Addis Ababa, October 19 2018- “The implementation of the Africa Union Assembly Decision on Gender parity and Youth Quotas is here to stay and we are working hard to make sure that by 2025, 50 percent of the African Union workforce is made up of women and 35 percent are made up of the youth, so we are calling on you to make your suggestions or input known for additions to be made on the documents” said Mrs. Mahawa Kaba-Wheeler Director of the Women, Gender and Development (WGDD) in her opening address at the Gender parity and youth quota meeting held at the African Union HQ in Ethiopia. This is in line with Agenda 2063 aspirations six (6) which states that “An Africa whose development is people-driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women and youth, and caring for children”.
The three days working sessions was organized by the Women, Gender and Development Directorate (WGDD) and Human Resources, Science and Technology Department (HRST) following a Technical Consultations held on 28 to 29 January on the implementation of the AU Assembly Decision on the gender parity and youth quotas by 2025.The working lunch session was organized to validate the draft operational plan that by 2025, 50 percent of the staff are made up of women and 35 percent are made up of the youth.
This Idea of gender parity was based on a strong statement made by the Chairperson of the Africa Union Commission (AUC) H.E Moussa Faki Mahamat, that “I will make women and Youth the center of my project”. The Chairperson also congratulated the Prime Minister of Ethiopia H.E Dr. Abiy Ahmed for their decision just this week for appointing a cabinet marked by gender parity, with 10 women and 10 men.
According to Mrs. Mekdeswork Kebede, Acting president of the AU Staff Association (AUSA) called on the women to be strong and defend their rights at all times and not see themselves as weak persons just because they are women. “Women have to support each other because we face various types of harassment but the AU Staff Association working tirelessly with all staff and collaborating administration and HR to stop any kind of harassment, you are protected”
The objective of the working session was to meet all staff to Reflect on the notion of Gender Parity, introduce the Gender Architecture in line with the Parity and give an overview of the Gender Parity project. And also develop an agreement on the goal of the gender parity and the youth plan and provide consensus on the gender parity and youth quota operational plan. During the session, the participants were tasked to bring their ideas in terms of improvements and recommendations to see the achievement of this very important decision by the Africa Union Commission. Gender dynamics should be considered in any development initiative and integrated in the analysis, planning and implementation of policies, projects and programmes. After the three days working sessions the participants presented their recommendations to see the realization of this Gender Parity project

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Mrs. Wynne Musabayana | Head of Communication, Directorate of Information and Communication, African Union Commission | Tel: +251(0) 911361185 | E-mail: MusabayanaW@africa-union.org
DarkoS@africa-union.org

For further information: Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia
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