Economic Empowerment of Women Political and Legal … · particular that further economic...

Economic Empowerment of Women

Women’s economic empowerment is not a women’s issue, it is at the very core of development.1

The political and economic empowerment of women is a contribution to sustainable growth and responsible government.1

1 Women’s Economic Empowerment as Smart Economics: A Dialogue on Policy Options, Call for Action, Berlin, February 2007

Political and Legal Commitments Excerpts

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Resolution of the United Nations – General Assembly, 23

rd

Special Session Further actions and initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

68.a. Design and implement policies that promote and protect women’s enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental free -doms and create an environment that does not tolerate violations of the rights of women and girls;b. Create and maintain a non-discrimi-natory and gender-sensitive legal environ-ment by reviewing legislation with a view to striving to remove discriminatory pro-visions as soon as possible, preferably by 2005, and eliminating legislative gaps that

leave women and girls without protection of their rights and without eff ective recourse against gender-based discrimination;h. Ensure that national legislative and administrative reform processes, including those linked to land reform, decentraliza-tion and reorientation of the economy, promote women’s rights, particularly those of rural women and women living in pov-erty, and take measures to promote and im plement those rights through women’s equal access to and control over economic resources, including land, property rights, right to inheritance, credit and traditional saving schemes, such as women’s banks and cooperatives;

k. Take necessary measures for the pri-vate sector and educational establishments to facilitate and strengthen compliance with non-discriminatory legislation.

74. a. Undertake socio-economic policies that promote sustainable development and support and ensure poverty eradication programmes, especially for women, by, inter alia, providing skills training, equal access to and control over resources, fi nance, credit, including microcredit, information and technology, and equal access to markets to benefi t women of all

A. Actions to be taken at the national level

By Governments:

Political and Legal Commitments – Excerpts Economic Empowerment of Women | 2

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By Governments, the private sector, non-governmental organi zations and other actors of civil society:

B. Further actions to be taken at the national level

ages, in particular those living in poverty and marginalized women, including rural women, indigenous women and female-headed households;b. Create and ensure access to social protection systems, taking into account the specifi c needs of all women living in poverty, demographic changes and changes in society, to provide safeguards against the uncertainties and changes in conditions of work associated with globalization, and strive to ensure that new, fl exible and emerging forms of work are adequately covered by social protection;c. Continue to review, modify and implement macroeconomic and social policies and programmes, inter alia,

through an analysis from a gender perspective of those related to structural ad justment and external debt problems, in order to ensure women’s equal access to resources and universal access to basic social services.

75. Facilitate employment for women through, inter alia, promotion of adequate social protection, simplifi cation of administrative procedures, removal of fi scal obstacles, where appropriate, and other measures, such as access to risk

capital, credit schemes, microcredit and other funding, facilitating the establish-ment of microenterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises.

78.a. Encourage the creation of training and legal literacy programmes which build and support the capacities of women’s organizations to advocate for women’s and girls’ human rights and fundamental freedoms…

82. a. Promote and protect the rights of women workers and take action to remove structural and legal barriers as well as ste-reotypical attitudes to gender equality at work, addressing, inter alia, gender bias in recruitment; working conditions; occupa-tional segregation and harassment; discrim-ination in social protection benefi ts; wom-en’s occupational health and safety; unequal career opportunities and inadequate shar-ing, by men, of family responsibilities;b. Promote programmes to enable women and men to reconcile their work and family responsibilities and to encourage men to share equally with women

household and childcare responsibilities;e. Develop policies and programmes to enhance the employability of women and their access to quality jobs, through improving access to formal, non formal and vocational training, lifelong learning and retraining, long-distance education, includ-ing in information and communications technology and entrepreneurial skills, particularly in developing countries, to support women’s empowerment in the diff erent stages of their lives;f. Take action to increase women’s participation and to bring about a bal-anced representation of women and men in all sectors and occupations in the labour market, inter alia, by encouraging the creation or expansion of institutional net-works to support the career development and promotion of women; g. Develop and/or strengthen pro-grammes and policies to support women entrepreneurs, including those engaged in new enterprises, through access to information, training, including voca-tional training, new technologies, networks, credit and fi nancial services;h. Initiate positive steps to promote equal pay for equal work or work of equal value and to diminish diff erentials in incomes between women and men;

i. Encourage and support the educa-tion of girls in science, mathematics, new technologies, including information tech-nologies, and technical subjects, and en -courage women, including through career advising, to seek employment in high growth and high-wage sectors and jobs;m. Promote gender-sensitivity and social responsibility of the private sec-tor, inter alia, through the management of work time and dissemination of gen-der-sensitive information and advocacy campaigns.


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Political and Legal Commitments – Excerpts

Article 2: Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Article 12:Right to Education and Training

Article 13: Economic and Social Welfare Rights

Article 18: Right to a Healthy and Sustainable Environment

Article 19: Right to Sustainable Development

Th e Maputo ProtocolProtocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa

Economic Empowerment of Women | 4

2.1 States Parties shall combat all forms of discrimination against women through appropriate legislative, institutional and other measures…

2.2States Parties shall commit themselves to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of women and men through public education, information, education and communication strategies, with a view to achieving the elimination of harmful cultural and traditional practices and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes, or on stereotyped roles for women and men.

12.1 States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to:a. eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and guarantee equal op-portunity and access in the sphere of education and training…

States Parties shall adopt and enforce legis-lative and other measures to guarantee women equal opportunities in work and career advancement and other economic opportunities. In this respect, they shall:a. promote equality of access to

employment;

b. promote the right to equal remu-neration for jobs of equal value for women and men;d. guarantee women the freedom to choose their occupation, and protect them from exploitation by their employers violating and exploiting their fundamental rights as recognised and guaranteed by conventions, laws and regulations in force;e. create conditions to promote and support the occupations and economic activities of women, in particular, within the informal sector…

18.2 States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to:b. promote research and investment in new and renewable energy sources and appropriate technologies, including infor-mation technologies and facilitate wom-en’s access to, and participation in their control…

Women shall have the right to fully enjoy their right to sustainable development. In this connection, the States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to:c. promote women’s access to and con-trol over productive resources such as land and guarantee their right to property;d. promote women’s access to credit, training, skills development and extension services at rural and urban levels in order to provide women with a higher quality of life and reduce the level of poverty among women;f. ensure that the negative eff ects of globalisation and any adverse eff ects of the implementation of trade and eco-nomic policies and programmes are reduced to the minimum for women.

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Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa

We, the Heads of State and Government of Member States of the African Union, meeting in the Th ird Ordinary Session of our Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 6–8 July 2004:

Re-affi rming our commitment to con-tinue, expand and accelerate eff orts to promote gender equality at all levels;

Recognizing that major challenges and obstacles to gender equality still remain and require concerted and collective leadership and eff orts from all of us including networks working on gender and development;

Aware of the digital divide between the North and the South, men and women and the role of information telecommu-nication technologies (ICTS) in the advancement of the gender issue as stated in the e-gender Forum Declaration of Tunis, May 2004 in preparation for the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) 2005;

Hereby Agree To: 5. Expand and Promote the gender parity principle that we have adopted regarding the Commission of the Afri-can Union to all the other organs of the African Union, including its NEPAD programme, to the Regional Economic Communities, and to the national and local levels in collaboration with politi-cal parties and the national parliaments in our countries;7. Actively promote the implemen-tation of legislation to guarantee wom-en’s land, property and inheritance rights including their rights to housing; 8. Take specifi c measures to ensure the education of girls and literacy of women, especially in the rural areas, to achieve the goal of “Education for All” (EFA); 11. Accept to establish an African Trust Fund for Women for the purpose of building the capacity of African women and further request the African Union Commission to work out the

modalities for the operationalisation of the Fund with special focus on women in both urban and rural areas; 13. We request the chairperson of the African Union Commission to submit, for our consideration, an annual report, during our ordinary sessions, on mea-sures taken to implement the principle of gender equality and gender main-streaming, and all issues raised in this Declaration both at the national and regional levels.

Political and Legal Commitments – Excerpts Economic Empowerment of Women | 5AAAAA

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EU-Council ConclusionsConclusions of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council

“Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Development Cooperation”


6. … the Council agrees that enhanc-ing the pro-poor focus and quality of EU AfT includes:➤ stressing the importance that the EU attaches to the impacts of AfT on sustain-able poverty reduction, recognizing in particular that further economic empower-ment of women and increasing the share of women in wage employment deserves utmost attention as an essential cross-sectoral dimension of AfT…

“Aid for Trade“

3. Th e Council recognises that women’s economic empowerment and women’s enjoyment of human rights, in particu-lar political rights, are interdependent and mutually re-inforcing and calls on the Commission and Member States to:➤ make women’s economic and polit-ical empowerment a prominent devel-opment theme;➤ provide special support for women to take advantage of the opportunities aff orded by national and international trade and markets, address negative eff ects of trade liberalisation on women’s working conditions and income opportunities, and➤ enhance public private partnership

in support of the promotion and acceler-ated achievement of gender equality and the elimination of gender based discrimi-nation.

7. Th e Council notes the commitments of development partners including e.g. country owned gender equality policies and regional commitments such as the Africa Union’s Solemn Declara-tion on Gender Equality in Africa and the Protocol to the African Charter on the Human and Peoples´ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Proto-col). Th e Council calls on the Com-mission and the Members States to support devel-opment partners in fulfi lling commitments and goals on gender equality and women’s empower-ment. Th e Council underlines that the eff ective implementation of the interna-

tional commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment must be improved.

19. Th e Council underlines the impor-tance of equal access of women to employ-ment and economic resources, including land, credit, science and technology, decent work, education, vocational train-

ing, information, communication and markets, as a means to further the advancement and empowerment of women and girls.


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“Promoting Employment through EU Development Cooperation”


Underlining its commitment to create opportunities for women and men to obtain full and productive work in condi-tions of freedom, equity, security and dignity while fully respecting the principle of ownership, the Council calls upon the Commission and the Member States to:➤ step up eff orts to promote more and better employment through development

cooperation policies and programming, in particular for young people and women, and coordinate and harmonise their acti-vities in this fi eld as laid down in the Monterrey commitments and the Paris Declaration;➤ support eff orts by the ILO and UN and other international entities to include full and productive employment and decent work for all, in the MDG targets and to develop adequate gender disaggre-gated indicators on more and better employment and decent work for all, including the informal economy…

Highlighting the need to improve the employability and productivity of em ployees in devel-oping countries, the Council calls upon the Commission and the Member States to:➤ support com-prehensive national education and tech-nical and vocational education and train-ing (TVET) strate-gies which cover all

levels and types of formal and non-formal education and training and are oriented on labour market needs, with a special focus on women and young people…

Recalling that a key challenge in develop-ing countries is to encourage a transition from the informal to the formal econ-omy, without taking away the only means of livelihood for millions of people, and given the fact that women more often work in the informal economy with no or limited access to legal services, fi nancial markets and other factors that enable productivity enhancing investments, the Council calls upon the Commission and the Member States to: ➤ support eff orts to address the chal-lenge of gradually formalizing economic activities in the informal sector by improving the business and investment climate to foster private sector develop-ment, by adjusting labour market regula-tion while preventing the loss of jobs and by setting appropriate incentives for infor-mal businesses to move towards formality; ➤ support eff orts to integrate employ-ment promotion activities to further women’s economic opportunities and empowerment.

20. Th e Council recog-nises the key role of women as private sector entrepreneurs, food producers and manag-ers as well as a major agricultural labour force, and actively sup-ports initiatives invest-ing in opportunities for women with regard to private sector develop-ment, agricultural ser-vices, credit, training and networking in the context of government sectoral policies and programmes.


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G8-CommitmentsSummit Declaration Heiligendamm

Political and Legal Commitments - Excerpts

Investment and responsibility – the social dimension of globalization

Promoting Investment Strengthening Financial Markets

Growth and Responsibility in the World Economy

Growth and Responsibility in Africa

21. Globalization and technological progress have resulted in rapid structural change in many regions and economic sectors. We acknowledge that structural change is the inevitable result of progress and that it brings dislocations along with opportunities. Open markets rest on political acceptance, social inclusion, gender equality and the integration of traditionally underrepresented groups such as older workers, youth, immi-grants and persons with disabilities.

29. Th e G8 emphasize the importance of the political and economic empowerment of women as a contribution to sustainable growth and responsible government. We are promoting the World Bank’s Gender Action Plan and welcome this and further initiatives support-ing our African partners’ eff orts to foster the eco-nomic empower-ment of women such as those taken by the United Nations.

31. Countries with functioning fi nancial markets grow faster and achieve lower poverty rates by helping to channel resources to their most productive use, reduce dependence on external fi nancing, and facilitate risk management. Financial

sector defi ciencies such as the lack of long term fi nancing in local currency, pose key obstacles that act to constrain African investors, including small scale and informal entre-preneurs and women.


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Accra Agenda for ActionSeptember 2-4, 2008 Accra Ghana / 3rd High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness

Strengthening Country Ownership over Development


Th is is a moment of opportunity.

2. Th ere has been progress. Fifteen years ago, two out of fi ve people lived in extreme pov-erty; today, that fi gure has been re duced to one in four. However, 1.4 billion people – most of them women and girls – still live in extreme poverty, and access to safe drin king water and health care remains a major issue in many parts of the world. In addition, new global challenges – ri sing food and fuel prices and climate change – threaten the advances against poverty many countries have made.

3. We need to achieve much more if all countries are to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Aid is only one part of the development picture. Demo cracy, economic growth, social pro gress, and care for the environment are the prime engines of development in all countries. Addressing inequalities of income and opportunity within coun-tries and between states is essential to global progress. Gender equality, respect for human rights, and environmental sus-tainability are cornerstones for achieving enduring impact on the lives and potential of poor women, men, and children. It is vital that all our policies address these issues in a more systematic and coherent way.

We will broaden country – level policy dialogue on development

13. We will engage in open and inclusive dia lo gue on development policies. We ack now ledge the critical role and re -sponsibility of parliaments in ensuring country ownership of development

processes. To further this objective we will take the following actions:b. Donors will support eff orts to in crease the capacity of all development actors – parliaments, central and local governments, CSOs, research institutes, media and the private sector – to take an active role in dialogue on development policy and on the role of aid in contributing to countries’ development objectives.

c. Developing countries and donors will ensure that their respective development policies and programmes are de si gned and implemented in ways consistent with their agreed international commit-ments on gender equality, human rights, disability and environmental sustainability.

We will adapt aid policies for countries in fragile situations.

21. b. At country level, donors and deve-loping countries will work and agree on a set of realistic peace- and statebuilding objectives that address the root causes of confl ict and fragility and help ensure the protection and participation of women. Th is process will be informed by interna-tional dialogue between partners and do-nors on these objectives as prerequisites for development.


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1. We, Heads of State and Government and High Representatives, gathered in Doha, Qatar, from 29 of November to 2 of December 2008, almost seven years after the landmark International Conference on Financing for Development, held in Monterrey, Mexico, reiterate our resolve to take concrete action to implement the Monterrey Consensus and address the chal-lenges of fi nancing for development in the spirit of global partnership and solidarity. We once again commit ourselves to eradi-cate poverty, achieve sustained econom-ic growth and promote sustainable devel-opment as we advance to a fully inclusive and equitable global economic system.

4. We recall that gender equality is a basic human right, a fundamental value and an issue of social justice; it is essential for economic growth, poverty reduction, environmental sustainability and develop-ment eff ectiveness. We reit-erate the need for gender mainstreaming into the for-mulation and implementation of development policies, includ-ing fi nancing for development policies, and for dedicated re-sources. We commit ourselves to increas-ing our eff orts to fulfi l our com-mitments regarding gender equal-ity and the empowerment of women.

10. We recognize that a dynamic, inclusive well-functioning and socially responsible private sector is a valuable instrument for generating economic growth and reducing poverty. In order to foster pri-vate-sector development, we shall endeav-our to promote an enabling environment that facilitates entrepreneurship and doing business by all, including women, the poor and the vulnerable. Th e international community, national Governments and regional economic groups should continue to support these eff orts.

11. We will continue to pursue appropriate policy and regulatory frameworks at our respective national levels and in a manner consistent with national laws to en cou-rage public and private initiatives, in clu-ding at the local level, and to foster a dyna mic and well-functioning business sector, while improving income growth and distribution, rai sing productivity, em-powering women and protecting labour rights and the environment. We recognize that the appropriate role of Government in market-oriented economies will vary from country to country.

13. To advance towards the goals of the Monterrey Consensus, policies that link economic and social considerations are re quired to reduce inequalities within and among countries and guarantee that the poor and vulnerable groups benefi t from economic growth and development.

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Doha Declaration on Financingfor DevelopmentUnited Nations General Assembly, 12 December 2008: outcome document of the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus

Reaffi rming the goals and commit -ments of the Monterrey Consensus

Mobilizing domestic fi nancial resources for development


Measures aimed at integrating the poor into productive activities, investing in the devel-opment of their labour skills and facilitat-ing their entry into the labour market are necessary. In this regard, greater eff orts are required for mobilizing more resources, as appropriate, to provide universal access to basic economic and social infrastructure and inclusive social services, as well as capa-city-building, taking special care of women, children, older persons and persons with disabilities in order to enhance their social protection.

18. To achieve equitable development and fos-ter a vibrant economy, it is vital to have a fi nancial infrastructure that provides ac-cess to a variety of sustainable products and services for micro-, small- and medi-um-sized businesses, with particular em-phasis on women, rural populations and the poor. We will make sure that the bene-fi ts of growth reach all people by empower-ing individuals and communities and by improving access to services in the fi elds of fi nance and credit.

19. Gender equality and women’s empower-ment are essential to achieve equitable and eff ective development and to foster a vibrant economy. We reaffi rm our com-mitment to eliminate gender-based dis-crimination in all its forms, including in

the labour and fi nancial markets, as well as, inter alia, in the ownership of assets and property rights.

We will promote women’s rights, includ-ing their economic empowerment, and eff ectively mainstream gender in law re-forms, business support services and economic programmes, and give women full and equal access to economic resour-ces. We will further promote and rein-force capacity-building of State and other stakeholders in gender-responsive pub-lic management, including, but not lim-ited to, gender budgeting.

27. We recognize that the development im-pact of foreign direct investment should be maximized. We further recognize that the transfer of technology and business skills is a key channel through which for-eign direct investment can positively im-pact development. We will strengthen na-tional and international eff orts aimed at maximizing linkages with domestic pro-duction activities, enhancing the transfer of technology and creating training op-portunities for the local labour force, including women and young people.

41. We reaffi rm the essential role that ODA plays, as a complement to other sources of fi nancing for development, in facili-tating the achievement of development

objecti ves, including the internationally agreed development goals, in particular the Millennium Development Goals. For many African countries, least devel-oped countries, small island developing States and landlocked developing coun-tries, ODA is still the largest source of external fi nancing.

ODA can play a catalytic role in assist-ing developing countries in removing constraints to sustained, inclusive and equitable growth, such as enhancing social institutional and physical infra-structure; promoting foreign direct investment, trade and technological innovation; improving health and education; fostering gender equa lity; preserving the environment; and era-dicating poverty.

Mobilizing international resources for development: foreign direct investment and other private fl ows

Increasing international fi nancial and technical cooperation for development

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Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society 14-15 November 2006, Istanbul

1.Th e partners at the Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on “Strengthening the Role of Women in Society”, held on 14-15 November 2006 in Istanbul under the auspices of Finland´s EU Presidency, based on their shared international, regio-nal and national commitments, agreed to work within the following common frame -work of action to strengthen women’s role in political, civil, social, economic and cultural spheres, as well as to fi ght against discrimination.

4. Th e Euro-Mediterranean partners will in clude women’s political, civil, social, eco-nomic and cultural rights in their dialo gues including in the framework of the Associ-ation Agreements, the European Neigh-bourhood Policy action plans and in the EU programs and projects.

7.Recognising that the International Cove-nants on Human Rights include the obliga-tion to ensure the equal rights of men and women to enjoy all economic, social, cul-tural, civil and political rights, the Euro-Mediterranean partners will embrace this

11. To work towards achieving an increase and improvement in women’s employ-ment, stronger social inclusion, a reduc-tion of disparities between rural and urban women and a better knowledge of wom-en’s contribution to the overall economy, the Euro-Mediterranean partners will un-dertake measures that:a. Create equal opportunities and remove obstacles for women to work or to be recruited/ employed or to stay employed.

d. Promote family friendly policies, ai m-ing at reconciliation between professional and family life, in particular aff ordable care services for children, elderly and other de-pendents and ensure a professional envi ron-ment that is suited to women in terms of transport and safety and non-discrimina-tion at the workplace.e. Promote and strengthen national ca-pacities to regularly collect and analyze gender disaggregated data, including on the informal sector and on the impact of macro-economic reforms on women and men.f. Strengthen knowledge of the im-pact of macro-economic policies on women’s and men’s employment and de-velop research focused on gender to enable the elaboration of effi cient strategies aim-ing at strengthening the role of women in the economy.g. Pursue the establishment of gender responsive budget initiatives and ensure more eff ective anti-poverty strategies at both national and local levels.h. Promote women’s representation and participation in economic deci-sion-making positions, in particular in employers’ association, workers’ unions and other socio-economic structures.i. Promote women’s entrepreneurship by improving inter-alia women’s access to land, fi nance, markets, information, training and networking and encourage fi nancial institutions to tailor products to women’s needs, in particular by provi-ding micro-credit.j. Ensure empowerment of women in-cluding through greater access to educa-tion at all levels and to vocational and technical training.


Women's Social and Economic Rights and Sustainable Development

holistic approach based on the following interdependent and interlinked priorities:➤ Women’s political and civil rights➤ Women’s social and economic rights

and sustainable development➤ Women’s rights in the cultural sphere

and the role of communications and the mass media.

Th e Euro-Mediterranean Ministers agreed upon the following Framework of Action:


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African Union Gender Policy 10. Februar 2009

Th e actualisation of human dignity, devel-opment and prosperity for the entire Afri-can people underpins the AU struggle for socio-economic and political develop-ment anchored on a vision of “an inte-grated pro sperous and peaceful Africa … driven and managed by its own citizens … and representing a dynamic force in the inter na tional arena”. Both women and men have worked for the liberation of the con tinent, and for the economic emancipation, solidarity and cohesion necessary for its integration and unity. Th erefore, they should participate and benefi t equally in development processes.

Th us, the quest for gender equality and women’s empowerment should be main-streamed into all the institutional arrange-ments at policy and programming levels, for all AU organs, RECs and Member States to address the key issues of:

1. economic independence and equal access to resources:

2. equal participation and access to economic opportunities in a globalizing world;

5. equal access to education, livelihood and decent work opportunities;

7. equal access to ICT infrastructure and applications, global alliance for IT- development and building a sustain-able e-future.

Analysing the situation across the Conti-nent indicates the existence of disparities between men and women in numerous de-velopment domains and important sectors, namely decision-making, policies and distribution of power, economy, trade, agriculture, rural economy, domestic en-ergy, health and peace negotiations. At the same time, it is more and more evident that Africa’s capacity to attain sustained

economic growth and reduce the end-emic levels of poverty obliges us to conse-crate all eff orts to women and girls.

Despite progressive constitutions across the Continent, only a limited number of development plans contain strong elements in terms of gender equality. Furthermore, numerous national action plans in this domain have hardly or no relation to national development strategies or even with accounts/budgets. Weak representa-tion of women in diverse ministerial posi tions in many states and even in Par-liament as well as in the judicial system is a major concern and challenge that demands prompt attention. Th is policy will provide the necessary framework that could overcome this disparity and accelerate mainstreaming the gender is-sue in all sectors of society.

Part II: The Context of the African Union Gender Policy


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Part III: AU Gender Policy Commitments

AU Organs including, RECs and Member States will:

1. Ensure that all political declarations and decisions are geared towards the elimina-tion of persisting barriers that militate against gender equality and women’s em-powerment.

2. Understand implications of non-compli-ance in monetary and programmatic terms to gender mainstreaming policies and pro-grammes as evidenced in international/UN socio econo-mic indicators, standards and targets and make declarations to correct the situation.

5. Ensure that all AU Assembly Decisions to the SDGEA implementation are enforced by AU Organs, RECs and Members States, including the establishment, operationali-sation and sustainability of a Trust Fund for African Women as a fl agship response to economic empowerment for African wom-en within the PRSP Framework by 2011.


Th e commitment that the Organs of the AU, RECs and Members Stares will im-plement this commitment across sectors and that the AU Commission will main-stream gender in:

➤ Chairperson’s Bureau and Directorates under the portfolio

➤ Deputy Chairperson’s Bureau and Di-rectorates under the portfolio

➤ Peace and Security➤ Political Aff airs ➤ Social Aff airs ➤ Human Resources, Science

and Technology➤ Economic Aff airs ➤ Trade and Industry ➤ Infrastructure and Energy➤ Rural Economy, Agriculture and Food

Safety/Environment.

gender policy and project actions that re-duce gender inequality and increase equal participation of men and women.

AU Organs, RECs and Member States will:

1. Include gender budgeting principles in an-nual budgetary processes for eff ective im-plementation of the gender policy by 2015.

2. Accelerate the implementation of commit-ments to gender equality and women’s em-powerment through increased resource al-location by 2015 for capacity development in gender mainstreaming, policies, strate-gies and action plans.


Mobilising and allocating fi nancial and non-fi nancial resources to implement this policy and the ten year Action Plan is criti-cal and will among others include the es-tablishment of the African Women Trust Fund as one mechanism to ensure the pol-icy implementation as well as the eff ective mainstreaming of gender in policies, insti-tutions and programmes at regional, na-tional and local levels. A commitment to direct organisational resources towards the

4.Strengthen partnerships with international fi nancial agencies/institutions to increase technical expertise and fi nancial support for the implementation of the gender policy.

5.Establish, operationalise and resource the African Women Trust Fund.

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COMMITMENT 1: CREATING AN EN-ABLING AND STABLE ENVIRONMENT

COMMITMENT 5: MOBILIZING RESOURCES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE AU GENDER POLICY

COMMITMENT 7: IMPLEMENT GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN ALL SECTORS

Economic Empowerment of Women Political and Legal … · particular that further economic...

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