Gender Justice Barometer

Welcome to the last Roadmap to Equality newsletter for 2015. The Sixteen Days of Activism has just ended. The ultimate answer to this injustice is to have policies and programmes to end gender based violence not reduce it as highlighted in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As we wrap up 2015, we have a glimpse of hope that this will still be possible as the SADC Gender Protocol is being reviewed. Inclusion of a target to end gender based violence is key in achieving SDG Five.

Welcome to the November edition of the Roadmap to Equality newsletter. This edition comes out at an opportune time when the world and indeed the SADC region is gearing up for the 16 Days of Activism campaigns.

Welcome to the October 2015 edition of the Roadmap to equality newsletter. August and September were busy months as the world geared up to adopt the new development framework in the form of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

At the 59th Session on the Commission of the Status of Women, one of the very few sessions focused on transgender women was hosted by SHE- a social, health and empowerment feminist collective of transgender and intersex women of Africa, which is based in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa

At a CSW59 session called, “Women and the Media: Advancing Critical Area of Concern J* of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action”, held yesterday at the UN headquarters yesterday, Geena Davis- Academy Award-Winning Actor and Founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media said, “To achieve gender equality the enormous impact the media has on our unconscious biases that impact both men and women needs to be addressed immediately.”

The Malawi government delegation is the attending the ongoing 59th session of the Commission on the Status on Women (CSW59) in New York, and has committed to join hands with Southern African countries to strengthen and renew the SADC Gender Protocol (SGP), which expires this year. T

On day one of the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women held at the United Nations yesterday, the Association of Progressive Communications hosted a high level meeting with various delegates to discuss the reprioritisation of Section J of the Beijing platform for Action, which has received inadequate attention since 1995.

Under the theme voice, choice and control, Genderlinks and the SADC Gender Protocol Alliance hosted a side event at CSW 59 called “Strengthening and being strengthened by the sustainable development goals.”

Welcome to the October edition of the Roadmap to Equality newsletter. October has been a hive of activity with Alliance network strengthening coalitions at country level. With 2015 around the corner, it is necessary for gender movements to strategically position themselves, and lobby for a strong post-2015 gender equality agenda. This month we focused on highlighting governance issues in the SADC region as Botswana and Mozambique have just held elections

Welcome to the September 2014 edition of the Roadmap to Equality! Tracking progress towards the implementation and ratification of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development. The month of August marked important milestones for gender equality in the SADC region but also made louder the steps towards 2015, the year by which the SADC region should meet the targets of the SADC Gender Protocol.

Colleen Lowe Morna, Gender Links CEO presented the findings of the 2014 South African Gender and National Elections report at the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

It seems incongruous that we celebrate Women’s Month, yet stories of conflict and gender based violence (GBV) flood today’s headlines. Whether it is the abduction of girls in Nigeria, the unending trial of Oscar Pistorius or the young woman raped and murdered last over the weekend because of her sexuality- the horrific immediacy of violence is all too apparent.