Programme director, Minister of Economic Development
Your Excellencies, ministers from Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia, Uganda and Zambia
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee for Water and Environment Veterans
MECs for Environment from Northern Cape and Gauteng provinces
The chairperson of the National Women and Environment Forum Permanent Secretary from Lesotho
Representative from United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Honorable ladies and gentlemen
Good morning!
We are here to conduct a pre-launch the Network of African Women Ministers and Leaders for the Environment. It is important for me to state that Africa is the first region out of seven regions to launch its chapter. That should be recorded in the history books of environment sector.
Agenda 21 of the Rio declaration of the World Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janiero, Brazil (1992), recognised the crucial role that women played in environmental management. This was further reinforced by The Beijing platform of action of the United Nations Women's Conference in Beijing China (1995) and the Johannesburg declaration of the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa (2002).
In trying to realise the decisions taken in the conferences I have just mentioned, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Council of World Women Leaders convened a meeting of women ministers and leaders of environment in Helsinki, Finland which was chaired by the ex-Minister for Environment and Development Cooperation for Finland, Ms Satu Hassi, and myself as Deputy Minister for Environmental Affairs and Tourism, South Africa.
Twenty two women ministers for the environment and 28 women leaders representing non-governmental environmental organisations from Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America attended the meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to mobilise women to take immediate action in addressing the challenge of environment degradation as it affects economic development and worsens poverty.
Ladies and gentlemen, on the basis that women comprise more than half of the world's population and also that women are the custodians of environment, the meeting unanimously agreed that women must come together and speak with one voice and play a leading role in the development of environmental management policies in our respective countries in order to ensure that gender is an integral component of environmental management.
The Network of Women Ministers for the Environment was thus born. When women come together they always make a visible impact that improves lives of their communities and countries.
At this inaugural meeting Ms Lena Sommestad, Minister for the Environment of Sweden and myself were appointed co-chairs of the Network of Women Ministers for the Environment representing the global north and the global south. Today I remain the only chair of this global network.
The broad objective of the global network is to promote gender responsive sustainable environmental management at regional and global levels and enhance representation and involvement of women in decision making in the areas of environment and sustainable development at all levels.
Since its establishment in 2002, the global network has been actively involved in a number of activities, one of them being the hosting of first ever global women's assembly on environment: Women as the Voice for the Environment (WAVE) at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, Kenya in 2004 which was attended by over 150 participants from 65 countries.
One of the key resolutions was to promote existing small scale projects initiated by communities and also formulation of women structures from local, national, regional and global levels as platform to push the agenda of gender mainstreaming in policy development and environmental management. UNEP was tasked to develop a concrete gender plan of action that will realise the above mentioned resolutions.
To grow strong and be more effective on the ground, in February 2008 women ministers and leaders met in Monaco and resolved to set up regional, sub-regional and national chapters that will ensure that the global objectives are implemented, the launch of the National Forum on Women and Environment in South Africa, the fourth Women and Environment Conference held yesterday and the pre-launch of regional chapters today realises the resolution of Monaco conference.
We will also ensure integration these women structures into the existing structures in Africa as well as into Nairobi declaration and plan of action. We call upon other countries to establish similar national forums that will constitute the membership of the Africa Network. As South Africans we pledge to lend support to the region in setting up national women forum or strengthening existing structures.
We have made strides in ensuring that the decisions made in all the global conferences are realised,Africa will today become a leader in the forefront of laying down clear framework that will enable women working together to ensure environmental sustainability, reinforce that women are as custodians of the environment, and recognise that women are key players in steering the way forward in fostering green economic growth, skills development for women, eradicating poverty and creating jobs for women.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In October 2010, in Nairobi Kenya, the African Union will launch the African Women's Decade from 2010 to 2021. This will come at a time when we will be celebrating 25 years of the Nairobi forward looking strategies adopted at the United Nations Women's Conference in Nairobi Kenya (1985).
Many of you will recall that these strategies opened up opportunities for critically addressing the role that women played in environmental management and also in decision making.
The next 10 years will therefore provide us with opportunities to not only fully address the achievements made under the commitments made in these conferences, but also to ensure that in follow up decisions, women's concerns, achievements are fully addressed and commitments are matched with clear cut implementation processes. This will be a challenge for the Network of African Women Ministers and Leaders for Environment.
This we can only achieve if we work together, speak together in one voice and walk together from Dakar to Maputo, Cape to Cairo, and Casablanca to Dar-es-salaam.
African women are a formidable and strong force that is capable to bring about unrivalled green economic growth in our continent. Truly, this is the time for Africa and Africa's women!
Thank you.
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Peter Mbelengwa
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E-mail: Mbelengwap@dwa.gov.za
Address by Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Rejoice Mabudafhasi, during the conclusion of fourth Women and Environment Conference and pre-launch of Africa's Chapter of Network for Women Ministers and Leaders of Environment
