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Jun.10.2015 Press briefing of the Commissioner for Economic Affairs (Thursday 11 June 2015 at 12h00)
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INVITATION TO THE MEDIA
PRESS BRIEFING OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Within the framework of the 25th AU Summit H.E. Dr. Anthony Mothae Maruping, Commissioner for Economic Affairs, AUC will on Thursday 11 June 2015 at 12h00, hold a press briefing on the following issues:
- Agenda 2063- 1st Ten Year Implementation plan, “where we are today”
- Progress report and way forward
The briefing will be held in the Media Briefing Room (-2 floor), at the Sandton Convention Center, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Journalists are invited to take part in the press briefing
Media contact
Mr. Molalet Tsedeke; Media Center Coordinator
Directorate of Information and Communication; AU Commission
Tel: +27-84-7094277; E: mail: molalett@africa-union.org
For further information contact
Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia
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MEDIA ADVISORY /25TH AU SUMMIT

SECOND (2nd) AFRICAN UNION HIGH LEVEL PANEL ON GENDER

EQUALITY & WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT (GEWE)

INVITATION TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MEDIA

WHEN: Wednesday 10 to Friday 12 June 2015

TIME: 9:00 am

WHERE: The Sandton Convention Center, Ballroom 1 A, Johannesburg, South
Africa.

THEME: "Make it happen through the Financial Inclusion of
Women in the Agribusiness Sector"

WHO: The Second High Level Panel (HLP) on Gender Equality and Women’s
Empowerment is jointly organised by the Africa Union Commission and the

Republic of South Africa, with the support of NEPAD/Agency, UNWomen,
UNDP, AfDB and OXFAM.

OBJECTIVES: Among the six priorities adopted under the AU Theme for 2015, the second HLP will focus on the promotion of financial inclusion of women in Agribusiness, The AUC jointly with the Government of The Republic of South Africa and partners will organize the 2nd AU High level Panel on GEWE a Platform of Academia, Scholars, Researchers and Gender Experts.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:
The High Level Panel on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment will aim to:

• Create a space for high-ranked African women in public and private sectors including women' scholars, researches, academia, and gender experts to discuss emerging issues on GEWE;

• Develop a common GEWE advocates position on the African Agenda 2063, on the African Women’s Decade (2010-2020) and on any other programs of the United Nations and the African Union on GEWE;

• Examine emerging issues, trends and new approaches to issues affecting the situation of women or equality of women and men and make recommendations to the AU Summits;

• To promote and strengthen networking among women in academia, media, Civil Society Organizations, international organizations, the private sector and the young women in Africa;

• Present analytical work and researches on financial inclusion of Women and their impacts on development;

• Brainstorm on practical strategies and actions on women’s inclusion in financial mechanisms to boost women’s empowerment in agriculture, trade and

Industry, fisheries, infrastructure and Energy

PARTICIPANTS:
• AU Ministers of Gender and Women’s Affairs,
• academia,
• scholars,
• researchers,
• RECs,
• media,
• youth,
• CSOs,
• women in agribusiness private sector and
• development partners.

OUTCOME:
• Report on the High Level Panel Meetings will be shared with all stakeholders;

• Call for action/ action plan on the financial inclusion of women in agribusiness presented to the Heads of State and Government;

• Database of experts on women’s financial inclusion and agribusiness;

• Documentation on success stories on national and regional strategies to improve women’s economic empowerment in the agribusiness sector presented and shared among states actors and non-states actors.

BACKGROUND:

The consideration of gender in sectorial development policies of the African Union experienced a breakthrough at level of continental organization as well as in Member States despite the existence of many challenges that still persist in regards to gender equality and women’s empowerment in Africa. This political will has led to the adoption of the AU Gender Architecture, whose seventh and latest pillar is the High Level Panel on Gender Equality and Empowerment Women in Africa (HLP on GEWE).

The idea of institutionalizing a High Level Panel was adopted during the Fifth (5th)
Ordinary Session of AU Ministers of Gender and Women’s Affairs held at the

AUC Headquarters on 14 May 2013, during which the Ministers recommended to the African Union Commission to hold an annual High Level Panel on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) in Africa, in a similar manner as the High Level Panel on Peace and Security and the one on Governance and Democracy in Africa, to:

- Create a space for high-ranked African women in public and private sectors including women' scholars, researches, academia, and gender experts to discuss emerging issues on GEWE;

- Develop a common GEWE advocates position on the African Agenda 2063, on the African Women’s Decade (2010-2020) and on any other programs of the United Nations and the African Union on GEWE;

- Examine emerging issues, trends and new approaches to issues affecting the situation of women or equality of women and men and make recommendations to the AU Summits;

- To promote and strengthen networking among women in academia, media, Civil Society Organizations, international organizations, the private sector and the young women in Africa;

Following the recommendation of Ministers and the offer of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire to host the first edition, the African Union Commission organized the First (1st) High Level Panel on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, from 02 to 04 September 2014 in close collaboration of the Ivorian Government and UN Partners, namely UNDP, UNICEF, ECA, UNWOMEN and UNFPA. Among many others, participants of the First High Level Panel included academia, researchers, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and gender machineries.

The first edition of the High Level Panel, which was organized in the context of the Celebration of the Fiftieth (50th) Anniversary of the OAU/AU in 2013, made possible the consolidation of the contributions of African intellectual women to the African Common Position on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

This first panel was used to test the new approach of the African Union on the conception of an intellectual platform on emerging issues on gender mainstreaming. Consequently, eminent African women were able to make their contribution to the celebration of the Fiftieth (50th) OAU/AU Anniversary, as well as to the development of the Post-2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Agenda. From this meeting, the Abidjan Declaration on the First AU High Level Panel on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in the Context of Post MDG’s 2015 was adopted and requested to the Commission to incorporate the outcomes of the High Panel on GEWE into the African Common Position.

In the same line and as a reflection of the sustained political will to mainstream gender in the AU development Policies at the continental level, the AU Heads of State and Government (HOSG) have declared 2015 “Year of Women’s

Empowerment and Development Towards Africa’s Agenda 2063” thus recalling that Agenda 2063, as the Continental development framework cannot be achieved without the full and effective participation of empowered African women, representing the largest population of the continent. The declaration coincides with the 20th Anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and its Platform for Action (1995), the 5th Anniversary of the African Women’s Decade (2010-2020), the 15th Anniversary of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and the launching of the Sustainable Development Goals.

At the margins of the 24th AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government Assembly AU/Dec. 539 (XXIII) the AU Commission, GIMAC (Gender is my Agenda Campaign) and UN Entities, organized a Stakeholders Consultative Meeting from 20 to 23 January 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. At the meeting, AU

Ministers of Gender and Women’s Affairs, RECs, CSO’s and Development

Partners have discussed the effective implementation of the AU 2015 theme on Women’s Empowerment, which should go beyond the gender rhetoric. The need for the implementation of concrete actions with visible and measurable impacts on women’s socio-economic and political status on the ground was very well highlighted. The Stakeholders also came up with Six (6) Priorities Areas to be implemented during and beyond 2015 namely:

- Education, Sciences, Technology and ICT;

- Agriculture with a focus on Agribusiness;
- Economic Empowerment and Financial Inclusion;
- Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Women;

- Peace and Security; and
- Leadership, Governance, Democracy

JUSTIFICATION:

The AU Assembly during its 25th ordinary session adopted Agenda 2063, the continental development programme Agenda 2063 highlights particularly the importance of the involvement of women and youth in the development of the continent. In this regard, 2015 has been dedicated to Women in Africa and the theme of the Summit was: 2015, "Year of

Women’s Empowerment and Development towards Africa Agenda 2063" The Assembly further requested the elaboration of the First 10 Year implementation plan of Agenda 2063 for adoption during the upcoming June AU Summit. Agenda 2063 takes into account the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods which was adopted by the AU HOSG2 at the AU Summit in July 2014 during the Year of Agriculture. <>;

Their labour condition is still hectic. African women continue to labour in the 21st century with out-dated means such as the hoe, the machete, pestle and mortar, grinding stone used in the 15th century for subsistence production to feed 900 million people on the continent. Consequently/therefore, African women can neither compete nor provide substantial contribution to the income of the women as well as the economy.

Furthermore, on the financial aspect, Research shows that in Africa, more than 70

percent of women are financially excluded and women’s access to finance and financial services consistently lag behind that of their male counterparts. They face various barriers in accessing to financial services, such as time and mobility constraints, illiteracy, legal and cultural constraints and discrimination; and this, for

various reasons: poverty, limited employment in the formal sector, and cultural barriers to land and property ownership, to name a few.

Indeed, most of African Business women are still engaged in very small’s economic activities due to various factors including financial barriers arising from inadequate access to basic financial services savings such as savings, credit, and insurance services.

To tackle these challenges, the leadership of the African Union Commission prioritized financial inclusion and women economic empowerment focusing on the agricultural sector which significantly benefits from the contribution of many rural African women.

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Hence, the AU through Agenda 2063 including the CADP, seize the opportunity to continue to support and promote the role of African citizens, particularly of women, as key drivers of the continent’s development. Women rural farmers face various constraints, like time and mobility constraints, illiteracy; legal and cultural constraints and discrimination remain some of the barriers to women’s access to financial services. Women have difficulties accessing finance for various reasons: poverty, limited employment in the formal sector, and cultural barriers to land and property ownership. Women Rural farmer’ in Africa continue to labour in the 21st century with out-dated means such as the hoe, the machete, pestle and mortar, grinding stone used in the 15th century to feed 900 million people on the continent..

Subsistence production by women can therefore neither compete nor provide substantial contribution to the income of the women as well as the economy Research shows that in Africa, more than 70 percent of women are financially excluded and women’s access to finance and financial services consistently lag behind that of their male counterparts.7 Indeed, most of African Business women are still engaged in very small’s economic activities due to various factors including financial barriers arising from inadequate access to basic financial services savings such as savings, credit, and insurance services.8There is thus a need for accelerating women’s financial exclusion to advance women’s economic opportunities and rights and to ensure that they meaningfully participate and contribute to the economy. By declaring 2015 year of women’s empowerment and 2016 year on Human rights focusing on women’s rights, African leaders, demonstrated their political will to address gender inequality and to overcome barriers. which undermine women’s health, vulnerability during conflict and post-conflict situation, their un-empowerment at economic, social and political levels, In 2015 and beyond, African women should have access to and control over new technologies and be able to work on modernized and mechanized agriculture to reinforce AU’s commitment and vision that<>

In line with this vision, women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment is an efficient way to ensure access of women to new technologies, capital, finances, land, natural resources, markets and the entire value chain process new and strong legislations and policies have to be adopted by African countries. Financial inclusion of women is a human development priority to ensure an inclusive development in African countries. Financial inclusion cannot only be limited to microfinance and traditional financial system. Implementing financial inclusion involves access for rural women farmers to the following services: Savings, medium and long term credit, investments, guarantees, money transfers, insurance products, including life insurance.

For more information on coverage of the Summit please visit the 25th AU Summit web link: http://summits.au.int/en/25thsummit

Journalists are invited to cover the even tomorrow Wednesday 10 to Friday 12 June 2015 .

Attached is the draft work program of the event.

Journalists wishing to interview the leadership of the AU Commission during the Summit should submit their requests to Mrs Esther Azaa Tankou E-mail: YambouE@africa-union.org / esthertankou@yahoo.com , Tel: +27(0)789321782

For further information contact

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: dinfo@african-union.org

Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia
Follow the AU Commission:

Face book: https://www.facebook.com/AfricanUnionCommission Twitter: https://twitter.com/_AfricanUnion

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INVITATION TO THE MEDIA

Press Briefing of the Secretary General of the AU Commission

Within the framework of the 25th AU Summit Ambassador Jean Mfasoni, Secretary General of the AU Commission (AUC); will on Wednesday 10 June 2015 at 14:30 hold a press briefing on the following issues:

- Progress of the Summit and its parallel side events;
- Streamlining of AU Summit;
- Highlight on major issues to be discussed at the Summit

The briefing will be held in Media Briefing Room (3rd floor), at the Sandton Convention Center, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Journalists are invited to take part in the press briefing

Media contact
Mr. Molalet Tsedeke; Media Center Coordinator
Directorate of Information and Communication; AU Commission
Tel: +27-84-7094277; E: mail: molalett@africa-union.org

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

Follow us
Face book: https://www.facebook.com/AfricanUnionCommission
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_AfricanUnion
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/AUCommission

Learn more at:
http://summits.au.int/en/25thsummit

STATEMENT OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE AU COMMISSION
DELIVERED BY HE MRS FATIMA ACYL,
COMMISSIONER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
TO THE
GENDER IS MY AGENDA PRE-SUMMIT CONFERENCE
8-9 June 2015
Sandton, Johannesburg

Programme Director
Leadership of GIMAC and Civil society
The President and Leadership of the Pan African Women’s Organisation
Mme Bineta Diop, Special Envoy of the AUC Chairperson on Women, Peace and Security
Veterans of the African women’s movement
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is truly an honour for me to address this meeting of GIMAC, on behalf of Her Excellency, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, who unfortunately cannot make this meeting due to other continental duties she is undertaking.

For those of you who know my boss, Dr. Dlamini Zuma takes the issues of African structural transformation very seriously. She always reminds our heads of state and leadership, if they are serious about development and shared prosperity, they cannot ignore more than 50% of our population, the women. If we don’t empower women, we will function at halve capacity, and it will be a huge missed opportunity. When talking to and about women, there is no big or small gathering for the Chairperson and she would have loved to be here today.

She also most definitely shares your commitment to move from solemn declaration to solemn action.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Let me start by congratulating GIMAC for once again providing this critical platform for civil society and women’s organisations, to meet, to reflect on progress and jointly strategize on how we should push forward our Pan African agenda.

In January this year, on the margins of the Summit in Addis Ababa, we discussed the theme for the Year: Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality for the realisation of Agenda 2063.

We agreed that we must use this year to make decisive progress on key areas, and identified the six priority areas: health and reproductive rights; financial inclusion and women’s empowerment; peace and security; representation and education and skills with a focus on STEM and women in agriculture.

Since then, we have focused on the practical issues to take each of these priority areas forum.

Ladies and Gentlemen

I am sure that this GIMAC forum will take stock of where we are and the practical issues needed as we finalise the first ten-year plan for Agenda 2063.

Let me highlight a few of these issues, which we want to address at this Summit.

Firstly, during the Malabo Summit on Agriculture, and in the Agenda 2063 consultations, women farmers appealed to us to relegate the handheld hoe to the museum. We have listened and at this Summit we will launch the campaign to replace this relic with more modern technology, and to achieve this in the next ten years.

Secondly, the Summit will also launch the start of negotiations on the Continental Free Trade Area, and on 10 June 2015 tripartite of SADC, Comesa and EAC composed of 23 countries concluded an agreement in Shamal Sheik as an important step in this direction.

As we know, women make up the majority of cross border trades (up to 85%), we must therefore look at ways to ensure that the voices and issues of women traders feature prominently in the CFTA negotiations.

Thirdly, as indicated in January, we will be launching at this Summit the inaugural African Gender Scorecard, as an instrument to monitor progress and share best practice, so that we hold each other and our governments accountable for the implementation of our gender instruments such as the Protocol and the Solemn Declaration.
In addition to these issues, we will at this Summit and for the remainder of the Year also continue to pay attention to the issue of financial inclusion and economic empowerment, as well as health, reproductive rights and the focus on skills, science, technology and innovation.

On financial inclusion, the Ministers of Finance and Planning at the March meeting discussed the issue of women’s access to credit in the content of the first 10 year plan on Agenda 2063, as well as domestication of Agenda 2063. The Chairperson of the AUC wants to also involve Central bankers as well as the private sector in addressing this issue of access to credit for women.

Dr. Dlamini Zuma on this occasion said:
‘We must move away from always talking about micro credit and micro enterprises when we talk about women. There is nothing micro about us. There is nothing micro about women.”

The voices and actions of civil society remain critical to taking our struggle for gender equality and women’s empowerment forward. We therefore wish this GIMAC forum all success, and look forward to the outcomes of your deliberations.

I thank you.

Pretoria, South Africa 7 June 2015 - The 30th Ordinary Session of the African Union’s Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC), started today in Pretoria, South Africa with a call by the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mr Erastus Mwencha for a greater drive to deliver prosperity to Africans. The PRC meeting is being held in the context of the 25th Summit of the African Union.

“We have to deliver prosperity to the people of the continent”, Mr Mwencha told members of the PRC in his opening remarks, while highlighting developments being undertaken by the African Union, under its 50 year Agenda 2063 framework to achieve integration, prosperity and peace. The Deputy Chairperson mentioned that progress is being made in the high speed train project where a task force has been designated to follow up on implementation. He spoke of the continental effort, led by the AU, to fight the Ebola virus disease where he said the continent now sees hope of defeating the disease. He commended the African volunteer health workers who went to the affected countries as well as the private sector for contributing resources.

Mr Mwencha highlighted progress in the implementation of the Continental Free Trade Area, informing the meeting that the CFTA will be launched during the on-going summit. He described the project as having the capacity to bring industrialisation and prosperity.

The Deputy Chairperson said Africa does not have the time to do things slowly. “We cannot wait for another two decades” to emerge out of poverty, he said, adding that it is for this reason that the first ten year implementation plan of Agenda 2063 has agreed to fast track a number of initiatives that will transform the continent. They include poverty eradication, undertaking a skills revolution, growing the continent’s economies, modernisation of agriculture and agro industries, connecting the continent, doubling intra African trade, mainstreaming women and youth, silencing the guns, enhancing Africa’s voice on the global stage and strengthening domestic resource mobilisation.

The Chairperson of the PRC, Ambassador Albert R. Chimbindi made the welcome remarks to the PRC meeting. He urged the PRC and the African Union Commission (AUC) to lead the process of improving the working of the African Union and to facilitate the smooth functioning of the policy organs of the AU. He also said the PRC has the responsibility to ensure the judicious use of the resources of the Union and to follow up on the implementation of the decisions made by the policy organs of the Union.

The South African government, which is hosting the summit, was represented by its Director General of International Relations, Amb Jerry Matjila who noted that the summit is taking place at a critical moment as it is expected to adopt the 10 year implementation plan of Agenda 2063. The Union, he said has to streamline its working methods, respond to challenges of peace and security as well as carve a participatory role for Africa in the international governance system.

The African Union summit this year is being held under the theme “Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063”.

The PRC meeting is the first of three statutory meetings to be held under the on-going 25th summit of the African Union, holding from today till the 15th of June. Tomorrow, the PRC will adopt its report before handing it over to the meeting of the Executive Council to be held from the 11th to the 12th of June for further consideration and adoption. The final meeting of the summit will be that of the Heads of State and Government to take place from 14th to 15th June. It is this body, under its Chairperson President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, which will declare the final outcomes of the summit and the way forward.

The PRC comprises members of the Permanent Representatives Committee, who are their countries’ permanent representatives to the African Union as well as other Plenipotentiaries of member states.

WZM

Further media inquiries should be directed to:
Mrs Wynne Musabayana | Deputy Head of Communication and Information Division | Information and Communication Directorate | African Union Commission | Tel: (251) 11 551 77 00 | Fax: (251) 11 551 78 44 | E-mail: MusabayanaW@africa-union.org | Web: www.au.int | Addis Ababa | Ethiopia