link between the equal representation and participation of women in decision-making positions, and democracy, good governance and citizen participation;
- Conduct time use studies by 2010 and adopt policy measures to ease the burden of the multiple roles played by women;
- Have equal participation of women and men in policy formulation and implementation of economic policies by 2015;
- Adopt policies and enact laws to ensure equal access, benefit and opportunities for women and men in trade and entrepreneurship by 2015;
- Review their national trade policies to make them gender responsive by 2010;
- Review all policies and laws that determine access to, control of, and benefit from, productive resources by women by 2015 in order to end all discrimination against women and girls with regard to water rights, property such as land and tenure, as well as credit.
On constitutional and legal rights, the proposed targets include making sure that gender equality and equity is enshrined in all national constitutions in SADC member states by 2015.
“Sate Parities shall adopt and implement legislative and other measures to eliminate all practices which negatively affect the fundamental rights of women, men, girls and boys, such as their right to life, health, dignity, education or physical integrity,” states the draft protocol.
To promote good governance and citizen participation, the protocol proposes that member states adopt specific legislative measures and other strategies to enable equal participation of women and men in the electoral processes.
Regarding the strengthening of measures to address gender violence, member states will be expected to enact and enforce legislation prohibiting all forms of gender-based violence by 2015.
Against the background of increased incidence of new forms of gender-based violence such as trafficking, the protocol proposes that member states adopt specific legislative provisions by 2015 to prevent human trafficking.
To address the increasing effects of HIV and AIDS, member states will be expected to put in place more provisions to protect men and women from HIV infection. The draft protocol calls on countries to intensify research on preventive methods and devices targeted at women, such as female condoms, and disseminate full and accurate information on appropriate devices to women.
This comes from a realisation that in southern Africa, women are the worst affected by the HIV and AIDS pandemic because of unequal power relations between men and women.
In recognition of the United Nations Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security that looks at increasing women’s participation in conflict resolution and peacekeeping, the protocol proposes to ensure equal representation by men and women in key decision-making positions in conflict resolution and peace-building processes by 2015.
The protocol also incorporates commitments from all regional, global and continental instruments to which SADC is a party such as the Beijing Platform of Action, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Millennium Development Goals, and the African Union Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and the Rights of Women in Africa.