Regional: Taking the SADC Gender Protocol to churches

The Pietermaritzburg Agency for Christian Social Awareness (PASCA), Gender Links and the Human Rights Centre with support from the Norwegian church will this April host religious leaders from Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabweas a follow up to the churches Gender Audit of 2007.

The purpose of the follow up meeting is to receive reports from church representatives from the five participating churches about developments since 2008 related to gender transformation processes in their churches. During the meeting participants will also be exposed to the role of the Church in popularising the SADC Gender Protocol and the Convention on the Elimination of All Form of Discrimination (CEDAW) which are tools that can be used to promote gender equality in our in the region.

PACSA facilitated the 2007 Gender Audit in South Africa which also took place in Malawi and Zambia. The process involved studying the church statutes, position papers, and liturgies, church statements and other relevant documents, as well as a limited number of interviews to see how relevant church policies influence gender relations with respect to 11 themes. The study focussed on five churches in South Africa: Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Uniting reformed and Evangelical Lutheran (ELCSA).

The leaders will use the meeting to table the strategic plans including for taking the gender transformation agenda forward within the church sector and society as a whole. Individual churches will also outline what they want to do to take forward the implementation of the research recommendations. Participants will be able to share with the programme leaders the technical expertise they require.