African Women Network Pledge to Transform the Continent

African women on Friday affirmed their determination to use their leadership roles in the transformation of the continent.

This follows the historic launch of the African Women Leaders Network at the United Nations headquarters in New York. It seeks to enhance their leadership roles in the transformation and stability of the continent.

By this act, African women have undertaken to come together and galvanize Africa into a peaceful, united and prosperous continent free from all forms of violence.

They have also agreed to avoid regression and ensure that all the gains made by African women in leadership are consolidated and sustained.

This followed three-days of High-Level meetings, panel discussions and consultations on Africa's transformation Agenda 2063 and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 80 women leaders from the continent. The participants, drawn from politics, business, academia, media and civil society, waved their respective national flags to signify the launch amid shouts of joy.

The meeting was jointly organized by the African Union Commission, United Nations Women and the Permanent Mission of Germany.

Ghana's Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ms. Otiko Afisah Djaba, read the Call to Action by the participants. It said that African women were committed to establish and nurture an inclusive network comprising a diversity of women and young women in leadership from all sectors of society, including political, public and private sector, civil society and grassroots women.

They also agreed to hold leaders accountable for the implementation of the agreed frameworks and protocols, apart from influencing dialogue and thought on issues affecting women and supporting women to be part of decision makers, including the highest level.

In her remarks, Ms. Djaba said that it was" time now to walk the talk as Agenda 2063 is rolled out on the continent" and urged African women to unleash their full potentials by sitting at table with the men to take decisions that would inure to the benefit of the African continent.

"Ghana and other African countries have a track record of gender-empowerment. Since independence, they have actively sought to explore goal driven measures to increase the participation of women in governance, and we appreciate the example of Rwanda for setting the pace" she stated.

To demonstrate political will, the Minister mentioned that Ghana's President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was recently recognized as a Gender Champion by AU, saying that "This reaffirms the AU's active efforts towards championing women's rights, and therefore the transformative empowerment of the continent."

Ms. Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, the Chef de Cabinet, on behalf of Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, assured that the SG would pursue gender equality around the world and at the UN.

Former President of the Transition of Central Africa, Madam Catherine Samba-Panza, said the world could do better with women in leadership positions as she had personally demonstrated in her country.

At her turn, the Executive Secretary of UN women, Mrs Phumzille Mbambi-Ngocuka, charged women to always engage their leaders to ensure that they implemented decisions that were critical to women. She also announced that her organization was going to engage countries where women are contesting elections this year and support them.

Ms. Patricia Flor, Representative for Germany, welcomed the new initiative by the African women to transform the continent, saying that even some African countries like Rwanda were doing better that Germany in terms of the number of women in government.

Source: ISD (R. Harry Reynolds, New York)

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