JOINT PRESS RELEASE

African Union Commission and United Nations Development Programme to launch programme for women empowerment and political participation

Addis Ababa, 10 April 2013 – The African Union Commission (AUC), in close collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched a regional Building an Enabling Environment for Women’s Economic Empowerment and Political Participation in Africa programme.

The programme, which is launched hot on the heels of the launch of the year long 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the Organisation for African Unity (OAU)/AU “will Contribute to the reduction of gender inequalities, guarantee equal access to opportunities, rights and to empower African women to be equal partners in the continent’s development agenda” said the AUC Chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. The programme and its themes will also receive added attention during the month of July in the context of the monthly thematic focus areas of the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the OAU/AU. These celebrations are set to climax here in Addis Ababa from 19 to 27 May 2013 and the programme will inform the AU visioning exercise which is aptly known as Agenda 2063 (indicating priorities over the next fifty years).

“Africa is on the cusp of a transformational development and we see the empowerment of women as a fundamental underpinning for the social, political and economic transformation of Africa”, added UNDP’s Africa Bureau Director Tegegnework Gettu, during the launch ceremony of the three year 12 million USD programme.

The programme aims to ensure that:
1. By 2016 the African Union and RECs have an enhanced capacity to support gender responsive agricultural investment;
2. By 2016, women and youth entrepreneurs access to financing and business development services;
3. By 2016 women have an increased representation in elected political /leadership positions as well as in public boards, tribunals and commissions at the regional level;
4. By 2016, there is an enhanced integration of gender equality in institutional planning, budgeting and monitoring processes at regional level (AU, RECs).