Gender Justice Barometer

Welcome to the 12th edition of Roadmap to Equality: Keeping you updated on regional developments! October highlights included several successful launches of the Regional SADC Gender Protocol 2010 Barometer: in Mauritius, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In Botswana, the Barometer was launched at the SADC Secretariat by SADC Executive Secretary Tomaz Augusto Salomão. Lesotho launched the Barometer in September and November will see the launch of the Malawian and South African Barometers in those countries.

Welcome to the 11th edition of Roadmap to Equality! We apologise that this issue comes to you late.

The memories of the World Cup 2010 tournament that South Africa, the home base of the Southern Africa Gender Protocol Alliance, proudly and successfully hosted are fading into the distance but SADC women and men’s lived realities remain.

Welcome to the 7th issue of the Roadmap to Equality! The much awaited year 2010 is finally here! New Year, new decade, new beginnings.

I bring good news – the Southern Africa Gender Protocol Alliance has its own website that can be accessed on this URL: www.sadcgenderprotocol.org. Let us keep this website fresh and relevant – we would like to feature what is happening in your country around implementation of the SADC Gender Protocol and related matters.

The memories of the 100’s of events at the 54th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women which focused on the fifteen year review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action are slowly fading away and what remains are the realities lived by ordinary women across the globe particularly from the global South.

The 2010 Soccer World Cup tournament has finally come and all roads and air routes lead to South Africa. As the recent media reports show this comes with many vices.

Charles Dickens wrote in the Tale of two cities, ” It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” For the Alliance this quote rings very true in light of the events over the last two months. Alliance members, led by Loga Virahsawmy, Protocol Alliance Coordinator and Director of Gender Links Francophone Office in Mauritius, had a successful trip to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo from 3rd to 11th September 2009.

In a parallel session to the SADC Heads of States Summit the SADC Council of NGOs (SADC CNGO) meeting, the Alliance presented and launched the Road map to Equality handbook on the 3 September. The handbook documents civil society’s contribution to the adoption of the Protocol.

Welcome to the fifth edition of the Roadmap to Equality. This edition comes at a very exciting time with Malawi signing and Zimbabwe ratifying the Protocol in October. This period also includes the 16 Days of No Violence Against Women campaign. The campaign starts on the 25 November and ends on the 10 December.

This edition of the Barometer precedes the SADC Heads of States meeting in the DRC from the 2-8 September 2009. It will be interesting to see what member states have done since the signing of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Develeopment in August 2008.

Gender Links is conducting an audit of where SADC member states are in relation to the 28 targets in the protocol. The audit will be launched on the 4 September 2009 at the SADC Council of NGOs meeting in the DRC.

So you have been missing the Gender Justice Barometer and have been feeling left out on developments around the Protocol … well it was WORTH THE WAIT! In line with the signing of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, Gender Links has improved its e-newsletter, ‘The Gender Justice Barometer’ to Roadmap to Equality: Gender and Development Barometer and with this issues sees the launch of the improved e-newsletter.

Welcome to the first issue of the Gender Justice Barometer, a regional e-newsletter that monitors the developments in addressing gender violence in Southern African countries. It is produced by Gender Links in partnership with the Gender and Media Southern Africa (GEMSA) Network with support from the Norwegian Council for Africa.

South Africans from all walks of life will join forces at a watershed conference from 3-5 May to develop a National Action Plan to End Gender Violence.