UNESCO and the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) are organizing a roundtable discussion during which the book Freedom of Information (FOI) and Women’s Rights in Africa will be launched. The meeting will take place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 16 March 2010 to explore the links between enhanced information flows, women’s empowerment and gender equality, and to promote stronger involvement by women organizations in advancing freedom of information in Africa.

Freedom of information can substantially improve the lives of women, who often bear the greatest burden of poverty, corruption, economic breakdown and lack of access to essential information that is often held by governments. The event in Paris is part of the activities planned by UNESCO to celebrate International Women’s Day 2010. It builds on an ongoing regional project launched by FEMNET and UNESCO, the goal of which is to foster women’s engagement in the drafting, approval and implementation of FOI laws in Africa.

In this context, FEMNET and UNESCO produced a resource book offering a collection of case studies from Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Zambia. These case studies document and draw lessons from the experience of women organizations that have engaged in furthering freedom of information in their respective countries. The resource book emphasizes the importance of FOI for women’s well-being, their empowerment and fulfillment of their basic rights, as well as for strengthening the actions of organizations working toward these goals and holding governments accountable for their commitments. However, it also highlights the limited participation of women organizations in FOI-related processes in the featured countries, among which only South Africa has a FOI law, while campaigns advocating such laws are undergoing different stages in the others.

The roundtable will facilitate a debate on these issues between the researchers involved in the study, international experts and practitioners from other parts of the world. It is expected that the discussion will generate new insights and help shape strategies to advance the engagement of organizations focusing on women’s issues in collective efforts to promote freedom of information in the continent. The meeting also aims to facilitate a more complete realization of African women’s right to know.

The publication can be accessed here:
www.unesco.org/webworld/en/women-rights-africa
http://www.femnet.or.ke/documents/FOI_Book_2010.pdf

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: 4 March 2010

“African women are not victims, but solutions to the problems on the continent” said Hon. Gertrude Mongella, first President of the Pan-African Parliament during the official launch of the Africa Women’s Regional Shadow Report on Beijing +15. The launch took place in the margins of the 54th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York. Hon. Mongella also stated that the Beijing +15 shadow report is a big achievement for the women’s movement in Africa. However, she noted that there are two gaps with the Declaration and Platform for Action, which are: No Timeframe and no sanctions on States that do not implement.

Ms. Bisi Adeleye Fayemi, Executive Director of the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) gave highlights from the shadow report, compiled by the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) with contributions from national and sub-regional organizations. She noted that there is cause for celebration for the strides made in bridging the gender gap in primary school education, and the increases in women’s representation in political leadership in Rwanda, South Africa and Liberia. However the report despairs that women’s bodies are increasingly being used as battlegrounds in conflict situations among other gross violations of women’s rights in the region. The report makes an urgent call for governments to deliver on their commitments to women’s rights including those in the Beijing Platform for Action. Finally, there is hope. Hope in the African women’s movement which still shows commitment to taking African women’s lives and to the next level, and hope in young women who will move the agenda of women’s rights and gender equality forward in Africa.

The launch was attended by African women from throughout the region and the Diaspora, attending the CSW-54 to review progress in the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, 15 years after its adoption by United Nations member states.

For more information, please contact:
Norah Matovu-Winyi, Executive Director of FEMNET at +1 917 455 4026 or
Naisola Likimani, Advocacy Officer, at +1 347 260 3547, in New York.

For a pdf copy of the Africa Women's Regional Shadow Report, click here. Feedback and/or comments on the Report should be sent to library@femnet.or.ke

2010 marks the 15th anniversary of the Beijing World Conference on Women. In recognition of this anniversary, the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, NY is organizing an NGO Global Women’s Forum from February 27 to 28 2010 to consider implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA). The Forum program will include two full conference days commencing with an opening ceremony, and continuing with plenary sessions, panel discussions, and workshops. The NGO CSW is the principal locus of NGO facilitation and coordination for the Forum and is working closely with NGOs and UN partners to assure full and representative participation from all regions of the world, especially from developing countries. For regular updates visit: http://www.ngocsw.org/en/events/2010-forum. FEMNET will be participating in the Forum, for contributions and/or queries send an email to.advocacy@femnet.or.ke.

Improving maternal health and reducing maternal mortality have been key concerns of several international summits and conferences since the late 1980s, including the Millennium Summit in 2000. One of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted at the Millennium Summit is improving maternal health (MDG5). Despite all the policy frameworks, declarations, and efforts by governments, maternal mortality rates in Sub Saharan Africa have risen unabatedly. The UN reported in 2008 that the lifetime risk of dying in pregnancy and childbirth in Africa is 1 in 22, while it is 1 in 120 in Asia and 1 in 7,300 in developed countries. According to the 2009 Global Monitoring Report, as many as 10,000 women die every week in developing countries from treatable complications of pregnancy and childbirth. This is disturbing as pregnancy, which is a joyous moment of bringing forth life, is cause of death to many women and girls of childbearing age. And most disturbing is that these deaths are in many cases treatable and preventable.

The 15th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union to be held in July 2010 will deliberate on the reduction of maternal and child mortality in Africa. A Special Session of the UN General Assembly on the MDGs Review will be held in September 2010. In this issue of FEMNET News (January-April 2010), we invite articles and case studies on the theme: No woman should die while giving life! Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa.

The articles should be recent stories analysing how your country has been affected by Maternal Mortality. Articles can also critically analyze the implementation of the Maputo Plan of Action in your country. Accounts of emerging best practices in reducing maternal mortality, particularly through civil society efforts at the national level, are also welcome.

The published articles will be used to draw attention to the issue of promoting maternal health as a human rights issue that is prioritized by governments, and which would greatly contribute to development in Africa Political will and commitment must now translate into social structures and resource mobilisation in order to stop African women from dying while giving life.

Articles should be between 800-1500 words.

Please send your article to: communication@femnet.or.ke by 12th March 2010.

We look forward to continued collaboration with you.

Best regards,

Carlyn Hambuba
Communication Officer, FEMNET

Addis Ababa, 24th January, 2010. The African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) with support from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has launched a book titled: Freedom of Information and Women’s Rights in Africa. The book is compilation of five case studies from five African countries namely; Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Zambia, will help women’s organisations as they organise around freedom of information in their respective countries.

African Union Special Rapporteuer on the rights of women in Africa, Her Excellency Commissioner Soyata Maiga officially launched the book and commended FEMNET and UNESCO for the great initiative of linking freedom of information to women’s rights. She appealed to women’s civil society organizations and progressive governments in the continent to make Freedom of Information as part of the discourse in consolidation of democracy and promotion of socio-economic justice.

“African women have for sometime now been lobbying for women’s rights to be recognized and upheld. Without freedom of information, it has been difficult to do so. Having freedom of information legislation and policies is very important for any democratic state as it is fundamentally related to good governance and sustainable development.” Commissioner Soyata Maiga.

UNESCO Director for Addis Ababa Office Mr. Luc Rukingama said UNESCO is proud to be associated with the launch of the Freedom of information and women’s rights in Africa book and pleased to support gender equality issues and hoped that the book will be used to mainstream through use of ICTs.

FEMNET Chairperson Mama Koite Doumbia said the launch of the book could not have come at better time than now when the Africa Union Summit theme is "Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Africa: Challenges and Prospects for Development” “ The book relates well with this years’ theme however ICTs can only enhance development if African government enact and implement Freedom of Information laws and urgently repeal restrictive media and other laws on freedom of expression” said Mrs. Doumbia.

“This years’ theme carries a lot of weight in determining the future of the African woman and the continent with regards to use of ICTs in advancing gender equality. African governments need to promote use of ICTs to increase awareness among women on their rights and facilitate informed decision-making. This could include initiatives that enable citizens to use SMS helplines to report human rights violations and also support the use of ICTs in education (formal and informal) and literacy programmes so as to build ICT skills among young and adult women" added Mrs. Doumbia.

For Further Information Contact:
Carlyn Hambuba, FEMNET Communication Officer:
Tel: + (254)20.2712971/2 or + (254)20.2341516/7 (Wireless)
Cell: + (254)725.766932
communication@femnet.or.ke

Note to Editors:
The FOI book is available on www.femnet.or.ke

For more information about the African Union visit: http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/index/index.htm