BRIEFING NOTES ON THE DRAFT SADC
PROTOCOL ON GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT, AND THE DRAFT SADC GENDER POLICY |
BRIEF BACKGROUND |
DRAFT SADC PRQTOCOL ON GENDER AND
DEVELOPMENT |
The decision to develop the Draft
SADC Protocol on Gender and Development was aimed at addressing the slow and
inconsistent progress in addressing gender disparities within Member States,
despite the legal and policy instruments in place. Furthermore, the new
gender related challenges including HIV and AIDS, globalisation and
trafficking in humans, especially women and children
have emerged and needed to be reflected in the SADC Protocol on Gender and
Development. |
The Draft SADC Protocol on Gender
and Development was therefore, developed in accordance with the approval by
the Council of Ministers during their meeting in August 2005, and subsequent
endorsement by the August 2005 Summit of Heads of State and Government. The
Summit emphasized the need to ensure thorough consultations with Member
States. |
The Gender Unit of the SADC
Secretariat embarked on a consultation process to initiate the drafting
process. A Regional Taskforce was constituted to spearhead the drafting
process of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development. The Regional
Taskforce was comprised of the SADC current chair, the outgoing chair and the
incoming chair. The first meeting of the taskforce was held in Gaborone, Botswana from 28 to 29 March 2006,
with the aim of finalizing the "Terms of Reference" for the
Taskforce, and of developing a roadmap for drafting the Protocol, as well as
the drafting instructions for the Protocol. |
The Secretariat engaged a legal
expert to develop a Zero Draft of the SADC Protocol on Gender and
Development, guided by the drafting instructions. A technical roundtable of
experts (legal and gender) was convened in Johannesburg, South Africa, from
14 to 15 September 2007 to review the Zero Dm~ . |
The SADC Ministers responsible for
Gender and Development met in Maseru, Lesotho in November 2006, to review the
Zero Draft of the SADC Protocol on J Gender
and Development and subsequently, approved it for national consultations.
National consultations with civil society organizations were also held in
March 2007, followed by Regional Consultations in Gaborone, Botswana, during
April 2007. These Regional Consultations included Government officials, . civil
society organizations, international cooperating partners and the. media. |
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DRAFT SADC GENDER POLICY |
The SADC region recognizes gender
equality as a fundamental human right and an integral part of regional
integration and economic growth and developmen~. |
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SADC Member States' commitment to
gender equality is demonstrated through accession to and ratification of
frameworks that promote women's human rights such as the Convention on the
Elimination of Ail forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) ,which
became a SADC ratified Protocol in 2004, the Solemn Declaration on Gender
Equality in Africa through which they have reaffirmed their commitment to
amongst others, gender equality as enshrined in the Constitutive Act of the
African Union Article 4, the Dakar Platform of Action (1994), the Beijing
Platform of Action (1995), United Nations Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and
Security (2000), and the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of
Women in Africa (2003). |
The SADC Region has made
significant progress in the implementation of these commitments and has
witnessed improvements in the development of national policies, structures,
guidelines, action plans and programmes addressing gender inequalities,
raising awareness in gender analysis and mainstreaming at both national and
regional levels. Despite this progress, implementation still fell short of
the stated commitments and improvements are needed to face emerging threats
such as the increasing poverty, HIV and AIDS, escalating levels of gender
violence and human trafficking in the region. |
The Draft SADC Gender Policy was
developed therefore, to provide a sound, authoritative, coherent and strategic mechanism
for achieving the objectives of the SADC Declaration on Gender and
Development. The policy is intended to facilitate the implementation of the
SADC Gender Commitments as it includes similar standards, indicators and
timeframes which will be the driving force to motivate all Member States to
move towards the achievement of the set targets. |
SOUTH AFRICA'S INVOLVEMENT IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE DRAFT SADC GENDER INSTRUMENTS |
South Africa
participated extensively in the development of the Draft SADC Protocol on
Genqer and Development through the Office on the Status of Women in the
Presidency, the Commission on Gender Equality, the Chief Directorate; Gender
in the Department of Foreign Affairs, as well as through its J civil society organizations like
Gender Links and ACCORD during national, civil society and
regional consultations. |
In the Ministerial Meetings held
in Maseru, Lesotho in November 2006, and in . Maputo, Mozambique in July 2007,
South Africa was looked to, to provide leadership as it has made substantial
progress in the implementation of the SADC Declaration on Gender and
Development (1997), as well as the |
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Addendum on the Prevention and
Eradication of Violence Against Women and Children
(1998), including other International Gender Commitments. In particular,
South Africa advocated for the inclusion of the protection of women who live
together in Consensual Sexual Relationships, the implementation of. UN
Resolution 1325 on the inclusion of women in peace building, peacekeeping and conflict resolution initiatives, as well
as the protection of the reproductive rights of women .I |
POSSIBLE/KEY CHALLENGES TO THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DRAFT SADC PROTOCOL ON GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT |
Lack of authority of Gender
Machmeries within some Member States, leading to high staff turnover. |
Insufficient funding for Gender
Machineries in some Member States. |
Some Gender Machineries are headed
by men who are not necessarily progressive in their perspectives on gender
issues. |
The use of culture and tradition
to constrain the implementation of gender instruments. |
It should also be noted that
Mauritius registered a reservation with respect to Article 4, Item 1 (b) of
the Draft SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, which requires Member
States to enshrine gender equality in their constitutions by 2015. Mauritius
has indicated that it has a huge Muslim population,
therefore it has a derogation clause in its Constitution, which safeguards
the religious rights of Muslims. It will be difficult therefore to change the
constitution to enshrine gender equality. |
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