Call to prioritise rural women's issues at UN conference

Femnet Executive Director Dinah Musindarwezo. She wants women and girls in rural areas given the space to share their realities and influence policies that could lead to achieving gender equality. PHOTO | COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • Women were urged to work with the mainstream and social media to effectively push through consensus as they seek to fight gender inequality.

African women rights organisations are pushing for a unified position as the world heads to this year's UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), next month.

Representatives of more than 40 organisations from the region meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, intend to agree on what they see as priorities on issues that affect women and girls in rural areas.

THEME

At the conference hosted by the African Women's Development and Communication Network (Femnet) and the NGO-CWS, Africa Steering Committee, delegates observed that the continent has to play the key role in ensuring there is consensus on issues around the UN forum's theme.

"This year we need to turn up in large numbers and give rural women and girls the space to speak for themselves. It must be Africa that pushes for this.

“This is the time for African women to show leadership in attaining a consensus around the theme of this year's conference," said Ms Diana Ofwona, UN Women Regional director for West and Central Africa.

She advised the organisation to work with the mainstream and social media to effectively push through consensus as they seek to fight gender inequality.

"Everyone is looking up to us (African women and civil society) to get the consensus that we failed to get in 2012," she added.

MEETING

The sixty-second session of CSW will take place between March 12-23 at the UN Headquarters with the theme, "Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and women's empowerment of rural women and girls."

The regional women’s rights campaigners said African women organisations should effectively participate to achieve a common position and policy recommendations.

"The meeting also provides space for rural women and girls to share their realities and influence policies in achieving gender equality and women's empowerment of rural women and girls," said Ms Dinah Musindarwezo, Femnet's executive director.

Ms Musindarwezo spoke of the need for political commitment and for the African women’s organisations’ leaders to consolidate the advocacy position.

"CSW is an important space for advocacy given that it is one of the unique policy spaces that is dedicated to solely discuss gender and women’s rights issues at the global level and provides women's rights organisations with the space to hold their governments accountable to promises made on gender equality and women's empowerment," she added.

EMPOWERMENT

Ms Emma Kaliya, Femnet's chairperson, and Ms Nyaradzayi Gumbonzavanda, chief executive of Rozaria Memorial Trust and African Union's ambassador on ending child marriage, spoke on the need to let women and girls who live in rural areas to talk about their experiences.

"As African women, we must ensure that there is consensus on these issues at CSW,” said Ms Kaliya, from Malawi.

Ms Gumbonzavanda said it was critical to invest on young women in the rural areas.

"They have the skills and we need to be practical around their issue of participation," she added.

Ms Gumbonzavanda singled out issues such as land rights and grabbing, sexual exploitation and child marriages as among issues affecting women and girls in rural areas.

Dr Juliet Kimemia, a lecturer and politician who ran for Kiambu County Senate seat, said there is need to work with data to bring change and empower women in rural areas.

Ms Rosemary Natome from Turkana County said women in the county face hardships such as challenges in owning land and inheritance of property.

The conference ends Tuesday.