Roadmap to Equality, Issue 21, November 2011

Editor’s Note

Highlights
–  Sixteen Days of Activism – From peace in the home to peace in the world!
–  SADC Secretariat develops operational plan (2012 – 2016) for the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development
–  Finding gender in the Climate Change agenda – towards COP17

International News
–  Resolving gender imbalance in policing

Alliance News
–  HIV, Health and SRH cluster meeting

Governance
–  Seychelles: On the way to meeting the 5050 target in the National Assembly
–  Democratic Republic of Congo: Leading parties ignoring gender parity

Economic Justice, Education and Training
–  Councils of Churches make the links between Biblical principles and SADC Protocol

Productive Resources and Employment
–  SADC develops regional Women’s Economic Empowerment Framework

Gender-based Violence
–  Taking the bull by the horn
–  Heads of State of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region called to be at the frontline of the fight against SGBV

Health, HIV and AIDS
–  Turning the tide – changing the river’s flow
–  Men urged to play positive role in sexual reproductive health

Peace Building
–  Madagascar: Women claim a stake in peace and security matters

Media, Information and Communications
–  Online newspaper on gender and climate justice at COP17

Tracking and Ratification
–  Tracking the SADC Gender Protocol

The War at Home – GBV Indicators Project  
SADC Gender Protocol 2011 Barometer  
Policy Brief: Gender, climate change and sustainable development  
Giant Footprints: GL@10

The awarding of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize on October 7 to three women, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (President of Liberia), Leymah Gbowee (founder of Women in Peacebuilding Programme, Liberia) and Tawakkul Karman (journalist and peace activist, Yemen) exemplifies the role that women play in peace processes. But they are a rare exception. Nobel Prizes have been in existence since 1901. They are awarded in the following categories: physics; chemistry; medicine; peace, literature and economic sciences. In total, the prizes have been awarded 549 times to 853 people and organisations. Some have received the prize more than once. Thus a total of 826 individuals and 20 organisations have received the prize. … Read more

SADC Secretariat develops operational plan (2012 – 2016) for the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development
The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Secretariat’s Gender Unit, working in close collaboration with the Alliance, has developed a SADC Plan of Action to operationalise the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development. This took place at a regional consultative conference on Gender and Development held from 24 -26 October 2011 in Johannesburg … Read more

Finding gender in the Climate Change agenda – towards COP17
Gender activists in the region and beyond have been using every opportunity to ensure that gender is integral to all discussions, position papers and policy documents in preparation for, during and beyond United Nations 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17)…. Read more

Democratic Republic of Congo: Leading parties ignoring gender parity
The leading parties are doing little to ensure an increase in the numbers of women representation in parliament. However, Congolese women are rising to the challenge to position themselves though more still needs to be done. For example, women make up only 12% of the roughly 18,000 candidates who will stand for election to parliament in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s upcoming elections slated for 28 November 2011…. Read more

Heads of State of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region called to be at the frontline of the fight against SGBV
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) under the Chairperson of the Regional Civil Society Forum held a Regional CSOs Experts meeting in Arusha, Tanzania from 30th to 31st October 2011 under the theme, United to Prevent, End Impunity and Provide Support to the Survivors of Sexual and Gender Based Violence in the Great Lakes Region. … Read more

Men urged to play positive role in sexual reproductive health
Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia (PPAZ) programmes manager Henry Kaimba has said men should be equal partners in reproductive health in order to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on reducing maternal mortality ratio by three quarters in 2015…. Read more

The Barometer will enable both state and non-state actors to track progress whether governments are on the way to meeting set targets in the Gen- der Protocol which provides a road map for achieving gender equality in the region.

The new and updated Baro- meter will focus on the articles of the Protocol namely Consti- tutional and Legal Rights; Gender and Governance; Edu- cation and Training; Economic Justice; Gender Based Violence; Health; HIV and AIDS; Peace Building and Conflict Reso- lution; and Media, Infor- mation and Communication.

It is essential that gender and women’s rights activists and governments track the impact of their work in order to measure whether or not they are making a difference. The Barometer is a tool that can be used firstly, to track progress in advancing gender equality in the region and also to hold governments in Southern Africa accountable to the commitments they have made to address inequality through their obligations to international and regional in- struments and in particular the SADC Gender Protocol.

– Women, primarily on small farms, provide up to 80 percent of agricultural labour and produce 45 to 90 percent of domestically consumed food, depending on the region [1].
– Erratic rainfall and unseasonal temperatures already challenge some farmers, especially small land-holders who have less capacity to adapt. In Africa, the proportion of women affected by climate-related crop changes could range from 73 percent in the Congo to 48 percent in Burkina Faso [2].
– For women growers, this insecurity is compounded by a comparative lack of assets and arable land, and in some cases lack of the right to own the very land they till. Worldwide, women own less than two percent of all property. In many countries, less than 10 percent of women hold title to their land [1], which limits their access to resources and credit during crises.
– Efforts for reform fall short. An analysis of credit schemes for small-scale farmers in five African countries found that women received less than 10 percent of the credit awarded to men smallholders [3].
– Deforestation compounds these conditions, because many rural women depend on non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for income, traditional medicinal use, nutritional supplements in times of food shortages and as a seed bank for plant varieties needed to source alternative crops under changing growing conditions. Thus, loss of biodiversity challenges the nutrition, health, and livelihoods of women and their communities [4].
Source: UNIFEM

Sixteen Days of Activism
25 November to 10 December – aims to raise awareness around gender based violence.

Cyber Dialogues:
28 November: The power of speaking out and personal accounts – “I” stories
29 November: Gender and climate justice start with local government
30 November: Gender justice and ICTs
1 December: World AIDS Day and making care work count
2 December: Gender and the workplace – Sexual Harassment
5 December: Violence against sexual minorities
6 December:  Remembering the Montreal Massacre: The role of men and boys
7 December:  Xenophobia, human security and migration
8 December:  We have faith – gender justice and climate change
9 December:  Peace begins @ home: Gender justice and climate change wrap up

COP17: UN Conference on Climate Change
28 November – 9 December

Women candidates are increasingly finding their voice on these and other issues as various non- governmental groups have redoubled their efforts to increase the number of elected women, including setting up women’s leadership circles and an electoral clinic which supports candidates in their campaigns…. Read more

Madagascar: Women tackle population growth

Daniel Soadava and Samoela Razafindram bohoare known as “the mean women” in Antalaha, a small town on the east coast of Madagascar. “Men complain that we are always saying bad things about them,” they laugh. … Read more

South Africa: Activism to End Violence against Women and Children

Government and all other role players use the time between 25 November and 10 December to raise awareness on violence against women and children. … Read more

Zambia: Letter to the President on low representation of women in cabinet

Aggrieved members of the recently elected Patriotic Front government in Zambia have written an open letter to the presidnt and are gathering CV’s of women to boost their standing in the new government:… Read more