Alliance members call for a stronger gender protocol

Members of the Southern African Gender Protocol Alliance have called on all those involved in preparations for the Heads of State Summit in August 2008 to put forward a stronger draft of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

23 June 2008: Members of the Southern African Gender Protocol Alliance[1] have called on all those involved in preparations for the Heads of State Summit in August 2008 to put forward a stronger draft of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development. 

In a statement, the Alliance said that while significant advances have been made in strengthening the watered down draft that Heads of State sent back for further consultation in 2007, the current draft is “strong on development; weak on rights that women have gained through successive processes culminating in the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights. “   

 Key issues raised include:   

• Some of the pertinent and core issues addressed in the SADC Gender Declaration and Addendum, have been eliminated from the current draft. Examples include legal protection from marital rape, and a broad definition of disability rights to include issues of dignity, security, and employment rights, not just in the area of health.  These are already in CEDAW and the AU Protocol which most governments in SADC have ratified.
• In a number of instances the Protocol has watered down obligatory language like “ensure” to “endeavour”, even where there are existing firm commitments; for example to achieving 50% representation of women in decision making by 2015.   
• Whilst the current draft cross references key provisions with existing SADC Protocols many of these are themselves gender blind (for example education; HIV and AIDS; media and information). There is need for the critical gender issues in these sectors to be drawn out in the Protocol
• The draft does not address the issue regarding the rights of cohabiting couples. We note that national consultations in various countries have identified this as a growing trend and a critical gender issue. Gross violations, in particular children’s rights and the property rights of women are occurring daily with little or no legal protection. This is a critical gap that can no longer be ignored, in view of some credible studies that have been carried out indicating that the family has changed in SADC, and the need for policy and legislation to respond to this change.
• It is necessary to clearly articulate women’s sexual and reproductive rights in the draft in order to enhance their promotion and protection as already encapsulated in the AU Protocol. The current draft is weak in this regard, for example, it does not address the right of women to control their fertility, their rights to decide on whether to have children, the number and their spacing, the right to choose any method of contraception, and the right to self protection against STIs, including HIV and AIDS.
• The definition of rights must extend to the rights of vulnerable and marginalised groups. This is absent from the current draft and needs to be explicit, otherwise this leaves a gap in the draft.

Specific proposals can be accessed at https://www.genderlinks.org.za/attachment_view.php?pa_id=529

For further information contact Colleen Lowe Morna or Pamela Mhlanga on               011-622-2877          

[1] The SADC Gender Protocol Alliance comprises the Botswana Congress of NGOs (BOCONGO);  Federation of African Media Women (FAMW) – SADC; Gender Links (GL); Gender and Media Southern Africa Network (GEMSA); Justice and Peace (Lesotho); Malawi Council of Churches; Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA); NGO Gender Coordination Network Malawi; SAFAIDS; Society for Women and AIDS in Africa Zambia (SWAAZ); Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF); Women in Law in Southern Africa (WLSA); Women, Land and Water Rights Southern Africa (WLWRSA); Women in Politics Caucus Botswana; Women’s Leadership Centre Namibia; Young Women’s Christian Association Botswana (YWCA); Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre (ZWRCN).