Pan-African Parliament women’s conference on Women’s Rights kicks off
H.E. Hon Chief Charumbira told global Parliamentarians, gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, for the IPU to go beyond rhetoric and utilize their budgetary powers to fast-track gender equality and mainstreaming around the world. Image courtesy of Pan African Paliament
The 13th Pan African Parliament (PAP) Conference on Women’s Rights kicks off today at the seat of the continental parliament in Midrand, South Africa. This comes as the AU’s legislative body is encouraging national parliaments to go beyond rhetoric and utilize their budgetary powers to fast-track gender equality and mainstreaming around the world.
The Conference themed ‘Women empowerment and inclusion in governance is an outcome of the Pan-African Parliament’s Women’s Caucus plan drafted at the Sitting of the Permanent Committees in August. The PAP Women Caucus led by Chad MP, Hon. Amina Tidjani Yaya hoped that the special event will afford influential women from across the continent a unified platform to review women’s issues in regard to legislation.
Under the theme ‘Women Empowerment and Inclusion in Governance,’ the Pan African Women’s Conference has in attendance, a diverse group of participants. These include female parliamentarians from the AU member states, MPs of the PAP, representatives of the African Union, and officials from the UN agencies, particularly UN Women.
At the August sitting, Hon. Amina Tidjani Yaya said the conference will help her committee in producing a tangible roadmap after interrogating issues to do with fighting poverty, governance, and legal protection, as well as initiatives for the implementation of economic empowerment and gender-sensitive budgets in national and regional parliaments. She also outlined the need for tools for mentoring the youth, men, and women, to be champions of gender equality and women’s empowerment, a subject that is lined up for debate at the conference.
