Recommendations of the Ninth 2016 Conference of Women Parliamentarians of the Pan-African Parliament on the theme: Promoting women access to political decision-making and leadership positions: a parliamentarian response to gender equality

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African Regional Bodies · African Union (AU)

Regional Body / Author

Pan-African Parliament

Date

18 October 2016

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Recommendation

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African Union

Recommendations of the Ninth 2016 Conference of Women Parliamentarians of the Pan-African Parliament on the theme: Promoting women access to political decision-making and leadership positions: a parliamentarian response to gender equality

Published on 18 October 2016
Commenced
[This is the version of this document from 18 October 2016.]

The annual Women Parliamentarian Conference of the Pan-African Parliament, held on 13 and 14 October in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, adopted the following final recommendations:Bearing in mind that the main theme of the Conference was the development of strategies to “Promote women access to political decision-making and leadership positions: A Parliamentarian response to gender equality”;Considering the crucial role that women are called to play in the realisation of the road map of the African Union for development in Africa and the implementation of Agenda 2063, which aims at an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa whose peoples represent a dynamic force on the world stage;Based on the provisions of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) which stipulates that the rights of women are recognised and guaranteed by all international instruments relating to human rights, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as legal, social and cultural rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women or its Optional Protocol, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and all other Conventions and international covenants relating to the rights of women as having inalienable, interdependent and indivisible human rights;

The Conference:

1.Enjoins parliamentarians to prevail on their individual governments to speed up the signing, ratification and implementation of mechanisms to domesticate the Maputo Protocol, specifically Articles 9 and 12 relating to the participation of women in politics and in policymaking and their right to education and training;

2.Requests women parliamentarians to take action to disseminate and popularise Agenda 2063 and the Maputo Protocol in the media anywhere they may be, so that all women, whether in rural or urban areas, whether they are educated or illiterate, are familiar with Agenda 2063 and the Maputo Protocol;

3.Condemns human rights abuses, especially those against women in conflict areas and calls on governments to respect international agreements on the protection of women;

4.Calls on women parliamentarians to make sure that their respective countries respect legislation on enhancing the rights of women and gender parity at all levels of government and within political parties with a view to influencing decision-making on socio-cultural and traditional issues relating to the emancipation of women;

5.Urges the States to allocate a percentage of their national budgets towards the creation of a support fund for women in general but particularly to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);

6.Encourages Member States to promote programmes on the protection of women’s rights, especially the rights of women and young girls to reproductive and maternal health, through education and training programmes for women;

7.Recommends that women parliamentarians from countries that do not yet have an exchange platform and a national women’s council set up such a platform for exchanges and advocacy to facilitate issues of ratification and harmonisation of national laws on women;

8.Recommends the establishment of a “Gender Label” under which participating State organisations, private companies and other national institutions can obtain tax reductions that enable them to support women in their working and professional lives;

9.Urges the Bureau of the Women’ Caucus to develop strategies and identify areas of cooperation with international organisations working in the area of women’s rights;

10.Urges the Bureau of the Women’ Caucus to develop appropriate mechanisms for the implementation of the resolutions and recommendations adopted previously;

11.Wishes to express its gratitude to the Government and Parliament of Egypt, the host country of the Women’s Conference 2016, the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA), which provided financial support for the present conference, and the Bureau of PAP for its support and leadership;

Adopted by Members of the Pan-African Parliament, members of regional Parliaments; Women Parliamentarians from Member States of the African Union, representatives of the African Union Organs; organisations representing civil society; representatives of business women’s organisations, and resource persons from development institutions.

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