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Southern Africa: SADC Ministers of Women's Affairs Meet
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
20 July 2007
Posted to the web 20 July 2007
Maputo
Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Friday praised the role of women in the struggles to free southern Africa from foreign rule, racist regimes and apartheid.
Speaking at the opening of a meeting of ministers responsible for women's Affairs and gender of the SADC (Southern African Development Community) countries, Guebuza declared that the liberation of the region had depended on the participation of women, marching alongside men.
"Many of these fighters underwent savage torture and colonial humiliation. But they did not give up", he declared.
Although they faced imprisonment, forced labour and exile, they retained their dignity and determination, stressed Guebuza, "proud of the historic mission imposed by their peoples".
"Thanks to these women and the role they played for our liberation, what yesterday seemed a mirage is today a reality", he declared. "We are proud of these achievements and they inspire us for the battles of the present and the future".
Among the battles of today, Guebuza stressed the struggle against hunger, poverty and endemic disease. The regional integration of southern Africa was also a challenge that the SADC countries were facing, and required the commitment of each of them.
"Just as in the past, so today women have a significant role to play so that we can emerge victorious from these new challenges", said Guebuza.
He added that the SADC Heads of State Declaration on Gender and Development, adopted in 1997, opened opportunities "for women's greater participation in the regional and national challenges of the moment".
The meeting will discuss proposals for a SADC Protocol on Gender, which will effectively transform the Heads of States' Declaration into a legal instrument. The SADC Executive Secretary, Tomas Salomao, told the gathering that progress in drafting the protocol "has moved at a phenomenal pace".
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He said that "reducing poverty and achieving human rights in the region are inextricably linked to reducing gender inequalities", and claimed that "significant progress" was being made towards achieving gender equality.
Nonetheless Salomao admitted that "implementation of gender commitments still falls short of stated commitments as glaring gaps and obstacles still prevail that prevent gender equality from being a reality".
The SADC secretariat will work on the proposals that emerge from this meeting and intends to submit the gender protocol to the next SADC Heads of State summit, to be held in August in Lusaka.
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| Copyright © 2007 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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