Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
Gender Equality & Development
Aspiration 6 of Agenda 2063 calls for “An Africa, whose development is people-driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women and youth, and caring for children.” Agenda 2063 therefore requires that we live in a more inclusive society where all the citizens are actively involved in decision making in all aspects and where no child, woman or man is left behind or excluded, on the basis of gender, political affiliation, religion, ethnic affiliation, locality, age or other factors. Article 3 of the Protocol on Amendments of the Constitutive Act of the African Union recognises the critical role of women in promoting inclusive development and calls for the AU “to ensure the effective participation of women in decision-making, particularly in the political, economic and socio-cultural areas.”
The AU recognises that that gender equality is a fundamental human right and an integral part of regional integration, economic growth and social development and has developed the AU’s strategy for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) to ensure the inclusion of women in Africa’s development agenda.
The GEWE strategy focuses on 6 key pillars namely:
AU Watch Strategy for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment
Investing in gender equality and women’s empowerment can unlock human potential on a transformational scale. For societies to thrive, women and girls, men and boys must have equal access to education, healthcare, and technology. They must have equal control of resources, lands, and markets. And they must have equal rights and opportunities as peace-builders and leaders.
Transforming the ways in which we engage men and boys in gender equality and women’s empowerment efforts is essential to long-lasting social change. We must enlist their support for the empowerment of women and girls across their lifespan, and also encourage them to challenge the negative cultural and social definitions that can limit their own ability to achieve their full potential.
What We Do
AU Watch believes that gender equality and women’s empowerment are fundamental for the realization Agenda 2063 and key to the unity of Africa. AU Watch works round the clock to improve the lives of women and girls by addressing their distinct needs. We have a long history of support for gender equality and women’s empowerment to lead powerful, transformational changes within societies.
Today, hundreds of millions of people across Africa go to bed hungry every night, most of them women and smallholder farmers who depend on agriculture to make a living and feed their families. Despite an explosion in the growth of urban slums over the last decade, nearly 75 percent of poor people in developing countries live in rural areas. Growth in the agriculture sector — from farm to fork — has been shown to be at least twice as effective in reducing poverty as growth in other sectors. Investing in these smallholder farmers—many of whom are women—and in the markets around them is more important than ever. In order to feed a population expected to grow to 2 billion people in Africa by 2050, we will have to double its current food production. At AU Watch we are doing our part to increase food security in Africa.
Agenda 2063
Flagship Projects
Connecting African capitals and commercial centers through a High-Speed Train Network; facilitating the movement of goods, factor services and people as well as reducing transport costs and relieving congestion of current and future systems through increased rail connectivity.
Transforming Africa from a raw materials supplier by enabling countries to add value, extract higher rents from commodities, integrate into global value chains promote diversification anchored in value addition and local content development.
Accelerating intra-African trade and boosting Africa’s trading position in the global market by strengthening Africa’s common voice and policy space in global trade negotiations.
Removing restrictions on Africans’ ability to travel, work and live within their own continent by transforming restrictive laws and promoting visa free travel to enhance movement of all African citizens in all African countries.
Ending all wars, civil conflicts, gender-based violence, violent conflicts and preventing genocide in the continent by 2020.
Generating an estimated 43,200MW of power to support current regional power pools and their combined service to transform Africa from traditional to modern sources of energy and ensure access to clean and affordable electricity.
Promoting intra-regional connectivity between the capital cities of Africa by creating a single unified air transport market in Africa, as an impetus to the continent’s economic integration and growth agenda.
Multi-stakeholder meeting bringing together the Africa’s policy makers, private sector, academia and civil society to reflect on accelerating Africa’s socio- economic development and transformation by harnessing its vast resources.
Accelerating integration and economic development through the establishment of organisations which will play a pivotal role in the mobilization of resources and management of the African financial sector.
Transforming Africa into an e-Society by implementing policies and strategies that lead to transformative e-applications and services in Africa such as broad band terrestrial infrastructure, cyber security and revolutionary bio and nanotechnology industries.
Strengthening Africa’s use of outer space to bolster development in critical sectors such as agriculture, disaster management, remote sensing, climate forecast, banking and finance, defense and security.
Using ICT based programmes to increase access to tertiary and continuing education in Africa by reaching large numbers of students and professionals in multiple sites simultaneously.
Incorporating emerging technologies in Africa’s development plans and ensuring these technologies are used for the benefit of African individuals, institutions and nation states by ensuring data protection and safety online.
Preserving and promoting African cultural heritage by creating awareness of Africa’s vast, dynamic and diverse cultural artefacts and Africa’s continuing influence on world cultures in art, music, language, science, and so on.
AU Declaration on 2015 Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development Towards Africa’s Agenda 2063
We, the Heads of State and Government of the African Union, having met at our Twenty Fifth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 14 to 15 June 2015, on the 2015 Theme “Year of Women’s Empowerment towards Africa’s Agenda 2063”. Read More
The Gender Agenda In Agenda 2063. Dr. Rose Mwebaza – Advisor, Women’s Econominc Empowerment And Political Participation
The vision of Africa expressed in Agenda 2063 is one of an Africa whose development is people-driven, especially relying on the potential offered by its women and youth;
Under this vision, it is envisaged that there will be gender equality in all spheres of life and an engaged and empowered youth. Read More