This
year the theme which has been chosen by the United Nations is “Investing in Women
and Girls”. The celebration of International Women’s Day comes at the end of
the 52nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women held from
the 27 February – 07 March 2008. The priority theme for the session is
“Financing for Gender and equality and the empowerment of Women”.
The
need for African Governments to take into account and satisfy women’s economic
and social rights is becoming an essential component for sustainable
development.
For
the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, one of the strategies
required to realize this objective is the ratification, domestication and
implementation, by State Parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’
Rights, of the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa
The
Protocol is one of the significant instruments on the continent that seeks to
ensure the empowerment of women and girls in Africa.
Article 13 of the Protocol outlines a number of actions which fall under the
obligation and responsibility of the State Parties to the Protocol, in the area
of women’s economic and social welfare rights. In particular, Article 13 states
that:
“State
Parties shall adopt and enforce legislative and other measures to guarantee
women equal opportunities in work and career advancement and other economic
opportunities. In this respect, they shall promote equality to access to
employment; the creation of appropriate conditions in support of women’s
businesses and economic activities; the establishment of an effective system of
social insurance and protection for women in the informal sector; the
recognition of the right, for salaried women, to enjoy the same remuneration
and advantages given to salaried men. State Parties shall introduce a minimum
age for work and prohibit the employment of children below that age, and
prohibit, combat and punish all forms of exploitation of children especially
the girl-child”.
The
Special Rapporteur expresses serious concern about the precarious situation of
women who work in the informal sector and requests that greater attention be
paid to these women by African Governments and technical and financial
partners.
The
Special Rapporteur would like to take this opportunity to remind African
Governments of their obligations towards rural women who generally have limited
access to land and agricultural credit facilities and to encourage their
governments to integrate the needs of rural women as a category in their plans,
policies and development programmes.
The Special Rapporteur also urges women in African to establish greater solidarity with those women who are affected by poverty, illness and all those women who are victims of sexual abuse, political and ethnic conflicts on the continent, and who as a result of these factors, are excluded from the economic activities of their countries.