Minister for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities, Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya leads South African delegation to the official launch of the African Union’s Decade of African Women taking place in Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Friday, 15 October.
The launch is preceded by a meeting of African Ministers for Women Affairs taking place tomorrow (Thursday, 14 October) in Nairobi where Minister Mayende-Sibiya is expected to speak on behalf of South Africa.
The launch event of the Decade of African Women is expected to be addressed by the first woman Head of State in Africa, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
The event is convened to review and celebrate progress made so far towards gender equality and empowerment of women and to articulate concrete actions that should be taken to accelerate momentum in the attainment of goals articulated in AU Declarations on gender equality.
The theme for the decade launch is: “Grassroots approach to gender equality and women’s empowerment”.
The main objectives of the decade are:
- to mobilise the African women’s movement with a focus on youth and grassroots women leaders
- to create awareness and mobilise continental support and political will in implementing the agreed gender commitments including increasing representation of women in decision-making positions
- to re-invigorate commitment to accelerate the implementation of international commitments affecting the lives of women including education, health, agriculture, economic and political empowerment and gender based violence.
Speaking before her departure for Kenya today, Minister Mayende-Sibiya expressed concern that women continue to carry the heaviest burden of poverty, diseases, lack of skills and other social problems facing the African continent.“With the launch of the Decade of African Women, our continent is taking a major step to focus on these challenges and improve the overall status of women in Africa,” said Minister Mayende-Sibiya.
SA has played a leading role globally in areas such as representation of women in political decision-making positions where it is currently number three amongst countries with highest representation of women in parliament. “We will be sharing these experiences and learning from fellow AU member-states on how they are addressing challenges facing women in their countries,” said Minister Mayende-Sibiya.
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