Imagine a scenario where billions of dollars are draining from the economies of Africa’s 54 countries every year. Where productivity is being systematically cut out from the continent’s labour force and a heavy burden continually placed on government services. Today there’s no need to imagine. It’s a hard-hitting reality. And it’s down to violence against women. The economic and social costs are all too tangible, those of human suffering beyond imagination.
Today, November 25, is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and until December 10, Human Rights Day, there are 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence. Violence against women and girls is a global issue that cuts across continents, countries and communities. We know it’s also an African issue. The African Development Bank is proud to be supporting the UN’s UNiTE campaign to ‘orange the world’ by going ‘orange’ in solidarity and raising awareness.
2015 is the African Union’s Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development Towards Africa’s Agenda 2063. Putting a stop to violence against women and girls is critical if we are to achieve this bold vision. The AfDB is a people-centred financial development institution. Our infrastructure, trade, private sector, technology and governance projects in partnership with governments, regional bodies, business and civil society and donors directly impact on the livelihoods of millions of women, men and children across Africa. It is right that as the Bank we take a stand when the future of the transformation of the continent we are working for is at stake. And it is. The same is true when shocks hit, such as with Ebola. Women across the Mano River Union are most vulnerable in this crisis and are seeing their economic potential destroyed. They need our support and the Bank is committed to help.
Somali-born writer Nadifa Mohamed’s novel The Orchard of Lost Souls talks with brutal honesty of a wide catalogue of violence against women and girls across society perpetrated by both men and women, from structural violence to cases such as female genital mutilation (FGM). The narrative draws on family experiences in a context of conflict. But it is all too evident that these experiences and that of domestic violence and a catalogue of hard-hitting abuses are a reality for millions of women and girls worldwide and in Africa today. That has to stop.
On the subject of her book, Nadifa says “Violence is often hidden and is therefore unacknowledged or never questioned. My approach is to bring it out in the open and make it something we confront.” We have a duty here to put that into practice and the Bank’s pan-African call to end all forms of violence against women and girls aims to do just that on November 25 and beyond. We are urging our partners and networks to do the same and showcase their efforts. At the Bank we are hosting awareness-raising events at headquarters and in our country offices, while our online platforms will build space for debate and discussion. It’s just the beginning.
Let’s confront violence against women and girls starting now and build the Africa we want to see, making empowerment and economic opportunity for all a reality. The Bank’s Gender Strategy is focusing on priority areas to move in that direction and beyond. Let’s work to banish all forms of violence against women and girls across the continent to that imaginary scenario. And look ahead to one of unbridled opportunity. We cannot afford to let Africa fail.
