The ongoing African Union Summit has put women’s rights at the centre stage of this year’s assembly.  The forum, which brings together African leaders in the public and private sectors, as well as civil society, will deliberate on key issues affecting African women and seek solutions.

The New Times’ Collins Mwai spoke to the Executive Director for The African Women’s Development & Communications Network (FEMNET), Dinah Musindarwezo, on the sidelines of the ongoing summit to establish key issues affecting women and possible interventions. Excerpts:

What are the major issues that you as the civil society would want African leaders at the summit to address?

My call to African leaders meeting here in Kigali is to be serious about implementation of existing framework, implementation only happens when  they allocate adequate resources to gender machinery which include both the public institutions and women’s organisations, which some view as beyond their responsibility.

As for the Maputo Protocol, despite its existence, there are countries that are yet to ratify it; I would call upon them to ratify it to catch up. Those who have ratified should submit periodic reports on the progress of implementation.

Speaking of the Maputo Protocol, it is one of the gender frameworks to be discussed and reviewed at the forum, what does it entail?

Maputo Protocol is one of the most progressive frameworks on women’s rights globally. It addresses issues that affect African women specifically. It seeks to address specific issues that affect women in Africa such as rights of widows, inheritance, ownership, HIV, harmful practices such as FGM, and early marriages.  Being a home grown initiative, no one can claim that it is a foreign agenda. Previously, we used to hear that aspects of gender equality were western agenda and feminism.

Maputo Protocol brings it back home, issues happening in countries across the continent. There continues to be cases of early marriages, FGM among other practices. We have progressive frameworks; the major barrier is lack of implementation. We have great things on paper but when it comes to implementation so that women can enjoy rights and freedoms, we are still lacking. The major challenge of low implementation is caused by low understanding of gender equality, lack of allocation of adequate resources to promote gender equality, and not having enough political will in some countries.

In Rwanda, there is good political will in terms of gender equality and women’s rights thanks to the President who advances women’s rights and is a believer in gender equality.

That is, however, not the case in other African countries. Actually in most countries, women wish to get half of what Rwanda has.

What specific rights and freedoms does FEMNET pursue?

FEMNET is a pan African women’s rights organisation present in 43 African countries that aims at influencing policies on issues of gender equality. We try to ensure that gender equality is at the centre of decision making at the highest level possible. When we see African Union putting women rights at the centre of their deliberations, it has taken our push and advocacy over previous years.

What we do is policy influence at different levels; at the global level, we work through the UN systems where we have done work to influence SDGs to have gender equality as a stand-alone goal.

At the regional level, we have done work to promote the adoption of progressive policies such as the Maputo Protocol which is quite comprehensive in addressing women’s rights.

That has been our role across as well as holding governments accountable to ensure the implementation of protocols on women rights. The organisation has been in existence for the last 28 years.

Of all women’s rights and freedom, where are African countries fairing worst and require urgent interventions?

Gender rights and women rights ought to be understood and implemented holistically.  You cannot ask women what right to have; they should enjoy all rights, rights to their reproductive health, leadership, education, food among other rights.

Our goal is to have comprehensive and holistic women rights.

However, advances have been made in the area of political leadership in many African countries, addressing maternal health and mortality.

Issues of sexual reproductive health continue to be a major challenge in Africa, especially issues that regard safe abortions, where there are issues brought about by religion, patriarchy, culture among other aspects. The issue of child marriage is still a challenge going by a report that was launched this week in the sidelines of the summit. The report shows statistics in terms of where we have the largest problems.

Listening to you, it comes off as if a majority of African countries are not concerned about women’s rights. Is this the case?

To some extent they do by adopting good policies but if you do not go to the step of implementing it, the attention deserved is not given, making it mere lip service.

We continue to see women miss out on human rights due to lack of due attention.

How does the Summit’s host, Rwanda, fare?

Rwanda provides a good model for women in leadership and inclusion given the fact that Rwanda is leading the world in women representation in parliament, in ministries and local government.

What’s your take on how African countries are enrolling for the HEforShe campaign?

It is an initiative by UN women that aims at influencing women to endorse and support women and gender equality.  What we heard from UN women at the high level meeting last week was that progress among most countries is slow and that Rwanda was leading in overall progress.

We need to have men understand gender equality and cease to be oppressors and perpetrators. This will increase the involvement of human rights affairs.

collinsmwai@newtimes.co.rw