What: The Gender Pre-Summit will focus on the commemoration of 20 Years since the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol) was adopted and will seek to accelerate investments, actions and accountability for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) in Africa. The event will be held under the theme, “Accelerating Investments, Actions and Accountability for GEWE IN Africa: 20 Years of Maputo Protocol.”

When: 17th February 2023, 09:00 am (EAT)

Where: Old Plenary Hall, African Union Commission (AUC) Headquarters

Who: The opening session will be addressed by;

• H.E Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson, African Union Commission.
• Ms. Nonkululeko Prudence Ngwenya, Director, Women, Gender and Youth Directorate, African Union Commission.
• Ms. Chido Mpemba, African Union Commission Youth Envoy.
• H.E. Eunice Iipinge, Pan African Women’s Organisation (PAWO) President.
• Hon. Lariba Zuweira Abudu, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection in the government of Ghana

Relatedly, the event will be followed by a High Level Advocacy event from 6pm at the Skylight Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that will offer an opportunity for partners to pledge and/or account on the progress of their commitments to the African Union Women and Youth Financial and Economic Inclusion Initiative (WYFEI 2030).

The event will be addressed by:

• H.E. Dr Monique Nsanzabaganwa, Deputy Chairperson, AUC
• H.E. Albert M. Muchanga, Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals (ETTIM) of the AUC
• H.E. Nardos Bekele-Thomas, CEO of AUDA-NEPAD
• H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary General, African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat

Background information:

The Maputo Protocol on Women’s Rights is lauded as one of the most progressive human rights instruments globally that comprehensively provides for the rights of women and girls in Africa. Among others, it guarantees extensive rights to women and girls and includes innovative provisions on economic empowerment, ending violence against women and girls; political participation and right to peace. The Protocol draws explicitly as well as implicitly from existing United Nations (UN) international human rights law and authoritative guidance and contextualises it to women and girls in Africa.

It remains the most comprehensive and progressive instrument on women’s rights – laying out provisions for widows, the elderly, women with disabilities and women in distress. It places a responsibility on the African States to eliminate discrimination against women and promote their rights by introducing and effectively implementing measures. 43 countries have ratified the protocol. 12 Member States (Botswana, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan) are yet to ratify the Protocol.

The event will also focus on the following objectives:

• Take stock of investments and actions of stakeholders towards realizing the goals of the Maputo Protocol with a focus on; Ending Violence against Women and Girls (EVAWG), WYFEI, strategic partnerships and legislation
• Track progress and agree on key WYFEI KPIs/ deliverables for 2023
• Identify mechanisms to cascade WYFEI at Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and National Levels
• Provide platform for stakeholders to reflect on sustainability and accountability for continental EVAWG, HPs And Sexual Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights (SRH&RR) interventions

Agenda programmes are attached.

For further information, please contact:

Doreen Apollos | Information and Communication Directorate | African Union Commission | E-mail: ApollosD@africa-union.org l | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Nontobeko Hloniphile Tshabalala | Women, Gender and Youth Directorate | nontobekot@africa-union.org | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Information and Communication Directorate, African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org
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