CM/Res.1641 (LXIII)
RESOLUTION ON THE AFRICAN CONFERENCE ON THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN THROUGH FUNCTIONAL LITERACY AND THE EDUCATION OF THE GIRL CHILD
The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, meeting in its Sixty-third Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 26 to 28 February; 1996,
Having considered the Report of the Uganda Government on the Conference on the Empowerment of Women through Functional Literacy and the Education of the Girl Child, Document CM/1902 (LXIII) Add.1,
Recalling the African Platform for Action which is the African Common Position for the Advancement of Women, adopted at the 5th African Regional Conference an Women in Dakar, Senegal in November, 1994; the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted by the 4th World Conference on Women, Action for Equality, Development and Peace, in September 1995; the World Declaration on Education for All adopted by the 1990 Jomtien World Conferen ce on Education for All; and the Ouagadougou Declaration on the Education of African Girls adopted by the Pan-African Conference on the Education of Girls,
Bearing in mind the various OAU resolutions relating to enhancing the role and contribution of African Women to the political and socio-economic development of the Continent and on the education of the girl child as one of the critical issues requiring policy intervention at all levels, and prerequisite for the achievement of such goals,
Further recalling the Programme of Action adopted by the International Conference on Population and Development, in Cairo in September, 1993; the African Common Position on Human and Social Development in Africa, adopted by the 30th Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government and the Declaration on Social Development, in Tunis, Tunisia in June, 1994; the Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, Denmark in March, 1995; and the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community, to strengthen a public information system which can help individuals and communities to be self-sufficient in controlling Vitamin A and Iron deficiencies;
APPRECIATES the efforts of WHO, UNICEF and other organizations both governmental and non- governmental involved in the control Micronutrient Deficiencies; and APPEALS to them to continue to support the efforts of Member States to address these deficiencies;.
REQUESTS the Secretary-General,- in -collaboration with all concerned agencies and organizations, to continue pursuing the issue and to submit a report to the Council of ministers and the Assembly of Heads of State and Government every two years.
Recalling also the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action of June 1993; and the Kampala Action Plan on Women and Peace adopted by the Regional Conference on Women and Peace in November, 1993; the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights adopted by the 18th Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in June, 1981; the Declaration and Plan of Action adopted by the World Summit for Children; and the Consensus of Dakar which was the outcome of the OAU International Conference on Assistance to African Children in November, 1993,
Guided by the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples, Rights; and the African Charter for Popular Participation in Development of February, 1990:
TAKES NOTE WITH SATISFACTION of the Report presented by the Uganda Government on the African Conference on the Empowerment of Women Through Functional Literacy and the Education of the Girl Child;
COMMENDS the Uganda Government for the initiative taken to convene and host the Conference and for the elaborate preparations being made for the Conference to be jointly organized by the Uganda Government and the OAU, in collaboration with other Agencies;
APPEALS to Member States to ensure their active and effective participation in the Conference, scheduled to be held in the first week of September, 1996 to coincide with the International Literacy Day and the First Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women;
URGES Member States to make adequate preparation for the Conference and to include in their country papers policy reforms and legislation initiated for implementing the various OAU and UN Resolutions, Declarations and Plans/Programmes of Action on the promotion of girls, education, empowerment of women and gender equity;
REQUESTS the OAU to give material and political support to the Conference and to participate in the meetings of the Task Force, established for the preparations of the Conference;
FURTHER REQUESTS the OAU, in close consultation with the Uganda Government, to work out the thematic outline of- the- Conference and agree on the allocation of responsibilities
regarding the preparation of the Conference;
INVITES the Uganda Government and the Secretary General to jointly mobilize additional funds towards the successful holding of the Conference;
APPEALS to Member -States which have not yet done so, to ratify the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the ILO Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age of Admission to Employment;
FURTHER APPEALS to the United Nations Agencies and Organizations (ADE, UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, UNESCO, ECA, ILO, UNEP, World bank and others), International and African NGOs to support and participate in the preparations and holding of this important Conference as well as in the implementation of the outcome of and follow-up activities to the Conference;
CALLS UPON the Secretary General to submit a progress report on the preparations of the Conference to the next Session of the Council of Ministers.