Under the Global Spotlight Initiative, MenEngage Africa engaged Religious and Traditional Leaders for a Gender Transformation Training in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania in eliminating harmful practices such as FGM and child marriages, tackling toxic masculinity and promoting gender equality from 13th- 17th September 2021.
We were honoured to be joined by Chief Theresa Kachindamoto, a forefront leader in eliminating child marriages in Malawi.
The Annual General Meeting for MenEngage Youth was held in Tanzanzia from the 7-8th of September in Tanzania and hosted all representatives from the MenEngage Youth countries. The youth gave updates on their country plans and key highlights and regional updates from the MenEngage Global were presented.
It is with much sadness that Sonke communicates the loss of Khopotso Bodibe who passed away on Tuesday, July 27, 2021.
Khopotso joined Sonke as a Communications Associate in Sonke’s Communications and Strategic Information Unit in 2015. In 2018, he was promoted to RPU – Media & Communications Specialist.
Khopotso spent 10 years as a specialist health journalist, covering mostly HIV and AIDS in South Africa, working as a print and predominantly radio reporter for health-e news where he also was the radio unit editor.
As producer and presenter of “Living with AIDS,” a five-minute weekly slot broadcast on SAfm’s AM LIVE, he was regarded as one of the foremost journalists to have covered the subject of HIV and AIDS in South Africa.
Through the slot, he was able to bring home to many South Africans information about various aspects of AIDS, including what scientists were doing to find new ways of responding to the challenge locally and abroad, how AIDS was affecting the economy, and the impact of the epidemic on individuals, families, communities and society as a whole.
At Sonke, Khopotso managed communications for the MenEngage Africa (MEA) an Alliance of organisations working on positive masculinities and ending harmful practices in the region. In this portfolio once more Khopotso excelled in communicating the work of the MEA and coordinating all media with external stakeholders. In addition to this Khopotso increased MEA’s social media presence and successfully developed the MEA website.
Khopotso was much-loved and respected by his colleagues and by our partners across the continent. He was an upstanding person who not only supported his colleagues but also the MenEngage Africa Alliance where he has built strong partnerships with MEA partners. As an organisation we are struggling to process Khopotso’s untimely passing. Khopotso had a presence – when he walked into the room you knew he had arrived; he had a larger than life personality and an infectious smile that we will always remember him by. These are our only comforts for now as we try to come to terms with his untimely passing.
Our heartfelt condolences to his family, his sister Alita Nonceba Mahe and his nieces and nephews. You are in our thoughts and prayers during this very sad time in your lives.
We are excited to formally announce the Sonke Feminist Leadership Fellowship. Pregs Govender joins Sonke as a senior fellow from February 2021 for a 2-year period.
The aim of the fellowship is to establish an Institute for Transformative Feminist Leadership (ITFL). The Institute will create a space for feminists to focus on transformative leadership and have the space and time to write and share their stories. The Institute will utilise popular education methodologies, especially storytelling, and will utilise blogs, podcasts, and visual stories. The first year of the fellowship will focus on the development of the course outline and materials and the second year will pilot the ITFL.
Pregs Govender is a feminist activist, writer, educator and the author of Love and Courage: A Story of Insubordination. Pregs qualified as a teacher in 1981. She initially taught at schools and at the University of Durban-Westville (now UKZN), where she also worked at the Institute of Socio-Economic Research, before joining the union movement. She was elected National Educator of SA’s majority-women clothing union in 1987. The curriculum, materials, and workshops she developed contributed to women being elected into leadership and helped secure a mandate from 100 000 racially divided workers to join the non-racial federation, COSATU (by merging to form SACTWU).
Pregs researched and wrote a feasibility study into a Workers College and was asked to lead its establishment at The University of the Western Cape. The Workers College program strengthened worker leadership and many of its graduates moved onto leadership positions in the union movement. In recognition of this initiative, Pregs received the Ashoka Fellowship.
Between 1992 and 1994, Pregs conceptualised and managed the Women’s National Coalition (WNC) campaign for SA’s 1994 Women’s Charter for Effective Equality, that mobilised an estimated two million women whose demands influenced democratic SA’s Constitution and legislation.
As an MP, Pregs proposed SA’s ‘Women’s Budget’ in Parliament’s 1994 budget debates. She initiated a research partnership with NGOs that produced the Women’s Budget Books. In 1994, Pregs co-edited SA’s Country Report on the status of women to the Beijing Conference. As a member of Parliament’s Finance Committee and as Chair of Parliament’s Women’s Committee (JMCIQLSW), she helped ensure the 1998/99 National Budget committed to the Women’s Budget. Selected as the ANC’s ‘woman speaker’ in Parliament’s launch of SA’s neo-liberal economic policy, GEAR, Pregs refused, arguing that it would impact negatively on people who were poor, especially women.
The JMCIQLSW ensured that 80% of its feminist legislative priorities were enacted by 1999. These included the Domestic Violence Act, the Maintenance Act, the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act and changes to labour legislation that advanced women’s rights in the workplace. In 1996, her pro-abortion speech, that argued for ensuring reproductive choice in the context of political, economic and social rights, received a standing ovation in the House. In 1999 she chaired hearings into implementation of legislation, highlighting obstacles including judgements that ruled that those who rape family members posed less of a threat to society.
In 2001 she was the only MP, across party-lines, to oppose the Government’s arms deal in the Defence Budget Vote, arguing that SA’s priority was creating an equal, just and peaceful society. In 2001, Pregs chaired public hearings on HIV/Aids when Cabinet’s denial of treatment resulted in numerous deaths. Her report to the ANC Caucus broke its silence on treatment. Her HIV/Aids report highlighted gender inequality as a key driver. It critiqued pharmaceutical companies for using patents to value corporate profits above people’s lives. She resigned from Parliament in 2002 after tabling the JMCIQLSW’s final gender-based violence (GBV) report.
Between 2007 and 2009 Pregs chaired the Independent Panel Assessment of Parliament, many of whose recommendations were implemented, including strengthening Parliament’s oversight power.
As South African Human Rights Commissioner and Deputy Chair (2009-2015), Pregs promoted meaningful public participation and implementation of the Promotion of Access to Information Act. She argued for the implementation of the SAHRC’s socio-economic reports and secured a country-wide status report and action plan from the Presidency on water and sanitation. Her commitment to ensuring women’s rights were respected as human rights resulted in the SAHRC training it’s senior managers in gender mainstreaming.
As a freelance writer and educator, Pregs conceptualised and conducted education programs including Parliament’s first Africa-wide conference on gender and economic policy. She trained parliamentarians through workshops of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Association of European Parliaments for Africa (AWEPA). Pregs advised feminists in local and international organisations and helped conceptualise and facilitate curriculum workshops for feminist leadership networks such as the International Feminist University Network.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pregs co-facilitated informal bilateral dialogues between progressive economists and sectors such as Labour, to advance the proposals addressed in a letter to the President initiated by the Institute for Economic Justice and signed by progressive economists, including the late Vishnu Padayachee. She has chaired feminist hearings on GBV and served on social justice initiatives such as the global panel on Human Dignity chaired by Mary Robinson. Pregs currently serves as a Patron of Gun-Free SA. As an independent writer Pregs has authored popular articles and book chapters in local and international publications. She has written and delivered keynote addresses to organisations including the Rural Women’s Movement and the United Nations. Awards recognising her writing and popular education for transforming paradigms and strengthening solidarity movements include an Honorary Doctorate in Law and another in Philosophy, the Inaugural Ruth First Fellowship, the AWID Inspiration Award and the Thousand Currents Fellowship.
“I’m deeply honoured to receive the Sonke Feminist Leadership Fellowship. Sonke has done path-breaking work on gender justice across SA and the rest of the African continent and is often cited as international best practice. I look forward to developing the project for which I’ve been awarded the Fellowship with Sonke’s thoughtful, skilled and experienced team and in solidarity with other partners. I plan to use the Fellowship to create space for feminists to reflect on and write their stories. When feminists share their stories, they make visible what is often hidden away and voice questions that have often been ignored or silenced. Through the process they can contribute to deepening consciousness, envision alternative solutions and create stronger movements. They can help subvert the old racist, sexist, and capitalist narratives that underpin a violent global world order of political, economic, and social inequality and injustice. Such stories help us see new possibilities for our present. They help us imagine and realize the peaceful, just and equal world we wish to create for ourselves and for our world,” said Pregs on her fellowship with Sonke.
Sonke is extremely excited by this collaboration and look forward to working with Pregs over the next 2 years. During this process Pregs will be working in collaboration with several civil society organisations. We are certain that this work will contribute to developing women’s leadership in South Africa and regionally.
Your sincerely,
Heather van Niekerk
Co-Executive Director
Bafana Khumalo
Co-Executive Director
This session concludes the Politics of Care series. Each session examines men’s engagement in different phases of a feminist ethic of care. This session will focus on men receiving care. We will share findings from related research and discuss the political positioning of responses to men’s vulnerabilities.
Time: 3:00pm to 4:30pm Central Africa Time. (See here for your time zone.)
Language(s) English
The seminar series unpacks four phases of an ethic of care, and specifically how men can contribute to the cultivation of a feminist ethic of care.
The first session addressed men ‘caring about’ and how men’s ignorance of the value of care may be overcome.
The second session engaged with men ‘taking care’ of others, and focused on the problematic nature of the ‘father as financial provider only’ stereotype.
The third session focused on men doing care work, and explored structural options for how to increase gender equality in terms of care.
For more information about this webinar, please contact:
Mphokuhle Mabhena-Lunga, MenCare Co-ordinator, on mpho@genderjustice.org.za.
Today, more than ever, gender-based violence is at the heart of many debates around the world. Pro-feminist actions have woken up and are now affirming their commitment to the struggle for gender equality.
With this in mind, MenEngage Madagascar held its first Symposium on December 04, 2020 at Panorama Andrainarivo, Antananarivo. The Symposium highlighted the joint work of network members and key partners under the theme “Men and Boys for Gender Equality”.
The main objective of the meeting was to promote the importance of the involvement of men and boys in order to reduce legal inequalities between men and women. About 103 specialists in various fields of the law met to discuss and raise issues related to social norms of gender and masculinity in Madagascar, but also to create public awareness on the need for the involvement of men and boys in order to recognise the place of women in society, and finally to strengthen and expand the MenEngage Madagascar network.
Among those present were people from associations and NGOs working for the protection of children, the protection and promotion of women, the protection and promotion of key populations, the protection of the environment, as well as representatives of the United Nations, including UNIICEF and UNFPA.
To highlight the need for the involvement and commitment of men and boys for gender equality, different speakers at the Symposium addressed five key themes, with the aim to facilitate the achievement of gender equality outcomes:
On September 23, 2020, MenEngage Liberia began conducting dialogues with men and boys as part of efforts to understand their perspectives on gender and masculinity, to clarify negative perceptions among them and to rally their involvement and support towards minimising – and ultimately – ending sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), especially rape, in Liberia.
The first dialogue session was held in Zorlan Community, Paynesville, outside Monrovia and it brought together 30 men to deliberate on a topic that centred around understanding masculinity and the factors that contribute to the increase in SGBV, particularly rape in Liberia. Each session was concluded with the adoption of a clear strategy as to what men and boys can do to end SGBV.
In his introductory remarks, the Co-Ordinator of MenEngage Liberia, Mr. Francis Senkpanie Konyon lauded the participants for taking time off to listen and share their views on the prevailing situation around SGBV. He also challenged them to take positive actions in their homes and communities – actions that will not only enhance the safety of women and girls, but their growth and development as well.
Mr. Kaliefala Sackor, elder of Zorlan Community, called on the government of Liberia and other partners to support the engagement of men and boys as a key strategy to ending SGBV. ”You cannot say that you are rehabilitating a thief, and then you only focus your engagements on the thief’s siblings or spouse. The efforts need to heavily focus on the thief. If men are the problem, then men should be the central point in every engagement around SGBV issues, otherwise the vicious circle will continue and it will undermine the peace of our various communities,” he said.
The men and boys’ dialogue sessions come at a time when Liberia is witnessing another scourge – increased gender-based violence, particularly rape-related cases. The current wave of cases involving rape is, indeed, worrying as the country is grappling to ensure that all of its citizens – men, women and children – are safe from Covid-19.
Written by Francis S. Konyon, Co-Ordinator, MenEngage Liberia
Edited by Khopotso Bodibe, Communications & Media Specialist, MenEngage Africa Alliance
It’s International Youth Day on the 12th of August. Madagascar-based NGO Youth First, a member of MenEngage Africa Youth, reflects on the state of youth in 2020 as the world observes this annual commemoration in the two questions we posed below.
QUESTION: The theme for this year’s International Youth Day is “Youth Engagement for Global Action”. What are your thoughts around youth engagement for the world’s development – why is it important?
ANSWER: Although youth represents a majority of the world’s population, many challenges still hinder the active participation of young people, both locally and globally. At the same time, the whole world has high expectations for youth. We have been told for too long that we are “tomorrow’s leaders”, which had two effects: On one hand, young people tend to step down waiting for that tomorrow. On the other hand, existing leaders use that as an opportunity to diminish youth’s voices and opinions. Yet, this young population can definitely serve as a “demographic bonus” if there is investment in youth development that really empowers young people to take on today’s world challenges. The good news is that things are positively changing. Leaders of tomorrow are becoming leaders of today. Young activists from all around the world, such as Vanessa Nakate and Zulaikha Patel, have proved why we cannot afford to ignore them anymore: The youth’s voice is too powerful and is the key to social change.
QUESTION: Young people in many parts of the world believe they are not adequately engaged on development issues. What is the experience in your own country – and what needs to be done to ensure that the youth are taken into account, seen and heard?
ANSWER: In a society that values and is used to put the elderly at the top of the hierarchy like Madagascar does, youth participation is often questioned. But today’s Malagasy youth is definitely committed to challenge this ongoing clash between our culture and globalisation in a way the country and the world would benefit from it – from online activism to working or volunteering in different organisations, youth has taken a step ahead to force the older generations to consider their voice and opinion.
So, to be taken into account, we – young people – all need to consider ourselves as true potential game changers, if we are not already. To be seen, we need to operate more in public or help our peers so that we are all seen at the end. To be heard, we need to speak up and be strategic about it. Now more than ever, we have the tools and the platforms to be considered, seen and heard. We should not only express ourselves but positively influence each other to do so.
However, youth still needs to be supported along that journey. And within NGO Youth First, we believe that investing in youth means giving young women and men the ability and capacity to learn, acquire, to practice and to speak up, which are exactly the main pillars of our work in Madagascar: empowering young people to take actions, equipping them with skills, and making their voices heard through advocacy actions in order for them to be seen as key change makers.
The questions above were posed by MenEngage Africa Communications & Media Specialist and the answers represent the views of staff at NGO Youth First.
The International Youth Day (IYD), celebrated on 12th August each year, was established by the United Nations in 2000 as a means of raising awareness of issues affecting young people around the world. Each year the Secretary-General of the United Nations decides upon a theme for the Day on the basis of issues of concern to young people.
Young people are one of the main actors for the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals. Young people are engaged in frameworks and processes that support its implementation, follow-up and review. Young people in Africa are defined as those under the age of 35. Africa has the youngest population in the world, with more than 400 million young people aged between the ages of 15 to 35 years. Such a youthful population calls for an increase of investment in economic and social development factors, to improve the development index of African nations.1 Africa is the only region in the world where the youth population is increasing. Africa is a continent of young people, with 65 percent of the population below the age of 35 and nearly 50 per cent under the age of 19. It is vital that for a continent with such vibrant young people, they are informed and engaged with the global vision for the future and are provided with the resources to become engaged citizens.
International Youth Day celebrated every year provides us with a unique opportunity to take stock of actions that young people have continued to take to push global development. The theme for 2020 invites us to interrogate further into how we can better support young people to be at the fore of global actions to promote sustainable development.
Covid-19 has presented unprecedented challenges to the world. Education, food security, health and business are on the standstill in most Africa countries and women and girls and young people carry the weight of these challenges. We use the International Youth Day to draw attention to the enormous efforts by young people to reduce the impact of Covid-19 on gender equality and the health of all. Despite the challenges that this poses, young people have remained resilient and committed to gender justice. Young people like Mubiru Kuraish in Uganda who is doing door-to-door distribution of HIV medicine and food, continue to give us hope that there is much that young people can do. This is a promising practice, and we feel that young people should share stories about their commitment and resilience during this period, but most importantly, we need stories that will inspire others to take action.
So as part of the International Youth Day, through a webinar, we are profiling resilient young people and their efforts to reduce the impact of Covid-19 on the health and wellbeing of their peers across the MenEngage Africa network.
The goal of this webinar is to highlight the contributions of young people to reducing the impact of Covid-19 on their peers. The specific objectives are:
This Webinar is open to young people from across Africa especially young people from across the MenEngage Africa network
It is anticipated that at the end of the webinar:
Date: 12th August 2020
Time: 10 AM South African Time
https://zoom.us/j/93445743256?pwd=WHpsK1hxT3FtSnVCaUUyYWhnWWV6QT09
Meeting ID: 934 4574 3256
Passcode: 974368
On July 14, MenEngage Togo hosted a workshop on the “National Validation of the Qualitative Study on Masculinity, Femininity and Gender Relations in Togo”, in the capital, Lomé.
The study examined concepts of masculinity and femininity, how the definitions of these concepts are linked to gender-based violence (GBV) and how they affect gender equity and sexual health and reproductive health rights. The workshop was aimed at assessing the provisional results of this study.
“This study was born from the initiative to launch MenEngage in Togo, which is part of the global MenEngage platform that works with men and boys alongside women and girls for gender equality and to fight against gender-based violence. We wanted to understand the perceptions, mentality and attitudes of the Togolese people when it comes to masculinity and femininity and how the two notions are managed in Togo in relation to gender relations, especially between men and women. This is what we wanted to do initially to have a basic understanding so that we can have information that will provide us with the building blocks to develop a strategy for our interventions to address gender equality and gender equity,” said Edem Agboka, MenEngage Togo Co-cordinator.
Workshop participants submitted various inputs on actions that need to be taken to ensure gender justice in Togo, and made amendments and offered suggestions to improve the report submitted for their validation.
Ms Dede Folly-Notsron, from the office of the Minister of Social Action, the Promotion of Women and Literacy, was in attendance to support the workshop. She praised the commitment shown by the various individuals and organisations involved in the effort.
“This report provides recommendations that will be used to undertake and strengthen actions with decision-makers as well as men and women to make further advancements towards the transformation needed for a more equitable and inclusive Togolese society”, she said.
“The interim results of this study show us that men still have the perception of being superior to women in all areas, and unfortunately women accept this. In the workplace, the study shows that a lot of work still needs to be done to open ways for women to be successful and equal as men.”
“MenEngage Togo and its partners are committed to contributing towards improved gender relations within the Togolese society and to lead the fight, alongside the government, against gender-based violence,” added the network’s Edem Agboka.
The study was commissioned by the NGO AFAD, Secretariat of MenEngage Togo, with financial support from IAMANEH Switzerland, and carried out by CERA Groupe. It covered both rural and urban areas, particularly in areas of the countries where concerning data on gender-based violence are most recurrent.
On the 20th of June each year, the world comes together to honour World Refugee Day. This year the day was marked under the theme “Every action counts” – a very relevant theme amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent anti-racism protests that continue to us how desperately we need to fight for a more inclusive and equal world: a world where no one is left behind. It has never been clearer that all of us have a role to play in order to bring about change. Everyone can make a difference. This is at the heart of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR’s) World Refugee Day campaign. This year, the UNHCR aimed to remind the world that everyone, including refugees, can contribute to society and Every Action Counts in the effort to create a more just, inclusive, and equal world.
As a person who was born and grew up as a refugee, I believe that my actions have made a difference in someone’s life.
My own experiences growing up as a refugee have shaped my dedication to support others who are dealing with trauma and seeking a brighter future.
My parents escaped the political instability of Burundi to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. I was born and raised in eastern Congo, among the conflict and war that saw widespread attacks on civilians.
In my youth, I had a choice as to whether to respond to the violence with violence or peace. I chose the path of an activist, and when my family was resettled in Canada, I did not go because I felt that my work was not yet done in Africa.
Now living and working in South Africa, I work with the refugee population that has fled the violence in eastern Congo and other parts of Africa, providing different kinds of support services including interpretation, helping them join support groups, personal growth advice, capacity building, sharing different skills, and facilitating workshops for women dealing with the trauma of displacement and sexual violence. I help the women adapt to their new lives in South Africa and move past the trauma.
Under the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the government of South Africa has an obligation to grant protection to refugees and other persons in need of protection. Unlike other countries where asylum seekers are hosted in camps, South Africa does not have an encampment policy and has opted to rather issue renewable short-term residence permits to registered asylum seekers and recognised refugees, allowing them to move freely, study and work in the country, although what actually happens on the ground is not as easy as the policy that is written on paper.
A big problem that refugees and migrants face in South Africa is the xenophobia from South African nationals, which often results in violent attacks. In June 2010, I was a victim of a xenophobic attack by officials of Metrorail. I ended up in hospital, and until today I have a problem with my knee. Each year in June after that attack 10 years ago, I always remember the incident like it’s just happened now.
Despite the attack, I managed to integrate into the South African community, although I sometimes struggle with xenophobia or discrimination. In my work I promote social cohesion among South Africans and refugees.
I have been working with Sonke Gender Justice since 2010 as Co-ordinator of the Refugee Health and Rights Project, where I promote the health and rights of refugees in different communities and being the focal person within the organisation as the Gender and Conflict, GBV, Migration and HIV expert, thus representing the organisation on issues of refugees.
I have been leading a women’s support group composed of women from different countries who are survivors of sexual violence. The support group’s mission is to give hope and companionship, and to help women cope with the trauma they have undergone during displacement or war. All these initiatives are welcome in refugee communities.
With the little contribution I brought to the community, I have received an award of “Best Refugee Community Worker” as well as appreciation letters from the Department of Home Affairs office for refugees, the Legal Resource Centre and Women’s Legal Centre for the work that I have been doing to help refugees.
In 2018, I was nominated to be in the Advisory Committee on Refugees and Migration with the Human Rights Commission of South Africa.
The most role I played in the organisation is most to engage with different refugee and migrant organisations as well as different departments of government to propose new policy initiatives and monitor the implementation of relevant laws and policies, such as the Sexual Offences Act, the Refugee and Migration Act, the National Strategic Plan on HIV and AIDS, to engage with the departments of Justice and Police, on cases of SGBV, and human rights violations of refugees, especially the violations of women and children, to give guidance to the Refugee and Migrant Forum on Health, Gender and Social Cohesion, as the secretariat of the Forum. I was among the team which successfully convinced the Department of Social Development in 2011 to start providing social grants to qualified refugees.
I also assist refugees who cannot speak English with translations at clinics, hospitals, courts, police stations, and other service providers.
If I was not a refugee and I did not suffer the same pain that other refugees go through in South Africa, I doubt that I would be providing this contribution to uplift my fellow refugees.
In a world where violence forces thousands of families to flee for their lives each day, the time is now to show that the global public stands with refugees. Every minute 20 people leave everything behind to escape war, persecution or terror, according to the UNHCR.
Every action counts to assist these women, men and children.
The fight for gender equality is well under way in Madagascar. Civil society organisations working on gender, the rights of women and children, gender-based violence, and many other human rights issues, joined by feminist movements are beginning to raise their voices and denounce injustices and demand justice, equality and freedom.
Madagascar has ratified numerous international human rights instruments, and the country also has a very clear legal framework related to violence. In November 2019, the tone was set. The country adopted a law punishing gender-based violence such as “physical, sexual, psychological and economic violence within the family, including traditional practices harmful to both sexes”. Flouting the law attracts sentences of between six months to five years in prison and fines.
Unfortunately, even with the enactment of the law, gender-based violence in Madagascar is still rife and victims suffer in silence, as the law is not promoted, many are not yet aware of it, and fear prohibits many women from reporting the violence that is perpetrated y men against them. The fear is permanent. This fear promotes the privilege of men, and it is amplified by a patriarchal society where men still dominate.
The Constitution and other laws – the Law on Marriage and Marriage Regimes and the Law on the Protection of Children – that pronounce on violence, family life and the cause of women and children also exist, but we have not yet been able to eradicate violence.
Madagascar is in a controversial situation. On the one hand, the government wants people to identify with laws – laws that seek to promote a legal framework that protects Madagascans. But on the other hand, Malagasy social norms on the ground do not allow for a change of culture to enable the adoption of laws that bring justice access to justice and the law closer to people.
In Madagascar, a country where 80% of the population lives in rural areas, the problem lies in the fact that women are not protected by law. A survey conducted in 2019 by the Secretariat of MenEngage Madagascar, NGO C-For-C, in the Southwest Region of the country shows that only 37% of married women are in marriages recognised by the law (civil marriages). This means they are not completely protected in cases of domestic violence and it demonstrates the patriarchal dominance that is part of a culture that abuses women.
It is clear that the quest for equality in Madagascar still needs more effort.
As various activists and civil society structures fight for the rights of women and for women to have a place in society, culture is the enemy that we all must face and fight. Malagasy culture promotes the superiority of men over women. There is a flagrant domination of the man over the woman.
As Madagascar marks its 60th anniversary of independence on 26 June 2020, the country is witnessing an emerging struggle, a feminist movement seeking to prioritise the rights of women. This is a struggle that can only be waged if everyone supports it – men and women of all ages. The fight has started, the tone is set and civil society organisations are committed to winning the case.
It’s been 20 years since the world started commemorating the 20th of June as World Refugee Day, following the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of Resolution 55/76. In this resolution, the General Assembly noted that 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, which is the foundation of all international and national laws and policy on the protection of refugees across the globe. Since then each June 20, the globe comes together to honour World Refugee Day as a way of remembering the struggles of those who left their countries of origin with the hope of finding a peaceful home elsewhere.
According to the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), every minute 20 people across the world leave everything behind to escape war, persecution or terror-fleeing their home country, which is often just the beginning of a difficult journey.
This year, the celebration of World Refugee Day is particularly different as the world battles against a common enemy called COVID-19. While governments across the globe and the African continent have put measures in place to respond to the threats posed by this pandemic, many responses have focused on citizens much to the exclusion of other vulnerable groups such as refugees and migrants.
According to Albert Nkulu, a refugee and physician from the Democratic Republic of is currently based in Cape Town, South Africa, life during the Covid-19 pandemic has been very challenging. For him and many of his counterparts the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the level of vulnerabilities of many refugees living in urban settings. He further emphasised that prior to this crisis refugees and asylum seekers as well as internally displaced people were already facing challenges in relation to access to basic human rights such as documentation, employment, health care and access to education. Many refugees like him who were working as informal traders prior to COVID-19 saw their only source of income becoming under severe threat for quite some time before government’s recent decision to lift some restrictions which eventually allowed some of them to operate again.
For Wilfrid Obami, a refugee from the Republic of Congo,getting back on his feet has been too difficult as during the lockdown restrictions he spent all his business capital as he has to cover the cost of his rental and providing for the basic needs of his family under lockdown level 5. Therefore, when street vendors were allowed to operate, he could not go back to sell his products anymore. He has challenges raising capital and as a non-national he doesn’t qualify to get aid from the government’s financial relief scheme.
Managa Alain, the Executive Director of the Republic of Congo local organisation focusing on psycho-social support for refugees and asylum seekers living in camps settings, says many refugees and asylum seekers that visited his office for psychological support during the lockdown period were experiencing symptoms of stress, depression and isolation. The pandemic has worsened the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers living both in urban and camp settings because of the new threat that it poses.
MenEngage Africa Alliance and Sonke Gender Justice convened a webinar on the 28th of May 2020 where various panellists and participants including civil society organisations, activists, refugee leaders and the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees personnel came together to share thoughts and reflections on the impact of COVID-19 and the prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence among refugees and migrants.
This initiative highlighted the current multiple interventions that civil society organisations, activists, refugees’ leaders and the United Nation refugees’ agency are implementing during this complex time that the world finds itself in. But more importantly, the webinar also enabled the possibility of future collaborations in increasing collective advocacy efforts at the regional level with institutions such as SADEC and African Union on issues affecting refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced people.
Sonke gender justice est une organisation à but non lucratif et none partisane, basée en Afrique du Sud, mais qui travaille à l’échelle mondiale. Fondée en 2006, Sonke a établi une présence croissante sur le continent africain et joue un rôle actif à l’échelle internationale. Travail de Sonke consiste de créer le changement nécessaire afin que les hommes, femmes, jeunes et enfants jouissent de relations équitables, saines et heureuses qui contribuent au développement des sociétés justes et démocratiques. L’organisation poursuit ces objectives dans toute l’Afrique australe en utilisant un cadre relatif aux droits de l’homme afin de renforcer les capacités des gouvernements, organisations de la société civile et des citoyens afin de parvenir à l’égalité de genre, prévenir les violences basées sur le genre (VGB) et à réduire la propagation du VIH et l’impact du SIDA. La vision de l’organisation est un monde dans lequel les hommes, femmes et enfants peuvent jouir de relations équitables, saines et heureuses qui contribuent au développement des sociétés justes et démocratiques. Sonke travaille également à travers le continent Africain pour renforcer les capacités des gouvernements, de la société civile et des citoyens pour promouvoir l’égalité de genre, prévenir la violence domestique et sexuelle, et à réduire la propagation et l’impact du VIH/SIDA
Sonke est également le président du conseil d’administration du réseau MenEngage Afrique (MEA), l’un des réseaux régionaux du réseau mondiale MenEngage, qui est un réseau d’organisations et des membres de la société civile formé en 2006 dans le but de travailler en partenariat pour promouvoir l’engagement des hommes et des garçons dans la réalisation de l’égalité de genre, prévention du VIH, promotion des droits de l’homme et la réduction de la violence à tous les niveaux à travers le continent, y compris mettre en cause des barrières structurelle qui renforce des inégalités basée sur le genre. Les membres de MenEngage Afrique (MEA) sont composés d’organisations de la société civile venant de plusieurs axes comme des droits des femmes, VIH/SIDA, droits des LGBTQIA +, jeunesse, protection des enfants, réfugiés et les migrants, ainsi que les regroupements de promotion de la justice sociale.
Depuis novembre 2019, le monde a été profondément touché par une pandémie mondiale causée par le virus COVID 19. En Outre des menaces existantes pour la santé publique, les perturbations économiques et sociales causées par ce virus menacent les moyens de subsistance à long terme et le bien-être de millions de personnes.
Alors que plusieurs gouvernements à travers le monde et le continent africain ont mis en place des mesures barrières pour répondre aux menaces posées par cette pandémie, de nombreuses interventions se sont concentrées sur les citoyens nationaux en excluons d’autres groupes vulnérables tels que les réfugiés et les migrants. Cependant que la plupart des réfugiés et migrant(e)s subissent des mêmes menaces sanitaires du COVID-19 comme les populations des pays d’accueil, des circonstances telles que les mauvaises conditions de vie souvent vivant dans des espaces surpeuplés, les défis liés à la documentation, les possibilités d’emploi limitées, l’accès insuffisant à la nourriture, à l’eau, à l’assainissement et à d’autres services de base peuvent les rendre plus vulnérables. De nombreux réfugiés et migrant(e)s présentent des vulnérabilités spécifiques, car ils sont souvent exclus des programmes nationaux de promotion de la santé, prévention des maladies, traitement et soins base, mais aussi des programmes de protection financière pour la santé et les services sociaux, en particulier pendant cette pandémie.
Ces exclusions rendent difficile les tâches de détection, dépistage, diagnostic, indentification des contacts et la prise en charge des cases COVID-19 au milieu des réfugiés et les migrant (e)s difficile, ce qui augmente le risque d’épidémies au sein de cette population vulnérable, et cette propagation ne peut quelquefois pas être contrôlée ou même activement dissimulée. Aussi l’accès limité au services judicaire et de protection prévu par les lois tend à créer des conditions où les communautés de migrants et de réfugiés sont vulnérables à la violence sexuelle basée sur le genre (VSBG). Les VSBG inclussent des actes ou menaces qui infligent des dommages physiques, mentaux, sexuels, souffrances, ou encore des privations de liberté en se basant sur le concept genre. Les femmes et les filles sont plus souvent les victimes de ces violences que leurs homologues masculins.
Sonke Gender Justice en tant que président du conseil d’administration de MEA organise un webinaire avec le thème « L’impact du COVID 19 et sa prévalence sur les VSBG chez les réfugiés et migrant(e)s ». L’organisation s’inspirera de sa vaste expérience de travail avec les réfugiés et les migrant (e)s à travers son projet de promotion de santé et des droits des réfugiés and migrant(e)s au sein de son département d’éducation et de la mobilisation communautaires pour partager ses réflexions par l’entremise de l’examinassions de son étude de cas de l’Afrique du Sud. D’autres conférencier(è)s seront invités afin de partager leurs expériences au niveau continentale.
Le webinaire sera modéré en Français.
Ce webinaire sera Co -modérer par les modérateurs ci -après
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Micheline Minani Muzaneza : Détiens un master en genre, paix et sécurité, elle a rejoint Sonke en 2010, ou elle a occupé la position de coordinatrice du Project ‘’ la santé et le droit des refugies. Actuellement elle est la chargée des programmes régionale de MenEngageAfrica en matières des formations. Micheline est qualifiée pour faire le dépistage du VIH/SIDA, elle est experte en Genre, Conflit et Migration. Elle traductrice assermenter avec la cour suprême de l’Afrique du sud. |
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Saint Expedit Ondzongo, a rejoint Sonke Gender Justice en Juliet 2010 et depuis a occuper plusieurs rôle au sien de l’organisation il est aussi expert en genre et en conflit et en droits des réfugiés. Il est responsable de la zone francophone pour le projet avec Concern worldwide dans 22 pays et parle couramment 6 langues différentes. |
Des conférencier(è)s invités sont les hommes et femmes ayant des connaissances et expertises sur le sujet. Ils viennent des institutions telles que le HCR, Visions santé, les organisations partenaires, et les leaders communautaires des refugies et migrant(e)s.
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Leader Kanyiki Ngooyi est un leader communautaire au sien des réfugiés vivants au Cap, en Afrique du Sud de depuis 2007. Originaire de la RDC, il est diplômé en sciences infirmières et aussi en d’autres études y compris la Psychologie et la communication. Il a reçu des prix dans son parcours récent, dont le prix de prévention du VIH de l’AVAC 2011 et le prix 2007 RDC pour la paix et le développement.
Il parlera sur : Les expériences des réfugiés, des demandeurs d’asile et des migrants pendant la pandémie de COVID-19 en milieu urbain et étude de case de l’Afrique du Sud. |
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Managa Alain est l’actuelle directeur exécutif de l’ONG Congolaise dénommer vision santé. Originaire du Congo Brazzaville, Managa Alain est un Psychologue qualifier de l’université Marien Ngouabi. En sa capaciter comme fondateur de l’ONG vision santé il a été plusieurs fois conférencier dans des conférences sur le continent Africain et travaille étroitement avec les agences des nation unis dans son pays.
Il parlera sur : Comment le COVID-19 et les VSBG affectent psychologiquement les réfugiés, vivant dans les camps et zone urbaine. |
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Laura Buffoni : Laura Buffoni est diplômée de summa cum Laude en sciences politiques/ économie internationale à l’Université de Gênes, en Italie. Elle est titulaire d’un doctorat en sociologie du développement de l’Université de Pisa, pour lequel elle a mené des recherches qualitatives en Italie, au Royaume-Uni et au Soudan pour une thèse finale sur la pauvreté et la mondialisation. Auteure des multiples publications, après plusieurs années de travail social et de recherche, Laura s’est installée dans le monde de la carrière internationale humanitaire et a travaillé avec le HCR, l’OIT, l’UNICEF, l’agence Italienne de développement et a consulté plusieurs ONG. Avec le HCR, Laura a travaillé dans le domaine de la protection communautaire, moyens de subsistance et l’inclusion économique en Éthiopie, Yémen, Sénégal et en Afrique de l’Ouest, au Soudan, Jordanie et au Kenya/Afrique de l’Est, et actuellement en Afrique australe. Ses domaines spécialisation sont la protection des réfugiés et les actions communautaires, la protection contre les violences basées sur le genre, l’intégration du genre et l’égalité dans les programmes et la protection de l’enfance, les normes sociales basée sur le genre qui affectent la participation et créent des inégalités.
Elle parlera sur : La prévention et l’intervention, les activités du HCR afin de relever les défis du COVID-19 et du VSBG dans la région de la SADEC le contexte urbain et camps. |
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Linda Kavira est la coordinatrice MenEngage Africa ( MAE), l’un des réseaux régionaux du réseau mondiale MenEngage, qui est un réseau d’organisations et des membres de la société civile formé en 2006 dans le but de travailler en partenariat pour promouvoir l’engagement des hommes et des garçons dans la réalisation de l’égalité de genre, prévention du VIH, promotion des droits de l’homme et la réduction de la violence à tous les niveaux à travers le continent, y compris mettre en cause des barrières structurelle qui renforce des inégalités basée sur le genre. Elle est basée à Goma, Democratic République du Congo
Elle parlera sur : L’impact du COVID-19 sur l’accès à l’aide économique et à l’aide sociale. |
Les participants au webinaire seront des partenaires de MEA, les leaders communautaires des refugies et migrant (e)s, les membres du personnel intéressés des agences des Nations Unies et de toute personne intéressée par le sujet. En outre, le webinaire sera par zoom, donc les participant (e) s devront avoir accès à Internet et le comité d’organisation partagera les détails du zoom dès que cela sera disponible pour tous les participant(e)s.
La date du webinaire est prévue pour Mardi le 23juin 2020. Il est prévu que le webinaire se tiendra pendant deux heures et demie de 10 :00 – 12 :30 heures de l’Afrique du Sud.
Le séminaire en ligne sera en Français.
Sonke Gender Justice (Sonke) is a non-partisan, non-profit organisation, based in South Africa, but working globally. Founded in 2006, Sonke has established a growing presence on the African continent and plays an active role internationally. Sonke works to create the change necessary for men, women, young people and children to enjoy equitable, healthy and happy relationships that contribute to the development of just and democratic societies. Sonke pursues this goal across Southern Africa by using a human rights framework to build the capacity of government, civil society organisations and citizens to achieve gender equality, prevent gender-based violence (GBV) and reduce the spread of HIV and the impact of AIDS. The organisation’s vision is a world in which men, women and children can enjoy equitable, healthy and happy relationships that contribute to the development of just and democratic societies. Sonke also works across Africa to strengthen government, civil society and citizen capacity to promote gender equality, prevent domestic and sexual violence, and reduce the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS.
Sonke is also the Secretariat of MenEngage Africa (MEA) Alliance, a network of civil society organisations and activists formed in 2006 with the goal of working in partnership to promote the engagement of men and boys in achieving gender equality, preventing HIV, promoting human rights and reducing violence at all levels across the continent, including questioning the structural barriers that drive gender inequalities. The membership of MEA consists of a range of civil society organisations representing women’s rights, HIV/AIDS, LGBTQIA+ rights, youth and child rights, refugees and migrants, and social justice constituencies.
Since November 2019 the world has been profoundly affected by a global pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus. In addition to the existing threats to public health, the economic and social disruption brought by the virus threatens the long-term livelihoods and well-being of millions. While many governments across the globe and the African continent have put measures in place to respond to the threats posed by this pandemic, many responses have focused on citizens much to the exclusion of other vulnerable groups such as refugees and migrants.
While most refugees and migrants face similar health threats from COVID-19 as their host populations, circumstances such as poor living conditions often in over-crowded spaces, challenges with documentation, limited employment opportunities, inadequate access to food, water, sanitation, and other basic services may make them more vulnerable. Many refugees and migrants have specific vulnerabilities as they are often excluded from national programmes for health promotion, disease prevention, treatment and care, as well as from financial protection schemes for health and social services particularly during this pandemic. This exclusion makes early detection, testing, diagnosis, contact tracing and seeking care for COVID-19 difficult for refugees and migrants thus increasing the risk of outbreaks amongst this population, and such outbreaks may go unchecked or even actively concealed.
Also, limited access to justice and protection of the law tends to create conditions where migrants and refugees’ communities are vulnerable to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV). SGBV includes acts or threats of acts which inflict physical, mental, or sexual harm or suffering, or related deprivations of liberty on the basis of gender. Women and girls are more often at the receiving end of such violence than their male counterparts.
Sonke Gender Justice as the Secretariat of MEA will be convening a webinar to discuss ‘The impact of COVID 19 and the prevalence of SGBV among refugees and migrants’. The organisation will draw from its vast experience of working with refugees and migrants through the refugees’ health and rights project within its Community Education and Mobilisation unit to share its reflections using the case study of South Africa. Other speakers will be invited to share experiences from across the continent.
The webinar will be moderated by Micheline Minani Muzaneza et Saint Expedit Ondzongo.
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Micheline Minani Muzaneza, hold a masters in Gender peace and security. Joined Sonke Gender Justice in 2010 She held the position of refugee health and right project coordinator and now she is the regional programmes Senior trainer. She is HIV counsellor and an expert in Gender, Conflict and migration. she is a sworn translator with the High Court of South Africa. |
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Saint Expedit lhamann Ondzongo is a Senior trainer for the Regional programme unit. He started working for Sonke as a volunteer in 2009 with refugee and migrant communities in Cape Town. He also volunteered for Health for Men where he was responsible for French and Lingala translations to HIV positive clients. |
Guest speakers are individuals with knowledge and expertise on the topic. They have been drawn from institutions such as United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR), vison santé, partner organisations in the region, refugees and migrant community leaders.
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Leader Kanyiki Ngooyi is a community and refugee leader living in Cape Town, South Africa, since 2007. Originally from the DRC, he holds qualifications in Nursing Sciences as well as counselling and communications. He has received awards, including the 2011 AVAC HIV Prevention Fellowship, and the 2007 DRC Award for Peace and Development’.
He will speak on: The experiences of refugees, asylum seeker and migrant during the COVID-19 pandemic in the urban settings. |
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Managa Alain is the current executive director of local organisation in the republic of Congo call vision santé. Originally from the same country. He is a graduate from university of Marien Ngouabi in Congo Brazzaville with a master’s degree in clinical psychology. In his capacity of ED and Co- Founder of vision santé. He has worked closely with many UN agencies.
He will be speaking on: How COVID-19 and SGBV affect refugees psychologically, those in camps and urban. |
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Laura Buffoni is a graduate summa cum Laude in Political Sciences/International Economics at the University of Genoa, Italy. She has a doctoral degree in Sociology of Development from the University of Pisa, for which she conducted qualitative research in Italy, the UK and Sudan for a final thesis on poverty and globalization. A published author, after several years of social work and research, Laura moved into the international career space and has worked with UNHCR, the ILO, UNICEF, the Italian Government aid agency and consulted with several NGOs. With UNHCR Laura has worked in community-based protection, livelihoods and economic inclusion in Ethiopia, Yemen, Senegal and West Africa, Sudan, Jordan and Kenya/East Africa and currently in Southern Africa. Her areas of focus are protection of refugees and community-based actions, protection from gender-based violence, gender mainstreaming and child protection, social and gender norms that affect participation and create inequalities.
She will speak on: The prevention and response, UNHCR activities so to address the challenges of COVID-19 and SGBV in the SADEC region in camps and urban areas.” |
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Linda Kavira is the coordinator of MenEngage Africa ( MAE) in DRC, a network of civil society organisations and activists formed in 2006 with the goal of working in partnership to promote the engagement of men and boys in achieving gender equality, preventing HIV, promoting human rights and reducing violence at all levels across the continent, including questioning the structural barriers that drive gender inequalities. The membership of MEA consists of a range of civil society organisations representing women’s rights, HIV/AIDS, LGBTQIA+ rights, youth and child rights, refugees and migrants, and social justice constituencies.
She will speak on: The impact of Covid-19 on economic and social assistance for refugees during lockdown. |
Participants for the webinar will include MEA partners, refugees and migrant community leaders, interested staff members of UN agencies and any person who is interested in the topic.
The webinar will be conducted via Zoom; therefore, participants will need to have access to internet and the organising committee will share the Zoom details as soon this is available to all participants.
The date for the webinar is Tuesday, 23rd June 2020.
The webinar will be moderated in English.
The webinar will last for 2 hours and 30 minutes from 10:00 am – 12:30 noon SA time.
Sonke Gender Justice (Sonke) is a non-partisan, non-profit organisation, based in South Africa, but working globally. Founded in 2006, Sonke has established a growing presence on the African continent and plays an active role internationally. Sonke works to create the change necessary for men, women, young people and children to enjoy equitable, healthy and happy relationships that contribute to the development of just and democratic societies. Sonke pursues this goal across Southern Africa by using a human rights framework to build the capacity of government, civil society organisations and citizens to achieve gender equality, prevent gender-based violence (GBV) and reduce the spread of HIV and the impact of AIDS. The organisation’s vision is a world in which men, women and children can enjoy equitable, healthy and happy relationships that contribute to the development of just and democratic societies. Sonke also works across Africa to strengthen government, civil society and citizen capacity to promote gender equality, prevent domestic and sexual violence, and reduce the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS.
Sonke is also the Secretariat of MenEngage Africa (MEA) Alliance, a network of civil society organisations and activists formed in 2006 with the goal of working in partnership to promote the engagement of men and boys in achieving gender equality, preventing HIV, promoting human rights and reducing violence at all levels across the continent, including questioning the structural barriers that drive gender inequalities. The membership of MEA consists of a range of civil society organisations representing women’s rights, HIV/AIDS, LGBTQIA+ rights, youth and child rights, refugees and migrants, and social justice constituencies.
Since November 2019 the world has been profoundly affected by a global pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus. In addition to the existing threats to public health, the economic and social disruption brought by the virus threatens the long-term livelihoods and well-being of millions. While many governments across the globe and the African continent have put measures in place to respond to the threats posed by this pandemic, many responses have focused on citizens much to the exclusion of other vulnerable groups such as refugees and migrants.
While most refugees and migrants face similar health threats from COVID-19 as their host populations, circumstances such as poor living conditions often in over-crowded spaces, challenges with documentation, limited employment opportunities, inadequate access to food, water, sanitation, and other basic services may make them more vulnerable. Many refugees and migrants have specific vulnerabilities as they are often excluded from national programmes for health promotion, disease prevention, treatment and care, as well as from financial protection schemes for health and social services particularly during this pandemic. This exclusion makes early detection, testing, diagnosis, contact tracing and seeking care for COVID-19 difficult for refugees and migrants thus increasing the risk of outbreaks amongst this population, and such outbreaks may go unchecked or even actively concealed.
Also, limited access to justice and protection of the law tends to create conditions where migrants and refugees communities are vulnerable to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV). SGBV includes acts or threats of acts which inflict physical, mental, or sexual harm or suffering, or related deprivations of liberty on the basis of gender. Women and girls are more often at the receiving end of such violence than their male counterparts.
Sonke Gender Justice as the Secretariat of MEA will be convening a webinar to discuss ‘The impact of COVID 19 and the prevalence of SGBV among refugees and migrants’. The organisation will draw from its vast experience of working with refugees and migrants through the refugees’ health and rights project within its Community Education and Mobilisation unit to share its reflections using the case study of South Africa. Other speakers will be invited to share experiences from across the continent.
Guest speakers are individuals with knowledge and expertise on the topic. They have been drawn from institutions such as United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR), Scalabrini, Sonke Gender Justice, partner organisations in the region, refugees and migrant community leaders.
Kayan Leung is Sonke’s Policy, Development and Advocacy unit’s Legal Advocacy and Litigation Manager. Kayan is an admitted attorney with seven years experience in the human rights field. She previously worked at Lawyers for Human Rights on refugee and migrant rights, detention monitoring and environmental rights where she focused on community engagement, capacity building trainings, advocacy and strategic litigation.
She will speak on: The intersection on COVID-19 and SGBV and its impact on refugees, Asylum seekers and migrants in general.
Kizito Wamala is a clinical psychotherapist and trainer. He holds a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology with 13 years of clinical practice, five years of offering clinical supervision and training as well as teaching at Makerere University.
He will speak on: How COVID-19 and SGBV affect refugees psychologically, those in camps and urban.
Leader Kanyiki Ngooyi is a community and refugee leader living in Cape Town, South Africa, since 2007. Originally from the DRC, he holds qualifications in Nursing Sciences as well as counseling and communications. He has received awards, including the 2011 AVAC HIV Prevention Fellowship, and the 2007 DRC Award for Peace and Development’.
He will speak on: The experiences of refugees, asylum seeker and migrant during the COVID-19 pandemic in the urban settings.
Lilian Obiye is an advocate working for the Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK) in Kakuma refugee camp.
She will speak on: Interlock between COVID-19 , refugees and the law.
Laura Buffoni is with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) where she has worked in community-based protection, livelihoods and economic inclusion in Ethiopia, Yemen, Senegal and West Africa, Sudan, Jordan and Kenya/East Africa and currently in Southern Africa. Her areas of focus are protection of refugees and community-based actions, protection from gender-based violence, gender mainstreaming and child protection, social and gender norms that affect participation and create inequalities.
She will speak on: The prevention and response, UNHCR activities so to address the challenges of COVID-19 and SGBV in the SADEC region in camps and urban areas.
Ben Venter is an Advocacy Officer with the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, a registered not-for-profit organisation that perceives migration as an opportunity and is committed to alleviating poverty and promoting development with respect to migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in South Africa.
He will speak on: The impact of COVID-19 on documentation , access to economic relief and social assistance.
Participants for the webinar will include MEA partners, refugees and migrant community leaders, interested staff members of UN agencies and any person who is interested in the topic.
The webinar will be conducted via Zoom, therefore, participants will need to have access to internet and the organising committee will share the Zoom details as soon this is available to all participants.
The date for the webinar is Thursday, 28th May 2020. Any changes will be communicated.
The webinar will be moderated in English.
The webinar will last for 2 hours from 10:00 am – 12:00 noon SA time.
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The Programme of Action adopted by 184 UN member states in Cairo recognises the importance of human rights in protecting and promoting reproductive health. The Cairo Programme strongly endorses a new strategy for addressing population issues, focused on meeting the needs of individual women and men rather than on achieving demographic targets. A key to this approach is empowering women and protecting their human rights, particularly those relevant to reproductive health. The International Conference on Population and Development-25 in Nairobi (2019) reaffirmed the UN and its member countries’ commitment to developing focused strategies to provide comprehensive equitable sexual and reproductive health to everyone. Some of the main targets to be met by 2030 are the triple zero goals:
However, global pandemics such as Novel Corona Virus 19 have contributed to a stall in progress. With governments taking drastic preventive measures, these measures in themselves have put women and girls at higher risk of gender-based violence when there is an urgent need to provide young people with lifesaving SRHR services. These measures have also continued to pose an inherent risk that increases young peoples’ vulnerability to violence, poverty, sexual and gender-based violence, abuse and exploitation, harmful practices and reproductive health-related morbidity and mortality. Access to services is a central concern surrounding the promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of young people. A more ambitious approach toward SRHR is needed, as is the provision of services that tackle sexual and gender-based violence, sexual diversity, discrimination, relationship issues, and fears and concerns about sex and sexuality. An inclusive SRHR approach recognises that people, including young people, have the right to a SAFE, pleasurable and satisfying sex life. How true this is for young people in Africa is a question that beckons a further discussion with young people and to provide them with the skills and competencies to advocate for SRHR. It is therefore essential to build the capacity of young people and provide them with an understanding of sexual and reproductive health and rights and how these can be implied from national laws, constitutions and in regional and international human rights treaties. These skills and competencies should prepare young people to hold governments accountable as they develop Covid-19 preventive measures and to advocate for the provision of SRHR services. Young people in Africa are a force of change, and we must further provide them with the skills and competencies that will inspire them to drive solutions and advocacies to promote SRHR.
This webinar aims to enhance the capacities of young people from MenEngage Africa network countries to address sexual and reproductive health and rights from a human rights perspective and to discuss the ramifications of COVID-19 on SRHR. The webinar seeks to achieve the following specific objectives:
This Webinar is open to young people from across Africa, especially young people from across the MenEngage Africa network.
It is anticipated that by participating in the Course, participants:
The webinar will be facilitated on Zoom. It is scheduled for the 27th of May 2018 from 10 am GMT to 12 noon GMT. The call will hold on Zoom with the following details:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/95502441856?pwd=VHZnUWp5NFFNTFN6UnVKSkozblV4UT09
Meeting ID: 955 0244 1856
Password: 864788
Festus Kisa: Programme Coordinator, Q-Initiative Eldoret, Kenya |
Festus Ibanda Kisa is a sexual and gender minorities activist and sexual reproductive health and rights advocate for Q-Initiative Eldoret, where he has been a Programme Co-ordinator since 2013. Festus has a background in social work, HIV testing and counselling, human hights for sexual minorities. He is passionate about equality and non-discrimination, increased awareness on the sexual reproductive health and rights of lesbians, gays and bisexuals, protection and upholding of the human rights of sexual and gender minorities, creation of safe social spaces for sexual minorities and changing the narrative of sexual and gender minorities (from that of victims and oppressed to dignified citizens involved in nation-building). |
Tanyaradzwa Nyakatawa: Clinic-CBO Collaboration (C3) Coordinator, SafAIDS |
Tanyaradzwa Nyakatawa is working with SAfAIDS as The Clinic-CBO Collaboration (C3) Coordinator for Zimbabwe. He is the Youth Representative for the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Board of Directors and has a Master of Science Degree in Development Studies. Tanyaradzwa has over six years’ experience in youth programming and management of youth development programmes mainly working in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights. |
Urbenia Kgwarae: MenEngage Africa Youth Chairperson |
Urbenia Unaswi Kgwarae is MenEngage Africa Youth Chairperson, a Southern Africa YALI Alumni under the Civic Leadership Track Cohort 16. She has an Associate Degree in Journalism and Media and a BA (Hons) in Broadcasting and Journalism from Limkokwing University of Creative Technology Botswana. She is self-driven and loves working with people. She is a human rights activist working for Rainbow Identity Association (RIA). She has volunteered for LeGaBiBo (The Lesbians, Gays & Bisexuals of Botswana) in the past as a peer educator for her regional support group. She attended trainings on various issues from human rights, SRH, LILO (Looking In and Looking Out). She is a litigator for the registration of LeGaBiBo as a society. She worked with BOFWA (Botswana Family Welfare Association) referring LGBTI persons for HIV testing and STI screening. |
Shira Natenda: Executive Director of Golden Centre for Women’s Rights Uganda |
Shira Natenda is a feminist and human rights defender and holds a Bachelors’ degree in Guidance and Counseling with other expertise in Gender Justice, Sexual Reproductive Health, HIV/AIDS treatment literacy and Transformational leadership. She is currently the Executive Director of Golden Centre for Women’s Rights Uganda, a group for and by women migrant/refugee sex workers and native sex workers. She is passionate about empowering fellow women in finding their purpose. |
Harriet Chibuta: Executive Director of Young Women in Action Zambia |
Harriet Chibuta is a University of Zambia graduate with over eight years voluntary and professional leadership experience in research, project implementation, management and monitoring. She is currently the Executive Director of Young Women in Action (YWA), a youth-led, youth-focused not-for-profit Non-governmental organization working to empower adolescent girls and young women in Zambia. Harriet Chibuta has a passion to serve and empower the vulnerable in society, especially young women and children. She believes that an empowered girl or young woman effectively contributes positively not only to their personal development but the development of the entire community. |
There is no doubt at all that the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the world in a way that places huge struggles on families, economies, health, businesses, and so on. The period also turns out to be a very revealing one, especially concerning the roles, challenges, experiences of women and what is expected of them.
A few days ago, my wife got a call from a relative, reporting an abuse on a woman, involving an over 80-year old man and his wife of almost 50 years. The caller recounted very bitterly and angrily, how the aged husband called his 70 year-old wife ‘lazy and economically non-viable’.
It’s a tough time for everyone here in Nigeria, with the lock-down order as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic spread adding to the anxiety – family resources are depleting and there are no adequate palliative measures from government. The pressure just keeps mounting. And in the midst of all this, patriarchy and the prevailing social orientation in Nigeria still put so much expectations on the woman, to perform as ‘the divinely ordained natural care-giver’.
So, with the pressure generated by the challenging times, the woman is expected to manage the home in a way that still leaves everyone happy, even in the midst of the fast eroding family and business resources. Children, domestic workers, extended family members and husband, expect the woman ‘to pull out her magic wand and make things happen’. Where she fails to ‘perform’, she is verbally abused as in the case of the elderly woman above, physically assaulted, despised, or branded as a failure. But how come is the woman expected to fulfil these expectations?
In the Nigeria experience, right from the generation of the aged man in this story, the woman’s role had always been to bear the children (male children, especially), stay at home to nurse the children, take care of the kitchen and home, and generally be ‘a good wife’. Society never expected her to participate in high income yielding economic ventures or it never approved, and in most cases, completely forbid her from earning money.
Although, to date, some very little progress has been made, with the woman being allowed to share office and business space with the man, discrimination still makes it impossible for the woman to meet up with the demands at home. She is not allowed to take decision making and top ranking positions because she is considered too weak to fulfill the hostile work demands created by the men. The man in the office subjects her to sexual harassment and threats; these destabilise her. Then the man in the office schedules important meetings at the same time the man in the house needs her to deliver on the home front. And because of the unfair branding of the woman as being ‘weak’, she is perceived not qualified to earn the same pay with the man, even if the position is the same. This unfair perception of the woman also accounts for why she is mostly resigned to the role of a teacher in school, nurse in the hospital, secretary in the office and other low income generating positions in the economic space.
And because of sexual harassment, she’s faced with the psychological pressure of having to do better than just being good on the job, if she must get a promotion or other economic opportunities. Now in these Covid-19 tough times, it is still the woman, who gets called on for the man’s and general family’s comfort and well-being.
As a way of resolution, using the occasion of the Labour Day celebration, perhaps the world should defend the home by promoting gender equality, feminist policies, women empowerment, girl child education, and as much as possible, given the necessity now, discourage sexual harassment in work places, and other forms of gender-based violence and discrimination.
Eliminating gender disparities in all forms of life and empowering women have been an important agenda of the Tanzanian government since the early days of independence. Efforts to bring women into mainstream development and setting out the development agenda to address the imbalance between women and men have been undertaken in all spheres of life.
The need to address this imbalance was reflected in the “Socialism and Self-Reliance Policy” of 1967, whose main pillars were social equity, human dignity, and gender equity. In 1992 the government of Tanzania launched a “Women’s Development Policy” and later revised it in 2000 to a “Gender Development Policy”. Additionally, in 2006, the government developed a “Strategic Plan on Gender”, striving to address gender gaps and inequities between women and men with a particular focus on economic empowerment, access to and ownership of resources, employment, and food security and nutrition.
Building on the National Development Vision 2025 that aims to achieve a high quality livelihood for its people, including gender equity and the empowerment of women in all socio-economic and political relations,. the vision is aligned as well in the Women Development and Gender Policy (URT, 2001; URT, 2013) that calls for rectifying the historical imbalances between women and men through removing barriers that hinder women to utilise their potentials as well as removing social-cultural barriers such as norms, values, and cultural practices that continue to subjugate women to inferior social position.
Despite the significant efforts undertaken in Tanzania, gender differences still persist across many aspects in the labour market: Women are still experiencing different forms of inequalities and violence such as sexual harassment, unpaid work, and inequality in decision-making and management roles. More women are experiencing sexual harassment at workplace; false beliefs that question and undermine the capacity and ability of women working in the business sector; women joining higher ranking jobs have been much lower than for men; the labour market is still sex-segregated, with women concentrated in low quality jobs, which offer low employment status and low remuneration.
Findings from the Human Rights and Business Report (2019) published by the Legal and Human Rights Centre, an NGO based in Tanzania, revealed that 8% of female workers experience sexual harassment as one of the common forms of gender-based violence (GBV) at their workplaces. The report also shows that most companies do not hire women, claiming that they have no capacities to work in factories and industries.
Working in factories and industries is regarded as a masculine job that requires men for operation. Besides, the proportion of employed women in decision-making and management roles in government, large enterprises, and institutions is still a challenge. As reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (2014), the share of males in senior and middle management occupations (82.6%) is higher than that of females (17.4%).
Moreover, unpaid work, participation barriers and control of women’s income by men still persist in Tanzanian households. Iffat Idris’s research (2018) on mapping women’s economic exclusion in Tanzania shows that a greater proportion of women (69.9% versus 64.0% men) work in agriculture. Unpaid family helpers constitute 34.5% of those employed in agriculture – there are more than twice as many females as males in this category.
Additionally, women in Tanzania face discrimination in the labour market in terms of security, heath and legal protections. A study done by the Legal and Human Rights Centre (2019) shows that when most women become pregnant in the business sector, they are denied paid maternity leave and, usually, forced to find another job.
With the prevailing conditions, there is a need to design workable actions and policies which are inclusive and focus on addressing constraints women experience in the labour market. The government, through the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children and other relevant line ministries should put in place workable policies to address gender gaps in all spheres of life so as to improve the labour market and to expand opportunities for women to fully participate in socio-economic activities, and consequently, leverage a high level of development for all.
The government should also ensure that the private sector adopts affirmative action policies to protect women from any form of discrimination at the workplace, including promotion of women into managerial roles. Lastly, civil society organisations should work jointly to raise community awareness about the entrenched norms and attitudes that constrain women’s rights and welfare from the grass-root level.
The percentage of women in senior leadership positions among the top Kenyan companies and in the government is still dramatically lower than that of men.
The obstacles hindering women in senior leadership positions in Kenya are either cultural, economic or political factors. These are supported by gender stereotyping and patriarchal structural norms that continue to be stacked high up against women in society. As a result, educated and successful women in high positions experience sexism from their peers and communities.
This problem can be eliminated by the government and civil society organisations through implementing leadership programmes that develop, connect, mentor and educate young potential women leaders.
But in spite of the challenges that exist, some progress has been made as this article outlines below.
Kenya has developed several policies and frameworks to promote women’s representation in senior positions. Article 27 of the 2010 Constitution guarantees equality and freedom from discrimination. It states that every person is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law.
Beyond the Supreme law, the development blue-print Kenya Vision 2030 has reinforced the same. Other policy and legal frameworks have been enacted to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non-discrimination. These include the National Human Rights Policy and Action Plan; the Marriage Act 2014; the Matrimonial Properties Act 2013; the Land Act 2016; and the Draft National Policy on Gender and Development, among others.
Kenya has also recognised that women’s economic empowerment is critical to achieving gender equality as well as sustainable development which encompass productive employment and decent work for all, ending poverty and reducing inequalities. To this end, the government has put in place various programmes that include gender mainstreaming, affirmative action and gender-responsive budgeting.
The government has also set aside special catalytic funds dedicated to women, which include:
The Kenyan Constitution has served the gender agenda impressively well.
Article 27 (8) states that: “The State shall take legislative and other measures to implement the principle that not more than two-thirds of the members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender.”
In addition, the Constitution reserves 47 seats for women in the National Assembly and 16 seats for women in the Senate, courtesy of Article 98.
Subsequently, there has been tremendous growth in women participating and holding key positions. The trajectory has been upward. After the 2013 general elections, women’s representation in Parliament increased from 22 women in the 11th Parliament to 86 in the 12th Parliament, while 96 women were elected as members of County Assembly.
In 2017, Parliament had three women elected and 18 nominated to the Senate, three women elected as Governors, 98 women elected as members of County Assembly, while 599 were nominated in the fulfillment of the two-thirds gender principle at the County level.
Other sectors fared much better with women accounting for 57% of all practicing lawyers, 49% of magistrates, 41% of High Court judges, 36% of County Commissioners, 33% of Members of County Assemblies and 31% of Senators, to mention some important sectors.
The road towards achieving gender equality is long and arduous, but this is a goal that the country should never tire to move towards in order to ensure the development of all in our society, particularly the less privileged – girls and women.
Sonke Gender Justice, and Promundo are excited to launch a new online resource developed with support from UNAIDS: a web-based portal on men and HIV. The portal contains up to date research and data on the state of men’s HIV access to and utilisation of HIV services, men’s health outcomes, and a comprehensive set of resources on how to best engage men in the HIV response – for the sake of men, their partners and families, and for public health.
In launching the men and HIV portal Aeneas Chuma, UNAIDS Director a.i. for Eastern and Southern Africa, said: “Attention to men in the HIV response is needed urgently. Men’s poor HIV outcomes are bad for everyone. When men do not know their HIV status and are not on treatment they are more likely to transmit HIV to their sexual partners. When they get sick it is usually their partners, especially women and girls, who take care of them. When men die, their partners, families and communities grieve them.”
The portal features research and data showing that men are much less likely to get tested, access treatment or achieve viral suppression than women are, men are over-represented in new infections and their rate of HIV acquisition is declining more slowly than women’s, men are 70% more likely to die of AIDS than women are, and their rate of death is declining much more slowly.
For the global HIV and AIDS response to be effective, greater attention must be paid to addressing the crisis of men and boys’ HIV outcomes, within the broader prevention and response efforts. The portal will support and inform public health researchers, policy analysts, health care providers and civil society advocates eager to take action to engage men to promote equality and improve health outcomes for all.
The portal points to two major strategies for getting men into HIV services and improving health outcomes for all 1. challenging harmful gender norms; and 2. improving health system policies, programmes, and service delivery strategies and provides a rich set of resources to advance these strategies, including journal articles, key reports and literature reviews.
Mabel Sengendo, Regional Programmes Manager at South Africa-based Sonke Gender Justice pointed to the importance of engaging men to transform harmful and inequitable gender norms. She said, “We now know quite a lot about how to challenge restrictive gender norms that compromise both women and men’s health, including what sorts of interventions are effective at increasing men’s support for gender equality and reducing the likelihood that men acquire or transmit HIV. To effectively address women and girls vulnerabilities to HIV, and to improve men’s HIV-related outcomes, we must implement far more ambitious interventions aimed at advancing gender equality and improving men’s access to HIV services.”
Sengendo affirms that the portal will be a resource for reaching men in all their diversity. She said: “It is critical to reach men facing multiple layers of marginalisation and stigma, including discriminatory laws and policies, who may struggle to access health services, such as people who inject drugs, men in prisons, men who have sex with men, men who sell sex, migrant and refugee men, young men, and others who face legal and de-facto discrimination.”
Dean Peacock, Senior Advisor for Global Advocacy at Promundo says the portal will also assist those trying to understand the health-system challenges that contribute significantly to men’s low levels of uptake for HIV-related services and how to address them. He said: “Health policies and systems seldom include a clear focus on how to get men into HIV services. When they do men are far more likely to get tested and start treatment. The men and HIV portal provides state of the field evidence on what works to get services to men and should be a valuable resource for anyone working to improve men’s HIV outcomes.”
After years of relative inaction on men and HIV, the portal is intended to support and amplify all the good work now taking place to get men into HIV services and to engage men to transform gender norms and promote gender equality.
You can access the portal directly, here: www.menandhiv.org
Meet Aisha, an 18 years-old girl from a Muslim community in the Ngohketuja division of a town called Ndop, in the North-West Region of Cameroon. Aisha is a mother of two, and the baby she is carrying in her hands is the last of the two. At age 13, Aisha was circumcised and later married off at 15 into a polygamous home. She is the second wife of three wives. Aisha says FGM and early marriage are common practices in her community, as many of the girls are circumcised and married off between the ages of 13 and 15. According to Aisha, she has been made to understand that this practice is an ancient one and it’s done to ensure that young girls who are experiencing puberty are prevented from becoming promiscuous. Because these young girls are often given out for marriage at a tender age to men who are often much older than them, FGM is done to ensure fidelity of the girls in their matrimonial home.
Aisha says it has become routine for most young girls as they are made to believe that sex is to pleasure men and bring forth children.
After listening to Aisha’s story, Mother of Hope Cameroon has since engaged in a sensitisation tour to several rural communities where we carry out education campaigns against the practice of FGM. These campaigns consist of focus group discussions involving men, women, young girls and boys. They also include meetings with chiefs and other traditional leaders. During these sessions, we try to understand the perceptions of the different groups on the issue of FGM. We also analyse the reasons why this practice is so prevalent in specific communities.
During our sensitisation and educative talks, we highlight the ills of FGM from not only a health perspective, but also the way it affects and limits youn women’s potential. We encourage traditional leaders to break traditional myths about femalehood that continue to promote FGM. During focus group meetings, young women have the chance to express how they felt about such practices in the presence of adult men, women and community leaders. So far, Mother of Hope Cameroon has been able to carry out these campaigns in over 10 communities within the North-West Region.
MenEngage Africa Alliance is very proud of Kenya MenEngage Alliance (KEMEA) for being nominated to receive an award in the national Diversity and Inclusion Awards and Recognition in Kenya. In this conversation with Khopotso Bodibe, Communications and Media Specialist for MenEngage Africa Alliance, Elias Muindi, Programme Officer for KEMEA, tells us more about the award.
KHOPOTSO: Elias, congratulations on being nominated for the National Diversity and Inclusion and Recognition Awards! Tell us about this award.
ELIAS MUINDI: Thank you very much. This is the third edition of the national Diversity and Inclusion Award for Best NGO on Gender Equality. That is where Kenya MenEngage Alliance has been nominated. The purpose of the award is to celebrate NGOs that run projects or promote programmes that contribute to gender equality and women’s empowerment. So, the national Diversity and Inclusion Awards and Recognition celebrate companies, government agencies, civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations and individuals who champion diversity and promote inclusion at the workplace and society at large.
KHOPOTSO: You have been nominated in the category Diversity and Inclusion Award for Best Non-Governmental Organisation on Gender Equality. Tell us about the work that you do in this particular field.
ELIAS MUINDI: Yes. One of the key things is involving men and boys in promoting gender equality. The activities we undertake are the sensitisation of religious leaders and the sensitisation of men and boys on gender equality. We also work in the fields of female genital mutilation and early child marriages. I think we have been recognised because of our innovative ways in engaging men and boys.
KHOPOTSO: Tell us more about this innovation that you bring around working on issues of gender equality and justice, particularly working with men and boys.
ELIAS MUINDI: Yes, we have a programme that we call Dads & Daughters, where we engage dads and their daughters on ending FGM and early child marriages because FGM is very prevalent. It stands at 21% in the country. So, we decided to have a forum where we can have the dads and the daughters together so that they can share. Dads can listen to their daughters for what they go through, and their expectations and their aspirations in life. We also get the opinions of dads, which is important because in African contexts, dads have immense power at home. When they say FGM or early child marriage will not happen for my daughter, it will not happen. So, we always for commitment of the dads towards supporting their daughters in education and helping them at home and supporting them at school so that they can achieve their dreams.
KHOPOTSO: For how long has the Dads & Daughters programme been running?
ELIAS MUINDI: It has been happening for two years. And most rganisations in the country have replicated it in their programmes. Even programmes in Uganda have also shown interest in it. It is a strategy that is working because dads commit to support their daughters and to support initiatives that promote gender equality.
KHOPOTSO: Which of the programmes that you are running do you reckon might have possibly earned you this nomination?
ELIAS MUINDI: Oh, yes. We have been involved in technical meetings to develop action plans, for example, for cross-border FGM in East Africa and the Horn of Africa. And we have been involved in national conferences on GBV, FGM and child marriages. We have been seen on such platforms. We are also very active on social media about what we do. I suspect that one of the government agencies (because we have been involved in government initiatives) submitted the name of our organisation.
KHOPOTSO: What does it mean for Kenya MenEngage Alliance to be nominated for this award?
ELIAS MUINDI: It is a privilege for us to be nominated because men have not been involved in initiatives of ending GBV. Now that we are nominated it gives us the opportunity and the energy to work harder towards achieving gender equality. It will also help us grow and create more awareness on matters of diversity and inclusion as well as inspire more actions towards everyday inclusion in the society.
KHOPOTSO: Voting has opened already and it will close on the 28th of February 2020. How can people vote for you?
ELIAS MUINDI: One can go to the awards website www.diarawards.com/vote. We are on the first category of anyone. Just click KenyaMenEngage Alliance and then scroll downwards where there is vote and click on vote. You will have voted for us.
KHOPOTSO: Well done on the work that you have been doing, Elias, and congratulations on the nomination. Hopefully, when we speak with you next time you will have won this award.
ELIAS MUINDI: Thank you very much. Yes, we hope to win this award.
“In our quest to achieve gender equality, we must be guided by the principle that our mission as MenEngage Africa (MEA) Alliance is to deconstruct masculinity. It’s not about creating a men’s and boys’ club. Ours is a platform to hold ourselves as men – as well as other men – accountable and to challenge patriarchal structures. Our movement is for all: men, women, boys and girls,” said Bafana Khumalo, co-chairperson of the alliance at the opening of its two-day Annual General Meeting (AGM), which opened in Abuja, Nigeria, on the 12th of February 2020.
The meeting brings together 22 countries from the West, East, Southern and Central African regions where we have active networks working with men and boys, alongside women-led human rights organisations, to close the gender equality gap. It was an opportunity to take stock of our past activities towards attaining gender justice as well as to map the way forward to step up our intervention campaigns.
The need to attain gender equality is urgent and it is a commitment that our countries have made in ratifying the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), of which Goal 5 encourages us to work towards achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls. “We cannot wait until 2030 to see gender equality. Women suffer more catastrophe and we cannot accept this because women’s rights are human rights,” Khumalo added in his opening remarks.
Other speakers at the opening plenary, echoed this sentiment. The representative of the Swedish government, our long-standing partner and funder, His Excellency Carl-Michael Grans, the ambassador of Sweden in Nigeria, pointed out that gender equality is not primarily about being fair to women. “It benefits the entire society, men and boys included. Research shows that gender equal societies enjoy better health, stronger economic growth and higher security,” he said.
However, he warned that we will never achieve gender equality without involving men and boys. “This is especially the case in countries where women and girls are underrepresented. Nigeria (host of the MenEngage Africa AGM) is an illustrative example – where onIy five per cent of the Members of Parliament are women — and the situation is similar in many countries,” Ambassador Grans said.
MenEngage Africa Steering Committee chairperson, Hassan Sekajoolo, called on the 22 member countries to strengthen governance and redouble their efforts in working with men and boys to achieve gender equality, saying “patriarchy is sustained by culture and religion, thus every small effort in every corner of the world counts to change the status quo.”
The two-day AGM discussed a variety of issues, including the importance of how to espouse feminist values as an alliance that works with men and boys to achieve gender equality, advocacy on safe abortion and the impact of the Gag Rule, MenEngage Africa work in conflict-affected countries, preventing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), legal regimes in our member countries and how to position ourselves to advocate for progressive laws, scaling up our work in MenCare (a global fatherhood campaign) in Africa, and plans for the MenEngage Global Symposium which will for the first time be hosted in Africa.
