25 November 2014
Regional Review Urges Bold Action for Gender Equality in Africa
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Ministers from African countries adopted a Declaration calling for achieving gender equality by 2030, at the Ninth Regional Conference on Women.

The Declaration aligns with the gender equality goals contained in Africa's Agenda 2063.

UNWOMEN19 November 2014: Ministers from African countries adopted a Declaration calling for achieving gender equality by 2030, at the Ninth Regional Conference on Women. The Declaration aligns with the gender equality goals contained in Africa’s Agenda 2063.

The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), UN Women and the African Union Commission (AUC) organized the Conference, which took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 17-19 November 2014.

Bold action and structural transformation is required to achieve gender equality in Africa, according to the Declaration. At the same time, ministers recognized challenges to implementing the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), noting that climate change, conflicts, economic, financial and health crises, health, inequality and terrorism exacerbate these challenges. The NGO Forum Declaration, which was presented to participants, highlights the persistence of such challenges to gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The “time for token references on gender equality and women’s empowerment is over,” declared UNECA Executive Secretary Carlos Lopes in opening remarks. He lamented that such attitudes were “tolerated for quite a long time,” and cited a 2011 UNECA study finding that “violence against women in some Africa countries may be up to five times that of some developed economies.” He said Africa cannot build dynamic countries “if women and girls, who form the majority of the population, remain marginalized or excluded.” Lopes called for a transformative framework, and said the Common African Position on the Post-2015 Agenda prioritizes gender equality as a priority goal.

Lakshmi Puri, UN Women, urged participants to seize the opportunity to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment: “we can’t afford to look back in 20 years and be disappointed that we have not achieved our goals.”

The Declaration calls on African governments to ensure appropriate financing for achieving gender goals, through strengthening domestic resource mobilization to accelerate implementation of remaining gaps from the BPfA, and adopting and accelerating strategies such as gender budgeting. The Declaration requests governments and development partners to provide space and resources for the women’s movement to ensure accountability of agreed commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment, and to provide services to women and girls.

UN Women is working with the UN Regional Commissions to organize Beijing+20 reviews in each region. The resulting recommendations will contribute to the global review of the Platform’s implementation, at the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 59). [UNECA Press Release, 19 November] [UNECA Press Release on Opening Remarks] [UNECA Press Release, 17 November] [Lopes Remarks] [IISD RS Story on NGO Forum] [IISD RS Story on Asia-Pacific Review] [IISD RS Story on Europe Review]


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