Kigali, Rwanda 8 July 2016- The Rwanda House of Parliament was full to capacity on 8 July 2016, with high level personalities mostly women from Africa and the Diaspora who came to Kigali to participate in the African Union (AU) 3rd High Level Panel on Gender Equality and Women Empowerment, ahead of the 27th AU Summit scheduled to take place from 10-18 July 2016.

During the opening ceremony of the Gender Pre-Summit, H.E Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), received a standing ovation by all the participants in recognition for her remarkable leadership notably her relentless efforts in promoting women development in all sphere of lives including the rural women and the youths. Furthermore, this positive reputation has earned the AUC Chairperson an award handed over to her during the occasion by Hon. Silvana Kock-Mehrin, President of Women in Parliament (WIP) for her role in enhancing the potentials of women to become “transformers and not conformers” and empowering the women to occupy leadership positions in all sectors.

Holding under the theme: “The Contributions of Maputo Protocol on Women’s Right in Achieving Gender Equality in Africa: Stock taking, Opportunities and Accountability”. The 3rd HLP was linked with the 2016 AU theme of the “African Year of Human Rights with a particular focus on the Right of Women”. It was organised by the Women Gender and Development, Directorate of the AUC in collaboration with the Gouvernent of Rwanda and different Partner organisations dealing with women development in the continent.

Addressing delegates and participants, the AUC Chairperson underscored the importance of the Maputo Protocol saying it is a tool for mobilizing women to occupy leadership positions in government, parliament, civil society, businesses, academia and more. She emphasized on the need to multiply campaigns on maternal and child mortality; economic empowerment; violence against women; issues of representation of women in all sectors including peace and security among others.

AUC Chairperson recalled that the UN Women last year noted, at the same pace of change since Beijing that, it will take the world 81 years to reach gender parity in the work place, 75 years to reach equal pay for equal work and 30 years for gender parity in the political spheres. “That is quite frankly too long a time to wait”, stressed Dr. Dlamini Zuma. She noted with regrets that “the reality is that across the world, including Africa, we are making progress at a snail’s pace, and we seem to accept that this is how it will be”. She called on collective efforts of the women to contribute to their socio-economic development. “My message to you today is that we must challenge ourselves, to understand why progress is so slow, and what needs to be done to change this situation,” said the AUC Chairperson.

Quoting late President Thomas Sankara on International Womens day in 1987, Dr. Dlammini Zuma said:
“We have no need of a feminized apparatus to bureaucratically manage women’s lives or to issue sporadic statements about women’s lives by smooth-talking functionaries.

What we need are women who will fight because they know that without a fight the old order will not be destroyed and no new order will be built.

We are not looking to organize what exists, but to definitively destroy and replace it”. (The complete speech of the chairperson is available on the AU website www.au.int).

H.E. Dr. Jean Kalilani, Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare of the Republic of Malawi; and Chairperson of the AU STC on Gender and Women Empowerment said that the theme of the conference is suitable for the High Level Panel because it will facilitate the identification of innovative ways of promoting compliance and raise awareness on critical gaps that must be addressed to enhance ratification, domestication and implementation of the Maputo Protocol.

“The High Level Panel calls for a strong platform and engagement of all the relevant stakeholders to get the anticipated results for the benefit of the African Region. It is an opportunity for us to lobby the African Union for the implementation of the tents, which will set the pace for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), she urged.

Speaking earlier, H.E. Mukabalisa Donatille, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Government of Rwanda highlighted Rwanda’s tremendous progress in implementing the gender agenda in general. She said Rwanda is a good example in mainstreaming gender concerns into its national development planning and resource allocation to set pace for women’s full participation in the process of the country’s development.
She further explained that since 2008, Rwanda has adopted a Gender Responsive Planning, Budgeting (GRB) and implemented a pilot phase in four sectors which engage the biggest portion of the National Budget: Agriculture, Infrastructure, Education and Health.

“It is important to note that gender agenda can only be successful if there is political will by the country’s top leadership that appreciates men and women’s equal capabilities and promotes equality before opportunities”, concluded the Speaker of Parliament.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Dr. Khabele Matlosa, Director for Political Affairs, AUC said the African Union has clearly demonstrated its commitment through the various Shared Values Instruments, including the 2000 constitutive Act of the AU, the 2003 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa and the 2004 Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa. (The complete speech of the Director is available on the AU website www.au.int).

Journalists wishing to interview the leadership of the AU Commission during the Summit should submit their requests to Mrs Esther Azaa Tankou, Ag. Director of Information and Communication of the AUC, via E-mail: YambouE@africa-union.org / esthertankou@yahoo.com; Tel: +250 789923794

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For further information, please visit the 27th AU Summit page: http://au.int/en/summit/27

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I Website: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

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