by Nyarai Kampilipili in Mbabane, Swaziland – SANF 16 no 40
The revised protocol for advancing gender equality and equity in southern Africa is to be considered for approval by the 36th SADC Summit, which opens 30 August in Mbabane, Kingdom of Swaziland.
This follows its endorsement by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Council of Ministers that met prior to the summit of heads of state and government.
Council approved the Draft Revised SADC Protocol on Gender and Development at their meeting in Mbabane on 26-27 August.
According to a communique released by the SADC Council, this is one of seven draft protocols recommended to SADC leaders for adoption and signature.
Once adopted and signed, the protocol will have to be ratified again for it to enter into force at national level in the 15 member states. At least two-thirds of the SADC Member States (10 countries) are required to ratify the agreement for it to enter into force.
The process of approval of a regional legal instrument requires, first, signing, and then ratification, a process that differs from country to country. Some require the approval of Parliament.
The Draft Revised Protocol on Gender and Development has been re-aligned to global targets and emerging issues.
Some of these global targets are contained to the post-2015 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the African Union Agenda 2063, and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
SDG Goal 5, for example, deals with the Promotion of Gender Equality and Empowerment of all Women and Girls, and sets nine targets to be met by the global community by 2030.
These include ending all forms of discrimination against women and girls; elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation; elimination of all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage, and female genital mutilation; and ensuring the full and effective participation of women and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.
Other SDG Goal 5 targets include universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action, and the outcome documents of their review conferences; and a committee to undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws.
The promotion of gender equality is one of the main pillars of the AU’s Agenda 2063, featuring prominently in all the seven aspirations for the continent over the next 47 years.
For example, Africa aspires for a continent that is free from gender-based violence and where women and youth shall play an important role as drivers of change.
The African continent continues to face challenges in addressing the rights of women as women continue to experience human rights violations in the areas of employment, marriage, sexual and reproductive health, education, and in the context of conflict.
The draft revised protocol captures emerging issues such as climate change and child marriages. Child marriages are one of the contributing factors to the slow progress in the reduction of maternal mortality, but the definition of a child by age remains controversial.
The review also sought to align the protocol with provisions of other instruments such as those relating to sustainable management of the environment, and the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap.
The review process involved consultations between the SADC Secretariat and Member States, leading to a technical meeting held in Johannesburg, South Africa in October 2015 to discuss issues to be reviewed or included in the revised protocol.
In June, SADC Ministers responsible for Gender and Women Affairs adopted the Draft Revised Protocol on Gender and Development at their annual meeting held in Gaborone, Botswana.
The instrument was then cleared by the SADC Ministers responsible for Justice/Attorneys-General in July and presented to the Council of Ministers, which has since endorsed it.
The SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, which was signed in 2008 and entered into force on 22 February 2013, contained several targets to be met by the end of 2015, aligned to the UN Millennium Development Goals.
These included ensuring that, by 2015, at least 50 percent of decision-making positions in the public and private sectors are held by women; enshrining gender equality and equity in national constitutions and ensuring that these rights are not compromised by any provisions, laws or practices; and the introduction of measures to ensure that women benefit equally from economic opportunities.
Major achievements in the implementation of the Protocol include an increased proportion of women in Parliament and Cabinet or other senior levels of public service in SADC Member States.
According to the SADC Gender and Development Monitor 2016 launched by the SADC Executive Secretary, Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax on 28 August, four SADC countries are among the top 20 in the world with the highest number of women in Parliament. These are Seychelles, South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique.
The publication also reveals that the number of women in decision-making positions is increasing most SADC Member States.
The 36th SADC Summit set for 30-31 August is running under the theme “Resource Mobilisation for Investment in Sustainable Energy Infrastructure for an Inclusive SADC Industrialisation for the Prosperity of the Region.”
At the summit, President Seretse Khama Ian Khama of Botswana will complete his term as SADC chair and hand over the SADC leadership to King Mswati III of Swaziland. sardc.net
