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African Union gender policy
African Union
September 21, 2008

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Historical Background

Part I

Introduction

Forces of globalization are dissolving old boundaries in a network of dialogue, awareness, information and global trade. Desire for localization is bringing people back to their geographic, ethnic, religious and cultural roots. The reforms of decentralisation are moving decision-making and access to services closer to local people. Liberalisation is creating one vast global marketplace and democratisation is bringing more people into systems of participatory governance. Protecting human rights is becoming the common sense of humanity. The leadership role of women in all spheres of development including their active participation in the decision-making sphere is becoming more prevalent. This needs a robust Gender Policy of the African Union that would shape gender equality and women's empowerment in the 21st Century

The AU Gender Policy focuses on closing the gender gap in general and in particular tackling gender inequalities which have resulted to feminisation of poverty, and women's disempowerment among other things. The norms and principles of women's empowerment and the values that inform these principles are the bedrock of the modern notion of rights. Development, is about facilitating the meeting of these needs, and calls for a discussion centered on how these norms (rights) enable citizens to meet their needs, which in turn enables them to fulfil their potential. Fostering an enabling environment of a vast scale for women entrepreneurs, providing easily accessible reproductive services for women, putting in place legal measures to protect women and girls and enforcing them, adopting affirmative action policies, providing special quotas for women in decision making and tacking harmful traditional and cultural practices among others demonstrates that there is critical role to be played by everyone in society society for gender equality to be realized. It is the result-based and purpose-oriented development process of any democratic policy that would envision secure, stable and sustainable livelihoods for all its citizens, men and women, boys and girls.

While Gender refers to the communally assembled tasks and duties designated to men and women of a socio-entity; as a basic organising principle of communities and polities in their daily interactions the way this affects both sexes is different. In all of their economic development actions, chores and relationships men and women contributions depend greatly on the roles and responsibilities society ascribes to them and this has a differential impact on their development. Indeed, gender concerns refer to conditioned behaviour that vastly diverge among cultures and radically transform itself in time adapting to political, social, economic and cultural stresses and shocks.

This has the effect and impact of opening up avenues for economic empowerment, security from violence and violations, participation and identity, which incorporates self determination and choice; and social capital development and participation in community duties, which allows for artistic expression of various kinds, information and transcendence. To achieve this, a paradigm shift is inevitable. The gender challenges facing the African continent require both a paradigm shift and a systematic approach as envisaged by the African Union Gender Policy and Action Plan. The Policy underpins the requisite need for identifying ways and means to foster women's focused interventions such as the proposed African Women Trust Fund, re-orienting existing institutions to pay special attention to gender equality and women's empowerment and building capacity for democratic governance on demand driven gender needs.

This Policy document constitutes four parts namely Part I which presents the historical background to gender issues in Africa, Part II which presents the policy goals, objectives, principles, values and targets, Part III which presents the gender policy commitments and Part IV which constitutes the Gender Policy Action Plan to implement the policy commitments.

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