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ee--61,0






THE

COURIER


Editorial Board
Co-chairs
Sir John Kaputin, Secretary General
Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States
www.acp.int
Mr Stefano Manservisi, Director General of DG Development
European Commission
ec.europa.eu/development/
Core staff
Editor-in-chief
Hegel Goutier
Journalists
Marie-Martine Buckens (Deputy Editor-in-chief)
Debra Percival


Editorial Assistant, Production and Pictures research
Joshua Massarenti
Contributed in this issue
Victoria Burbridge, Maude Dikobe, Sandra Federici, Souleymane Saddi Mazou,
Anne-Marie Mouradian, Nikolaj Nielsen and Okechukwu Romano Umelo.
Project Manager
Gerda Van Biervliet
Artistic Coordination, Graphic Conception
Gregorie Desmons
Public Relations
Andrea Marchesini Reggiani
Distribution
Viva Xpress Logistics www.vxlnet.be
MCover
The bust, Claude Cauquil. Photo: Hegel Goutier/
Graphical adaptation: Gregorie Desmons
Back cover
"Mechanisms put in place in Africa concerning gender equality
are in urgent need of overhaul". REA/Reporters


Contact
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The views expressed are those of the authors and do not represent the official view
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Editorial


Gender. How to speak of men?


contains no articles that make specific
reference to the noun 'man' in their title.
Nevertheless, man, the male of the spe-
cies, is the principal subject. When we speak of
the injustices condemned in Beijing in 1995 at the
United Nations World Conference on Women -
injustices that are continuing man is there. When
we stress the progress achieved in terms of national
and international laws, education, the combating
of misogyny and iniquities against women, he is
also there. Laws to promote equal opportunities
between the genders could not have been approved
in the parliaments of the world without the support
of the men who make up the majority of the law-
makers who sit in them.

Women and men whether champions of equal
rights between the genders, or chauvinists -are
engaged in a permanent dialectic. When one is in
the light, the other is in the shadows and the light
is only perceived because there are shadows. When
one speaks of injustice against women, from rape
to the pre-empting of important political posts, one
also speaks of the perpetrators. The perpetrator or
the subject, the one who "does commit the act".
While women are conquering certain male bastions,
such as high-level posts in the US black community
or academic success at Jamaica's universities, we
also see the emergence of complexes among men
that translate into reactions that are chauvinist,
suicidal or self-deprecating. The film by the direc-
tor Denys Arcand, The Decline of the American
Empire, which takes place in Quebec, illustrates
the fact that disarray among males is not limited to
certain societies.

When we speak of women, man is also present.
Elisabeth Badinter, in X Y. De l'identit masculine,


remarked that the male will proclaim successively
in the course of his life that he is not his mother's
boy, that he is not a girl and that he is not gay. She
concludes that "being a man is said more often in
the imperative than in the indicative... it implies a
labour, an effort that does not seem to be demanded
in the same way of women... as if femininity were
natural and masculinity had to be acquired at great
cost*." She adopts the words of Pierre Bourdieu**:
"To praise a man it is enough to tell him that he is
a man." She then concludes that "contrary to patri-
archal belief, it is not men who are the first referents
of humanity but women. It is in relation to women
and in opposition to women that men have been
defined... Until now."

Until now. Because men are changing. A new mas-
culine identity that seeks similarities with women,
rather than dissimilarities and opposition, is in the
making. We must no longer ignore the violence and
the strength of women considered as the eternal
"victims of masculine oppression, of the other, of
the all-powerful torturers"*** in a humanity that is
divided into two.

Failure to combat misogyny in the name of misan-
dry. That is a way of speaking of men.

Hegel Goutier
Editor-in-chief




* L'Un est l'Autre, editions Odile Jacob, 1986, p. 249
** La domination masculine, Actes de la recherche
en sciences sociales, no 84, Sept. 1990, p 21.
*** Fausse route, editions Odile Jacob, 2003, p. 113.


SPECIAL EDITION N.E. DECEMBER 2009

































Ilges or I 'udC


DfnIli Io niesl'


Reading the studies by institutions and experts on the development of the situation of women
since the UN Conference on Women in Beijing, it is difficult to detect any clear trend. At the
public level, in both the legislative and employment fields, women's rights have progressed
in nearly ail regions of the world and the same is true in the fields of education and political
representation. However, at the private level, injustice in its most brutal form, namely physical
violence, remains an issue and has even been on the increase. Moreover, there is the further
problem of the reliability of data.


> The hundred flowers since Beijing

Already by 1995 in Beijing, a great deal of
progress was claimed in areas like women's
participation in the political process. On
the stage in Beijing stood symbolic figures
such as Benazir Bhutto, at the time Prime
Minister of Pakistan, who gave a reading
from the Koran that combined a defence
of Islamic values with a rejection of funda-
mentalism. Later, then U.S. Senator Hillary
Rodham Clinton, attacked the delegation of
conservative representatives from her own
country's Senate. But the final declaration
of the meeting was positive, laying down
in international legislation principles that
countries were bound to respect. These
principles included the right of women to
decide freely their own sexuality as well as
the classification of rape as a crime, or even
(in the case of war or other conflict) as an


act of genocide for which the warring par-
ties, even if victorious, could one day be held
responsible before a court of law. Another
obligation was to facilitate the access to
credit for women, with a view to improving
their independent financial status.
In ail, representatives of 184 nations put their
signatures to the final document, although
around 50 of them added a number of cave-
ats. The Courier, present in Beijing*, raised
the question of whether the pledges given
would be respected given these reservations
from some of the delegates.

> Despite everything, major
progress

In areas such as politics, the economy and
education progress has clearly been made
since the Beijing declarations and there are


several examples to illustrate this. Literacy
has increased sharply almost everywhere in
the world. Indeed in three developing coun-
tries, Jamaica, Nicaragua and Uruguay,
literacy among women is now higher than
among men. In four other countries -
including Cuba there is now total gender
equality. Elsewhere, women fill 58 per cent
of the decision-making positions in the
Philippines, ahead of Tanzania with 49 per
cent. These two are followed by Barbados
(with 43 per cent), another ACP country.
The United States ranks fourth**.
In the employment sector, the numbers of
women in the workforce have increased
continuously in most parts of the globe since
1989, falling only in Eastern and Central
Europe, the Middle East and North Africa,
where it still remains below the global aver-
age of 40 per cent***.


COURIER
















































> The many facets of continuing
injustices


All the same, real progress often suffers
setbacks. This is the case with a similar
increase in recent years in both the rate of
paid employment among women and the
rate of unemployment among women. Also,
in education, two-thirds of the illiterate
continue to be women. This can be at least
partly explained by the progress in literacy
rates among men.
There are only five countries where men and
women are represented equally in the ranks
of government: Spain, Iceland, Sweden,
Austria and Denmark. However, today, a
total of 15 countries have gender parity in
their parliaments, with Rwanda leading the
world and South Africa also ranking highly.
Three ACP countries, Botswana, Tanzania
and Eritrea, draw a third of their parliamen-
tary law-makers from women.
But the overall picture is far from perfect
and, despite the provisions laid down in
national and international legislation stat-
ing that discrimination or violence against
women are crimes that carry an appropriate
punishment, those guilty of such violations
often continue to escape justice. Sexual slav-
ery, for example, is on the increase, includ-
ing in European countries.
Today, the ineffectiveness of the justice

SPECIAL EDITION N.E. DECEMBER 2009


system, in certain cases, is in itself criminal.
Consider this: one woman in four is the
victim of serious violence in the home****.
Rape by armed men is widespread and
has become a national disaster in both the
Congo and Darfur. In Mexico, which has
ample police and legal means at its disposal,
305 bodies of raped and murdered women
have been found and not a single suspect
arrested*****.


> Which way is the balance tipping?


The data for assessing serious gender imbal-
ance or discrimination lacks precision and
the institutions that use this information
often regard it as less than accurate. This
is even true of the most well-known data:
indicators on the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs); the Gender-related
Development Index (GDI); and the UN
Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM).
Now, however, a growing number of studies
are seeking to develop indicators that reflect
the true gender dimension and can meas-
ure change with greater accuracy. A study
published by the UNDP in 2007, entitled
Gender and Indicators Overview consid-
ers that a start should be made by "measur-
ing the difficulty of measuring." The gender
dimension or women's emancipation, for


example, are realities for which it is diffi-
cult to set parameters. Equally, a study on
women's poverty should include so-called
"time poverty", to quantify the unremuner-
ated work of women.

Neither is the data supplied by individual
countries always reliable and there are situ-
ations where studies and data are spoiled
due to negligence during the research proc-
ess. Then again, a result can be more about
the mathematics than a real social switch.
For example, a reduction in the number of
male students at universities in Jamaica and
other countries has the automatic effect of
boosting the figures for women. But is the
result a mere statistic or a true measure of
gender change?
* The Courier, Issue 154, November-December
1995.
** UNDP, 2006 report.
*** 2006 report by the UN Commission on the
Status of Women on the economic promotion of
women).
**** According to the UNDP 2007 report.
***** French movement for family planning.

Keywords
Women; UN Conference on Women in
Beijing; Benazir Bhutto; Hillary Rodham
Clinton; Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs); Gender-related Development
Index (GDI); UN Gender Empowerment
Measure (GEM).



































D rawn up by the EC's Directorate
General for Development, in tan-
dem with the External Relations
Directorate, and with the help
of EU Member States, the action plan will
aim at further translating the existing policy
into practice, explains Victoria Correa. The
EC's gender equality policy for develop-
ing countries is already laid down in the
'EC Communication on Gender Equality
and Women Empowerment in Development
Cooperation', but Victoria Correa says that
the new action plan establishes concrete
steps for the European Commission and
EU Member States to further jointly deliver
on their gender equality commitments and
have more of an impact on the ground.

Still on the drawing board when the Courier
went to press, the 'action plan' will propose
a three-pronged approach involving further
political and policy dialogue with develop-
ing country partners on gender issues, the
mainstreaming of gender this means ensur-
ing that a gender perspective is integrated
into all policy areas, programmes, strategies
and interventions from road building to
rural development for instance and specific
actions to address situations that require
targeted support. Building on existing EU
and EC resources, instruments and mecha-
nisms, the action plan will put forward a
series of activities and performance indi-
cators to be carried out jointly during the
period 2010-2015.

Between 2000-2007, a 'mainstreaming' ap-
proach to projects was adopted as opposed
to specific gender projects but the '2007
Communication on gender equality and empow-
erment' also recommended specific actions as a
complement to gender mainstreaming in order


to achieve targeted results and foster women's
empowerment in developing countries.


> 2007 Communication


The EC's 2007 Communication refers to the
Millennium Development Goals (see previous
article) and goes beyond them, highlight-
ing some of the critical areas that are not
addressed in the MDGs, and in particular in
MDG 3 (promote gender equality and women
empowerment) and MDG 5 (improve mater-
nal health). For instance, the Communication
lays emphasis on addressing issues such as
female genital mutilation (see separate article);
gender-based violence in all its manifesta-
tions, and trafficking in women.

Daniela Rofi, Gender Desk Officer at the



























COURIER


, J






From Beijing to now


EC's EuropeAid Co-operation Office,
explains that the EC provides assistance to
advance the gender equality agenda in the
partner countries through the European
Development Fund and the EC Thematic
Programmes. The European Development
Fund (EDF) assists ACP countries in their
structural reforms of the education, health


and justice sectors to make them accessible
to both boys and girls, women and men.
The EDF is also instrumental in building
the national capacity to design and imple-
ment gender policies. Through the Thematic
Programmes, especially "Investing in peo-
ple 2007-2013, which contains a budget for
'sexual and reproductive health and rights"


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and 'gender equality and women's rights', the
EC supports civil society organizations active
in the field of gender equality and women's
rights. Also the EC cooperates with the United
Nations (see below).

Keywords
Gender; Victoria Correa; Daniela
Rofi; CEDAW; MDGs; Female Genital
Mutilation; Swaziland; Ethiopia.







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SPECIAL EDITION N.E. DECEMBER 2009




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Applying good intentions

A body of international legislation recognizes gender equality as a fundamental right and of
importance in combating poverty although implementation has often fallen short of targets,
notably the Millennium Development Goal (MDG 5) on improving maternal health. Progress
often depends on individuals taking up the mantle such as Sweden's Minister for International
Development Cooperation, Gunilla Carlsson, who has put women's participation in peace
and security talks on the agenda of the Swedish Presidency of the EU. President of Liberia,
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is aiso leading by example in having organised a women's international
leadership conference in Monrovia in March 2009.


approach to gender empowerment
has evolved since the 1970s when
the United Nations' International
Year of Women in 1975 and international
women's decade (1976-85) saw the formation
of a rash of women's ministries and the adop-
tion of 'Women in Development' policies by
governments and non-governmental bodies,
although such projects had limited success
since they did not include issues of land
ownership and access to markets, credit and
information.
The mid-1970s brought in a move towards
a more strategic approach to empowering
women, encompassing legislative change.


The 30 articles of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW), adopted by the
UN General Assembly in 1979, was based on
the principles of equality, non discrimination
and state obligation. CEDAW's obligations
are binding although reservations (meaning
non-compliance) are permitted on individual
articles. One hundred and eighty five states
are currently party to the Convention.
The Beijing Action Plan, put in place follow-
ing the Fourth United Nations' Conference
on Women in 1995, confirmed the move from
projects under the banner of women in devel-
opment to mainstreaming of gender empow-
erment policies. It highlighted the inequalities


where action was required across all branches
of governments who signed up to the plan from
unequal access to health care and related serv-
ices to the effects of armed conflict on women.

> "Best practices"
But as President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-
Sirleaf, said at European Development Days
in Stockholm, Sweden, national plans post-
Beijing have "fallen below expectations". In
Stockholm, she made an appeal to look at
"best practices". She told the conference she
had placed women in strategic cabinet posi-
tions such as Justice, Finance (traditional
male preserves) and put the girl child at the


COURIER


V:





< A refugee-camp area de-forested by Sudanese refugees in
Chad. Women have to trek far from the camp to find fire wood,
increasing their risk of being attacked 2009. c Reporters
> Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf at European
Development Days (EDD) Stockholm, Sweden,
22 October 2009. 0 Reporters/Scanpix






centre of her strategy which had included
bringing in a tough rape law to stamp out
the violence against women which was rife
when she became Head of State, post-
conflict, in 2006
Progress lags on the attainment of some of
the specific United Nations' Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) adopted by
governments at the turn of the century
relating to women, highlights the United
Nations' own 2009 Millennium Goals
Report, notably MDG 5 on improving
maternal health. The number of maternal
deaths per 100,000 live births has hardly
fallen in sub-Saharan Africa declining from
just 920 in 1990 to 900 in 2005, and half
of all maternal deaths (265,000) annu-
ally occur in sub-Saharan Africa, says the
report. Progress on MDG 3 the promotion
of gender equality and female empower-
ment meant to eliminate gender disparity
in primary and secondary education, and in
ail levels of education not later than 2015 is
also wanting. "In the developing regions as
a whole, 95 girls were enrolled in primary
school for every 100 boys in 2007, compared
to 91 in 1999. However, the target of elimi-
nating gender disparities in primary and


secondary education by 2005 was missed.
Ensuring the opportunity is not lost again
in 2015 will require renewed urgency and
commitment", says the report.
The same report contains rosier figures for
the proportion of seats held by women in
single or lower houses of national parlia-
ments in sub-Saharan Africa which stands
at 18 per cent, compared with 9 per cent
in 2000 and in Latin Amercica and the
Caribbean, 22 per cent, the highest regional
average recorded. "Sub-Saharan Africa
continues to make strides, with Rwanda out


in front: it made history in September 2008
when its lower chamber elected a majority
(56 per cent) of women members, reads the
report. But nine chambers mainly in the
Pacific islands and Arab Gulf States have
no women members of parliament at all.
The report also says that the 2008 global
financial crisis has created new hurdles to
women's employment. D.P.

Keywords
Gender; women; Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs); Sweden; Minister for
International Development Cooperation;
Gunilla Carlsson; Liberia; Ellen Johnson-
Sirleaf; European Development Days;
Stockholm; CEDAW; United Nations.


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of access to e ducation and the girl child was

















Today, Botswana has a higher proportion
of females in higher education (see box).
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SBotswana is unique among many Africane

countries in that as far as higher education is


concerned, the gender gap is narrowing.. .








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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


sion that there will be equality once these
students graduate and enter the job market.
This is not the case, especially if you look at
the University of Botswana's top manage-
ment. The absence of women in senior man-
agement positions raises a lot of questions.
The Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor, and
the two Deputy Vice Chancellor positions
are ail occupied by males except for Deputy
Vice Chancellor, Student Affairs. Tilting
the lens to the academic section, 93 per cent
of professors are male and about seven per
cent female.
In her paper, 'Gender Audit at the University
of Botswana: The Case of the Faculty of
Humanities', Rosaline Nhlekisana says
that most positions are occupied by males


because of the institution's "patriarchal cul-
ture" which is not unique to the university
and is rampant in some of the organizations
outside the academy, where the employer is
constantly faced with the challenge to prove
that, perhaps, "the best man for the job is a
woman".
Progress on gender equality in traditionally
male posts has been slow although Batswana
women are breaking through with such as
the appointment of Dr. Attaliah Molokomme
as Attorney General. The Botswana Defence
Force is also now welcoming women into
the army.
But the giant leaps women are making into
careers traditionally reserved for men do not


sit well with some males. Some detractors
feel that Batswana women have sufficient
opportunities and no longer need affirma-
tive action policies. There is hence a lot of
backlash with the need to curtail women's
efforts for equality if they get too powerful
and oust men from their privileged posi-
tions. Access to education is one thing,
gender equality another. We need measures
to improve equality within managerial posi-
tions, boardrooms, parliament etc. This
calls for a change of mind-set.

Keywords
Dr. Attaliah Molokomme; University of
Botswana; gender equality.


COURIER




















































In Niger, men are taking action to improve the health of women and children by engaging in
awareness-raising campaigns initiated by women's groups and associations.


hostile to any issue pertaining to
sexual health. Even now, a consid-
erable number still prevent their
wives from visiting family health centres.
"When chatting, 1 make my friends aware of
the benefits of pre- and postnatal consulta-
tion", explain a shopkeeper in Niamey, and
someone who knows a lot about maternal
and child health. Most often, awareness-
raising events take place in the public square or
during local festivities.

The work, carried out by men, leads to
impressive results. "Women are now visiting
family health centres more and more. At the
slightest worry regarding their health, they
go to their nearest centre", recalls Aichatou,
a midwife at Niamey. "Results are even more
striking in the many villages where the men
themselves drive their wives to their appoint-
ments, which was unheard of only a few
years ago", adds a colleague.


> Broken taboos


Without inhibition, men now allow their
wives to make use of contraception. "This is
all thanks to the emancipation of the woman
in Niger. Our associations have made great
strides. It's taken a long time, but the effort
has been worth it", rejoices a militant advo-
cate of women's rights.

Views have changed regarding contracep-
tion. In the past, opposition was widespread
in both rural and urban areas. "My husband
forbade me to take any medication to space
out the births. Even so, 1 still used it all
the time. Now, though, we both decide on
whether to use it", explains a 33 year old
mother of four. Many women like her took
contraception without their husbands know-
ing. But a large number now do so with the
approval of their spouses, who are better
informed on the subject.


"In the past, 1 thought this kind of idea was
a very Western one. But since meeting with
the group of men who have agreed to change
their relationship to family planning, 1 have
quite a different take. Now 1 discuss this
type of question with my wife", confides a
47 year old man.

The media have made a considerable contri-
bution alongside women's organizations to
convince men of the arguments in favour of
changing their attitudes towards reproduc-
tion. These efforts have met with consid-
erable resistance, however, on the part of
the marabouts (Islamic leaders and teach-
ers). But as times change, the latter have
started preaching on the subject in their
sermons. Since then, the prevailing climate
has changed appreciably. "Limiting births is
prohibited in Islam, but not their deferral."

Keywords
Niger; Health; men; women; civil society.


SPECIAL EDITION N.E. DECEMBER 2009




































It was in the aftermath of the World
Conference on Women in Mexico in
1975 that the majority of African coun-
tries began to take measures to insti-
gate gender equality. There was one nota-
ble exception, Rwanda, which from 1965
onwards already had a system in place, but
one which still has little substance, as Fatou
Sarr explains in a report drawn up in 2008.
Nonetheless, remarks the expert, the min-
istry for gender and women's promotion
(referred to as Migeprofe), set up in Rwanda
in 1999, is a model of its type in as far as its
role has been clearly defined, namely that
of promoting gender fairness and equality
within the development process and lead-
ing the shift from a 'vertical' approach to a
'horizontal' one.

This is not the case in countries such as the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),
Senegal, Gabon or Togo. "Very often", she
explains, "these countries have confined
themselves to action plans containing eclec-
tic, ad hoc programmes which correspond
to the particular needs of the development
stakeholders."


Since the 4th World Conference on Women
in Beijing in 1995, various 'national women's
councils' have been set up in the majority of
these countries. As advisory bodies to gov-
ernments, their main activity is the organis-
ing of special events. A further innovation
are the 'gender focus points'. Unfortunately,
adds the sociologist, these lack the necessary
skills and expertise, meaning they exert lit-
tle influence, owing (with the exception of
Rwanda) to their lack of strategic position-
ing. Moreover, they sorely lack the financial
means they seek from their national minis-
tries (often less than 1 per cent of the national
budget, as in Togo (0.29 per cent), the DRC
(0.042 per cent) or Senegal (0.2 per cent).

The solution? According to Fatou Sarr, meas-
ures need to focus on heads of state "in
Africa, the social structure is still very strati-
fied" to encourage them to raise the budget
allocated to the issue, reinforcing this social
movement and thus giving it the necessary
clout to have a decisive impact on policy.

Keywords
Fatou Sarr; gender equality; Africa;
parliament.


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ir[WiTi il 1 I inI ami
Bassilla Renju-Urasa, executive coordinator of Tanzania's
Network of Women Against Female Genital Mutilation
(NAFGEM) says that although Tanzania outlawed Female
Genital Mutilation (FGM)/circumcision in 1998, the practice
continues. "We exist because the law is not applied"' she says.


S ome of the women who work with
NAFGEM have themselves suffered
through the procedure as girls. The
body disseminates information and
documents cases to try to change attitudes
to some deep-rooted customs. Education,
according to NAFGEM, is essential to com-
bating FGM. A lot of women live in remote
rural areas and find it difficult to bring for-
ward a case.

NAFGEM's little office on the third floor
of a side street in Moshi is the epicentre of a
movement that has made a positive change
in the Kilimanjaro Region. But among the
Masai, says Mrs. Renju-Urasa, the practice
of FGM stubbornly persists. "The Masai
cannot imagine someone not circumcised. It
is a must. And the uneducated...the women,
accept it", she adds.

Just outside Chekimaji, a village nestled at
the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, a mother and


SPECIAL EDITION N.E. DECEMBER 2009


daughter from the Kamba tribe are standing
ground. The girl's father, a school teacher,
has recently passed away and now her uncle
has taken over the household. He demands
that her mother become his concubine. She
refuses. Furious, the uncle says he will stop
paying for Pascalini's secondary schooling in
Dar-es-Salaam. The uncle wants to marry
the girl off; circumcised. Circumcision
entails serious psychological impacts and
potentially life-threatening physical com-
plications. According to NAFGEM, some
girls can subsequently develop an abnormal
growth that obstructs normal bodily func-
tions. The most common mutilation proce-
dure involves simply cutting off part of, or
the entire clitoris. Tanzania's National Plan
of Action to Combat FGM (2001-2015)
attempts to address the issue but so far, with
limited success. Penal Code 1930 was enact-
ed to criminalise the practice of FGM but the
passive nature of law enforcement means the
practice is condoned.


The mother reported the uncle's intentions
to the authorities but without results. Her
daughter then threatened to kill herselfrather
than undergo the procedure. Frightened for
her daughter's life and unable to rely on the
local authorities, the mother sends someone
from the village off to NAFGEM.

The next day 1 find mother and her daughter
standing under the sparse shade of a tree
Pascalini remains, for the most part silent, as
her mother speaks on her behalf. "My daugh-
ters hate this hell", she says. She has seven
children, four of whom are daughters. The
family feels abandoned and is despised by
everyone in the village, she says. "Most have
turned their backs on us", she says. A letter,
unsigned, was delivered to her doorstep.
Threats were made against her children,
she says. Back in Moshi, Mrs. Renju-Urasa
listens to the report that the girl in question
is facing the threat of FGM and notes that
her fear is tangible. A proper investigation is
required but only by those that understand
the intimacy of the Kilimanjaro region: by
someone from NAFGEM.
* Brussels-based journalist.
Keywords
NAFGEM; Female Genital Mutilation.















































M.II111111


iII lIE III L


> From redundancy to a thriving
business The Jennifer Williams
story
Forty-two year old Jennifer Williams was
forced to become an entrepreneur after
she was made redundant from a food and
distribution company in Jamaica where she
had worked for six years as a salesperson.
She has never looked back. With a little


encouragement and not much money, she
started her own fashion design business,
Akira Lyn, focusing mostly on swimwear
and leisure wear made from crotchet mate-
rial. "I used to make doilies", she says of
her early interest in sewing. "There was
no challenge doing that. 1 then started
creating and putting things together and it
looked good." Williams, whose business is
home-based, was able to get wider publicity
for her skills through her association with


C1 don't like the idea
of working for people;
I love being self-
employed,

the Jamaica Fashion and Apparel Cluster
group, established by the Jamaica Business
Development Centre (JBDC), a government


COURIER


llkil


3iI






Caribbean


agency which provides business and techni-
cal support services to small businesses.
Her pieces were shown at the national level
at House of Flava, an established fashion
house in Jamaica, and at the international
level when she was part of a delegation to
Brussels last year.

She was also part of a team of local design-
ers who prepared a 30-piece wardrobe for
last year's 'Miss Jamaica World' pageant.
"I am always happy and excited when 1 see
people wearing my pieces", she says glow-
ing with pride in being a part of that select
group of designers. "When 1 see my work in
the paper or at a photo shoot, it feels good."
Williams, however, says there are challenges
in keeping the business afloat, especially in
marketing: "People will see your stuff and
like it but may say it is too expensive."


> Economic downturn

Running a young business in the current
economic downturn can be difficult, espe-
cially in getting start-up capital, but she has
learnt from a difficult childhood always to
look for the opportunities in difficult situ-
ations. "Recession prepares you for better
things. You use every bad situation as a step-
ping stone and 1 am used to recession", she
says. Growing up in Bull Bay, a poor com-
munity in the parish of St.Thomas, has been
no barrier to her big dreams for the busi-


SPECIAL EDITION N.E. DECEMBER 2009


ness. "I hope to see myself up there going to
China, Africa... the entire world", she says
smiling. She eventually wants her grand-
daughter, Akira, after whom she named the
business, to take it forward. "I am trying to
pave the way so that she won't have to go
through what 1 did while growing up", she
says, fighting back the tears when recalling
what seems to have been a tough childhood.
While it is difficult to get a business going
in these hard economic times, Williams
believes that it is good to take risks. Her
advice to other aspiring entrepreneurs? "Just
start the engine and drive", she says, "you
have to be a go-getter; you can't give up".
When down to her last few coins, she says
she would use what she had to buy material
to make one of her pieces. "Don't be afraid
to take chances", she says.


> aspiring factory owner -
Simone Garden
Simone Garden, a 36 year-old mother of
three, aspires to one day opening a sewing
factory where she can employ several per-
sons in creating leisure wear clothing from
crush cotton sheer and bright tie and dye
colours. For now, Garden is carving out a
niche market for herself in Jamaica's fledging
fashion industry. She owns a small fashion
boutique in Spanish Town, St. Catherine,
where she sells her own garments. Garden,
who opened her boutique doors just three


years ago, says she has been sewing since the
age of eight. "I started sewing for friends not
collecting any money, just sewing because 1
love it. 1 love seeing people in my pieces",
she says, recounting the first time she cut a
piece of material freehand. With no formal
training, Garden says she learnt her skill at
the knees of her mother who was a dress-
maker and whose mother was a dressmaker
and father a tailor.

"I grew up seeing my mother, grandmother
and grandfather busy with their own lit-
tle business", she says. "I don't like the
idea of working for people; 1 love being
self-employed." Although she completed
secondary education, she says she was moti-
vated to start her own business. She got
help from her mother with buying a sewing
machine but as the business got bigger she
decided to rent a shop in one of the plazas
located outside Spanish Town, the capital of
St. Catherine, the largest parish in Jamaica.


> Unique designs

She says business on the plaza has been
slow, especially since the economic down-
turn, but she finds ways of getting around
this by going where the customers are. "I
try very hard to be creative. So (customers)
even if they don't want to buy are forced to
when they look at the designs. The designs
are unusual and have a unique finish."
Garden says most of her clients are persons
in the entertainment industry especially
those who wear Dancehall outfits. She how-
ever produces for a diverse market including
casual, resort and children's wear. Despite
the challenges, it's her love for her work
that keeps her going. She would like to
open a factory where she can create jobs
for others. "I would love to one day have
some good dedicated workers to help me in
creating my designs", she says of her future
plans. Garden also got local exposure when
she participated in the Caribbean Fashion
Week, a popular Caribbean fashion show
organised each year in Jamaica which show-
cases pieces from several Caribbean design-
ers. Meanwhile, her work was also high-
lighted overseas when she was also asked to
create one of the pieces for the wardrobe of
last year's 'Ms. Jamaica World'.
* Jamaican journalist.


Keywords
Jennifer Williams; Simone Garden;
Jamaica; Jamaica Business Development
Centre; Caribbean Fashion Week.










































T he programme benefited 22 ACP* MDG five on maternal

and October 2008. It was launched
by the EC to relieve the dramatic progresss)
impact on poor countries in the wake of
the former administration of United States adoption of a law punishing rapists with 25
President George Bush to cut off the US years in prison, or even life imprisonment for
contribution to international family plan- transmitting fatal diseases.
ning programmes. In 2002, the UNFPA
estimated that if US financing had contin- There is no avoiding the fact, however, the at *
ued, it would have made it possible to avoid the international community is still a long way
two million unwanted pregnancies, mean- frommeetingGoalfiveoftheUNMillennium
ing 800,000 fewer abortions, as well as more Development Goals (MDGs) that aims to
thon 77 000 A ,th f nf ,nt an 1dr1 hi d t ;'lt th, t'
I^^ j ^4flA IIW.I1IIIUQLIIy>yII^ML


The joint EC/ACP/IPPF/UNFPA pro-
gramme has enabled over 1.6 million peo-
ple to benefit from sexual and reproductive
health services and has trained thousands
of professionals, while at the same time
helping ACP governments to draw up and
implement policies in the sector.

In Rwanda, for example, more than 150,000
people attended awareness sessions on HIV/
AIDS prevention and family planning.
Almost 10,000 young Rwandans underwent
voluntary testing for HIV, while 1,500 peo-
ple who tested HIV-positive were assisted
by health insurance funds in gaining access
to treatment. About 100 peer educators
were trained and almost 40,000 people ben-
efited from family planning and reduced risk
maternity services. The IPPF representative
in Rwanda also drew attention to Kigali's


between 1990 and 2015. Currently falling at
the rate of scarcely one per cent per year, of all
the MDGs, this is without doubt the one that
has seen the least progress.

Conference participants therefore stressed
the urgent need to strengthen the capacity
of healthcare professionals in ACP coun-
tries and to encourage governments to make
reproductive health a priority in their strate-
gic documents to reduce poverty. In future,
it is important for health ministers to have
an input in such documents. And despite
the financial crisis, donors must pledge to
step up universal access to reproductive
health and achieve the 2010 milestone of
35 million more births attended by trained
medical staff each year. The EU is to invest
C86M up to 2015 with a special focus on
involving civil society in ACP countries and
helping the most vulnerable and unders-


erved young people, among whom unwant-
ed pregnancies are most prevalent.

President Obama's decision to resume US
contributions to the UNFPA and the IPPF,
confirmed by the US representative to the
conference, was welcomed with relief by the
event participants.

* Financing: 32M. Countries: Burkina Faso,
Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea,
Ghana, Jamaica, Niger, Rwanda, Suriname,
Tanzania, Congo, Dominican Republic, Gambia,
Haiti, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritania, Nigeria,
Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tuvalu, Zambia.


Keywords
Sexual and Reproductive Health Programme;
HIV; ACP; EC; UNFPA; IPPF.


COURIER













e Ie th o







The African Diaspora are increasingly recognized as significant development actors,
providing remittances, Foreign Direct Investment, technology and knowledge transfers and
positive political contributions to their countries of origin. African women in the Diaspora
are coming to the fore. But as Stphanie Mbanzendore, Chairperson of Burundian Women
for Peace and Development (BWPD) notes, better targeted policies are needed.


A member of the Diaspora her-
self and chairing the Diaspora-
led BWPD in the Netherlands,
Mbanzendore is an empowering
voice for her counterparts. There is no deny-
ing the role that women in the Diaspora
have played in developing the continent,
she says, "particularly in the fields of intel-
lectual cooperation, technology transfer,
education and healthcare and the fight for
peace and development in Africa".

In the EU and Africa, opportunities are
opening up for women to establish con-
tact with decision-makers and express their
views through regular conferences and sem-
inars. These include BWPD seminars on
fostering unity, youth and development and
AIDS prevention.

But with opportunities come challenges.
"The same women who lobby are never
taken seriously when it comes to implement-
ing projects for their countries", she says.
Accessing EU funds for some Diaspora-led
projects can be "very difficult" and "more
complicated than in bilateral cooperation",
she adds.

> Global presence, local impact

Living abroad, the Diaspora run the
risk of being disconnected from realities
on the ground. This is where Diaspora
organizations can play a major role, says
Mbanzendore, providing the missing link
between stakeholders in African countries
and the rest of the world.

Through "cooperative relationships with
organizations on the ground", African
Diaspora organizations are constantly kept
informed, she says. This is essential for

SPECIAL EDITION N.E. DECEMBER 2009


BWPD which is implementing various
Diaspora-led projects in Burundi, includ-
ing 'Social Harmony', which has established
'peace committees' for conflict resolution
in local communities and has organised
local visits for former refugees. In the
Burundian province of Kirundo, they have
organised and participated in advocacy
campaigns encouraging women to vote and
stand for elections, provided mills to groups
of women and trained local teachers. The
crown jewel of their efforts can now be
found in a new multi-purpose centre in
Kirundo city with conference, library and
cinema facilities which serve as meeting
points for people from the provinces in the
north of Burundi.

BWDP is just one of various examples of
female-led Diaspora organizations making
a difference in their local communities.
How can development cooperation ensure
that there will be many more examples to
come?

"We would like to see the expertise of emi-
grants taken seriously and made better use
of", says Mbanzendore. "We would like
funders and decision-makers to consult us
for advice because a lot of donations are
being used in the wrong places. This is why
development aid has still not been able to
improve living conditions in Africa, and has
in fact had the opposite effect."

Amidst the complex environment of inter-
national development aid, it is sometimes
the small-scale Diaspora-led projects that
have the greatest, most visible and most
direct impact on the lives of the poor, says
Mbanzendore.

This is why existing funding systems


"urgently need to be reviewed and why
such projects should be accommodated if
the financial organizations really want to
improve the lives of Africans", she adds.
For more information, see: www.burundesevrou-
wenvoorvrede.nl (in Dutch)

Keywords
Stphanie Mbanzendore; African women;
Diaspora; Burundi; Burundian Women for
Peace and Development.












['w'


Mask of belly. Wood, pearls, pigments, height :58cm, Muse
Dapper, Paris, Inv. No 0717. Muse Dapper/photo Hughes Dubois


shows how this difference affects
the artistic creation of societies. The
Muse Dapper* recently hosted two
exhibitions on this very theme: Women in the
Art of Africa (October 2008-July 2009) and
The Art of Being a Man Africa, Oceania
(15 October 2009-11 July 2010). Art collec-
tor, Fabrizio Corsi, also put together educa-
tional exhibitions on the topic.

As well as being key figures in African socie-
ties, women play an important role in cul-
tural legends. The male conveys this in his
representations of the female in art; the male
has control over religion, and has the power
to create related images (statues and masks).
Sexual attributes are enhanced, indicating
the natural inclination of the ancestors of a
community to procreate. One such exam-
ple is found in extraordinary wooden body
masks. The stomach of a pregnant woman
is celebrated by a number of ethnic groups,
such as Baul, Yoruba and Makonde. When
a human being does not reproduce, the entire
life cycle of his existence becomes futile, and
for this reason infertility is considered the
worst possible disgrace.

A common theme in the great diversity of
artistic forms and traditions in the African
continent is the celebration of the vari-
ous cycles and stages in life. The woman's
role as wife and mother is the most exalted
aspect, as well as elements of beauty and
sensuality such as ritual sacrifice, sophisti-
cated hairstyles, folds of fat in the neck and
small mouths etc. The relationship between
couples is also revered, with the woman


vvUUU, IU I, plylII[[ [[CI91Il. UU b.. iI1ube J appe ,
Paris, Inv. no 2617. c Muse Dapper/photo Hughes Dubois

often shown as the opposite of the male.

However, due account must be taken of art
created by women, even though this is con-
fined to the so-called 'applied arts', which
is unfortunately defined as a less important
art form by eighteenth century art criti-
cism. The woman creates art mainly in the
following areas: internal and external wall
painting; terracotta containers; pokerwork
on calabashes and fabric painting.

In all cases, the work is carried out jointly
with men or in partnership with other
women. Even in this field, the co-operative
spirit characterising the African woman,
who has a propensity to create harmonious
human relationships in every manifestation
of life, is expressed. The art of the female,
which is identifiable through its use of linear
and geometric forms, is also important in
terms of its influence on the upbringing of
the young and on the visual language of the
ethnic group to which they belong.

While the male being uses hard materials
such as wood, stone, ivory and metal, and
his art par excellence is sculpture, the woman
decorates the communal spaces of the vil-
lage and the home. This is therefore a form
of public art, which exclusively uses soft and
fluid materials, such as earth, pigments,
water and plant fibres.

* The Muse Dapper is located in Paris (France).
Website: www.dapper.com

Keywords
Gender; Africa; art; woman; Muse
Dapper; woman's role; difference


COURIER










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"-


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-.- ---- -- _-- -


CARIBBEAN
Antigua and Barbuda The Bahamas ,i..., Belize Cuba Dominica Dominican
Republic Grenada Guyana Haiti Jamaica Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Trinidad a.i Ti.i .1.1


PACIFIC
Cook Islands Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru Niue
Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Timor Leste Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu


- "

EUROPEAN UNION
Austria Belfiur Bulgaria Cy4rus Czech Republic Denmark Estnia Finland France
.'-, ,li .I .I-,, ,I, I: I' 1: i I -I iII l I Ii i l[I, "lii l -I 1 I. l...i 11.1. ll,-, Iill,, l, i I

S...... I 'l I i- l I- I 11,1 ''


The lists of countries published by The Courier do not prejudice the status of these countries and territories now or in the future. The Courieruses maps from a variety of sources.
Their use does not imply recognition of any particular boundaries nor prejudice the status of any state or territory.


AFRICA
Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African
Republic Chad Comoros Congo (Rep. of) Cte d'Ivoire Democratic Republic of the
Congo Djibouti Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea
Guinea-Bissau Kenya Lesotho Liberia Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius
Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda Sao Tome and Principe Senegal
Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo
Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe


... .


-I

























































































EU 6












e. o*oo8

PAGE 1

DECEMBER 2009 SPECIAL ISSUEGENDER. The long road from Beijing

PAGE 2

Editorial Board Co-chairs Sir John Kaputin, Secretary General Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacic Group of States www.acp.int Mr Stefano Manservisi, Director General of DG Development European Commission ec.europa.eu/development/ Core staff Editor-in-chief Hegel Goutier Journalists Marie-Martine Buckens (Deputy Editor-in-chief) Debra Percival Editorial Assistant, Production and Pictures research Joshua Massarenti Contributed in this issue Victoria Burbridge, Maude Dikobe, Sandra Federici, Souleymane Saddi Mazou, Anne-Marie Mouradian, Nikolaj Nielsen and Okechukwu Romano Umelo. Project Manager Gerda Van Biervliet Artistic Coordination, Graphic Conception Gregorie Desmons Public Relations Andrea Marchesini Reggiani Distribution Viva Xpress Logistics www.vxlnet.be Cover The bust, Claude Cauquil. Photo: Hegel Goutier/ Graphical adaptation: Gregorie Desmons Back cover “Mechanisms put in place in Africa concerning gender equality are in urgent need of overhaul”. REA/Reporters Contact The Courier 45, Rue de Trves 1040 Brussels Belgium (EU) info@acp-eucourier.info www.acp-eucourier.info Tel : +32 2 2345061 Fax : +32 2 2801406 Published every two months in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese For information on subscription, Go to our website www.acp-eucourier.info or contact info@acp-eucourier.info Publisher responsible Hegel Goutier Consortium Gopa-Cartermill Grand Angle Lai-momo The views expressed are those of the authors and do not represent the ofcial view of the EC nor of the ACP countries. The consortium and the editorial staff decline all responsibility for the articles written by external contributors. Cultural centre promoting artists from countries in Europe, Afriand cultural exchanges between communities through performance arts, music, cinema, to the holding of conferences. It is a meeting place for Belgians, immigrants of diverse Espace Senghor Centre culturel d’Etterbeek Brussels, Belgium espace.senghor@chello.be www.senghor.be www.acp-eucourier.infoVisit our website! the magazine in pdf and other news C urierThe magazine of Africa Caribbean Pacific & European Union cooperation and relationsThe Privileged partners

PAGE 3

SPECIAL EDITION N.E. – DECEMBER 2009 1 Ahis special issue of The Courier, ‘Genders’ contains no articles that make specific reference to the noun ‘man’ in their title. Nevertheless, man, the male of the species, is the principal subject. When we speak of the injustices condemned in Beijing in 1995 at the United Nations World Conference on Women – injustices that are continuing – man is there. When we stress the progress achieved in terms of national and international laws, education, the combating of misogyny and iniquities against women, he is also there. Laws to promote equal opportunities between the genders could not have been approved in the parliaments of the world without the support of the men who make up the majority of the lawmakers who sit in them. Women and men – whether champions of equal rights between the genders, or chauvinists –are engaged in a permanent dialectic. When one is in the light, the other is in the shadows and the light is only perceived because there are shadows. When one speaks of injustice against women, from rape to the pre-empting of important political posts, one also speaks of the perpetrators. The perpetrator or the subject, the one who “does commit the act”. While women are conquering certain male bastions, such as high-level posts in the US black community or academic success at Jamaica’s universities, we also see the emergence of complexes among men that translate into reactions that are chauvinist, suicidal or self-deprecating. The film by the director Denys Arcand, The Decline of the American Empire, which takes place in Quebec, illustrates the fact that disarray among males is not limited to certain societies. When we speak of women, man is also present. Elisabeth Badinter, in X Y. De l’identit masculine, remarked that the male will proclaim successively in the course of his life that he is not his mother’s boy, that he is not a girl and that he is not gay. She concludes that “being a man is said more often in the imperative than in the indicative it implies a labour, an effort that does not seem to be demanded in the same way of women as if femininity were natural and masculinity had to be acquired at great cost*.” She adopts the words of Pierre Bourdieu**: “To praise a man it is enough to tell him that he is a man.” She then concludes that “contrary to patriarchal belief, it is not men who are the first referents of humanity but women. It is in relation to women and in opposition to women that men have been defined Until now.” Until now. Because men are changing. A new masculine identity that seeks similarities with women, rather than dissimilarities and oppositions, is in the making. We must no longer ignore the violence and the strength of women considered as the eternal “victims of masculine oppression, of the other, of the all-powerful torturers”*** in a humanity that is divided into two. Failure to combat misogyny in the name of misandry. That is a way of speaking of men. Hegel Goutier Editor-in-chief* L’Un est l’Autre, ditions Odile Jacob, 1986, p. 249 ** La domination masculine, Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales, no 84, Sept. 1990, p 21. *** Fausse route, ditions Odile Jacob, 2003, p. 113. Gender. How to speak of men? Editorial T

PAGE 4

> The hundred flowers since Beijing Already by 1995 in Beijing, a great deal of progress was claimed in areas like women’s participation in the political process. On the stage in Beijing stood symbolic figures such as Benazir Bhutto, at the time Prime Minister of Pakistan, who gave a reading from the Koran that combined a defence of Islamic values with a rejection of funda mentalism. Later, then U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, attacked the delegation of conservative representatives from her own country’s Senate. But the final declaration of the meeting was positive, laying down in international legislation principles that countries were bound to respect. These principles included the right of women to decide freely their own sexuality as well as the classification of rape as a crime, or even (in the case of war or other conflict) as an act of genocide for which the warring par ties, even if victorious, could one day be held responsible before a court of law. Another obligation was to facilitate the access to credit for women, with a view to improving their independent financial status. In all, representatives of 184 nations put their signatures to the final document, although around 50 of them added a number of cave ats. The Courier , present in Beijing*, raised the question of whether the pledges given would be respected given these reservations from some of the delegates. > Despite everything, major progressIn areas such as politics, the economy and education progress has clearly been made since the Beijing declarations and there are several examples to illustrate this. Literacy has increased sharply almost everywhere in the world. Indeed in three developing coun tries, Jamaica, Nicaragua and Uruguay, literacy among women is now higher than among men. In four other countries – including Cuba – there is now total gender equality. Elsewhere, women fill 58 per cent of the decision-making positions in the Philippines, ahead of Tanzania with 49 per cent. These two are followed by Barbados (with 43 per cent), another ACP country. The United States ranks fourth**. In the employment sector, the numbers of women in the workforce have increased continuously in most parts of the globe since 1989, falling only in Eastern and Central Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, where it still remains below the global aver age of 40 per cent***. F rom Beijing to nowHegel Goutier2 Progress or setbacks. Difficult to measureGenderReading the studies by institutions and experts on the development of the situation of women since the UN Conference on Women in Beijing, it is difficult to detect any clear trend. At the public level, in both the legislative and employment fields, women’s rights have progressed in nearly all regions of the world and the same is true in the fields of education and political representation. However, at the private level, injustice in its most brutal form, namely physical violence, remains an issue and has even been on the increase. Moreover, there is the further problem of the reliability of data. An election campaign billboard of Pakistan’s slain former opposition leader, assassinated 27 December 2007, two weeks before the scheduled Pakistani general election of 2008. Reporters/AP

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3 SPECIAL EDITION N.E. – DECEMBER 2009 > The many facets of continuing injusticesAll the same, real progress often suffers setbacks. This is the case with a similar increase in recent years in both the rate of paid employment among women and the rate of unemployment among women. Also, in education, two-thirds of the illiterate continue to be women. This can be at least partly explained by the progress in literacy rates among men. There are only five countries where men and women are represented equally in the ranks of government: Spain, Iceland, Sweden, Austria and Denmark. However, today, a total of 15 countries have gender parity in their parliaments, with Rwanda leading the world and South Africa also ranking highly. Three ACP countries, Botswana, Tanzania and Eritrea, draw a third of their parliamen tary law-makers from women. But the overall picture is far from perfect and, despite the provisions laid down in national and international legislation stat ing that discrimination or violence against women are crimes that carry an appropriate punishment, those guilty of such violations often continue to escape justice. Sexual slav ery, for example, is on the increase, includ ing in European countries. Today, the ineffectiveness of the justice system, in certain cases, is in itself criminal. Consider this: one woman in four is the victim of serious violence in the home****. Rape by armed men is widespread and has become a national disaster in both the Congo and Darfur. In Mexico, which has ample police and legal means at its disposal, 305 bodies of raped and murdered women have been found and not a single suspect arrested*****.> Which way is the balance tipping? The data for assessing serious gender imbal ance or discrimination lacks precision and the institutions that use this information often regard it as less than accurate. This is even true of the most well-known data: indicators on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); the Gender-related Development Index (GDI); and the UN Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM). Now, however, a growing number of studies are seeking to develop indicators that reflect the true gender dimension and can meas ure change with greater accuracy. A study published by the UNDP in 2007, entitled Gender and Indicators – Overview consid ers that a start should be made by “measur ing the difficulty of measuring.” The gender dimension or women’s emancipation, for example, are realities for which it is diffi cult to set parameters. Equally, a study on women’s poverty should include so-called “time poverty”, to quantify the unremuner ated work of women. Neither is the data supplied by individual countries always reliable and there are situ ations where studies and data are spoiled due to negligence during the research proc ess. Then again, a result can be more about the mathematics than a real social switch. For example, a reduction in the number of male students at universities in Jamaica and other countries has the automatic effect of boosting the figures for women. But is the result a mere statistic or a true measure of gender change? * The Courier , Issue 154, November-December 1995. ** UNDP, 2006 report. *** 2006 report by the UN Commission on the Status of Women on the economic promotion of women). **** According to the UNDP 2007 report. ***** French movement for family planning. Keywords Women; UN Conference on Women in Beijing; Benazir Bhutto; Hillary Rodham Clinton; Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); Gender-related Development Index (GDI); UN Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM). From Beijing to now Women’s shelter for victims of sexual abuse in Goma, DRC, 2009. UN/Marie Frechon

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Drawn up by the EC’s Directorate General for Development, in tan dem with the External Relations Directorate, and with the help of EU Member States, the action plan will aim at further translating the existing policy into practice, explains Victoria Correa. The EC’s gender equality policy for develop ing countries is already laid down in the ‘EC Communication on Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in Development Cooperation’, but Victoria Correa says that the new action plan establishes concrete steps for the European Commission and EU Member States to further jointly deliver on their gender equality commitments and have more of an impact on the ground. Still on the drawing board when the Courier went to press, the ‘action plan’ will propose a three-pronged approach involving further political and policy dialogue with develop ing country partners on gender issues, the mainstreaming of gender this means ensur ing that a gender perspective is integrated into all policy areas, programmes, strategies and interventions from road building to rural development for instance and specific actions to address situations that require targeted support. Building on existing EU and EC resources, instruments and mecha nisms, the action plan will put forward a series of activities and performance indi cators to be carried out jointly during the period 2010-2015. Between 2000-2007, a ‘mainstreaming’ approach to projects was adopted as opposed to specific gender projects but the ‘2007 Communication on gender equality and empow erment’ also recommended specific actions as a complement to gender mainstreaming in order to achieve targeted results and foster women’s empowerment in developing countries.> 2007 Communication The EC’s 2007 Communication refers to the Millennium Development Goals (see previous article) and goes beyond them, highlight ing some of the critical areas that are not addressed in the MDGs, and in particular in MDG 3 (promote gender equality and women empowerment) and MDG 5 (improve mater nal health). For instance, the Communication lays emphasis on addressing issues such as female genital mutilation (see separate article); gender-based violence in all its manifesta tions, and trafficking in women. Daniela Rofi, Gender Desk Officer at the An EU ‘action plan’ is expected to be launched at the beginning of 2010 to further place gender at the centre of the EU’s development policy, involving more coordination with the European Union’s 27 member states, says Victoria Correa, in charge of gender issues at the EC’s DirectorateGeneral for Development and Relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific States.New EU Plan of Action on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Development Cooperation Debra Percival From Beijing to now 4 Female genital mutilation A four million EC project co-financed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) started up in December 2007 to work for the abandonment of female genital mutilation prac tices. Due to the sensitivity of the issue, since it deals with a traditional practice, the project is based on the development of a social conven tion model which brings the issue out in the open. Within communities, religious leaders speak out against the myth that the practices are tied to religion. Parents’ concerns and the harmful effects of the practice are addressed. The abandoning of practices thus becomes a collective decision of the community and there is no fear of retribution and isolation of indi viduals. The project is being run in three ACP states; Senegal, Sudan and Eritrea.Women in Swaziland, 2005. Reporters/AP

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5 SPECIAL EDITION N.E. – DECEMBER 2009 SPECIAL EDITION N.E. – DECEMBER 2009 Keywords Gender; Victoria Correa; Daniela Rofi; CEDAW; MDGs; Female Genital Mutilation; Swaziland; Ethiopia. From Beijing to now Mapping gender equality in budget aidThe ‘EC/UN Partnership on Gender Equality for Peace and Development’ came out of the 2005 EC conference with the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) where the shift in aid to new aid modali ties such as budget support was discussed. The project focuses on 12 pilot countries: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Honduras, Nicaragua and Surinam. All results can be found on a website (www. gendermatters.eu). The Partnership has enabled capacity building and knowledge on how to make aid more gender sensitive and is helping to build gender equality best practice in all EC programmes. For more information see: www.gendermatters.eu Swaziland furthering women’s rightsSwaziland ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in March 2004. A 42-month programme co-financed by the EC and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is aimed at enabling government and non-government organi sations build their capacity as state actors to undertake the necessary legislative and policy changes under CEDAW. It is raising awareness and sensitising and providing technical assistance to policy makers, civil society and traditional authorities. It includes an audit of legislation for gender sensitivity and compliance with CEDAW, support to the drafters of new legislation to ensure compli ance with CEDAW and development of a na tional gender advocacy programme. Ethiopia: harnessing women’s potentialA 3.64M project for Ethiopia under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) for ‘Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equal ity through Institutional Capacity Building and Entrepreneurship’ is expected to be launched in Spring 2010. Gender inequality is one of the root causes of poverty. To halve extreme poverty by 2015, Ethiopia must harness the full potential of both men and women. The programme will support the Ethiopian govern ment’s national Action Plan for gender equal ity in strengthening the institutional capacity on the one hand and, on the other, in equipping women with entrepreneurship skills to improve their livelihoods. . Selected target groups are men and women working in the Women’s Af fairs Structure for the capacity building compo nent and women working in the informal sector, in particular those who are literate and living in an urban setting, for the empowerment compo nent (this component will be piloted in certain areas of the country). EC’s EuropeAid Co-operation Office, explains that the EC provides assistance to advance the gender equality agenda in the partner countries through the European Development Fund and the EC Thematic Programmes. The European Development Fund (EDF) assists ACP countries in their structural reforms of the education, health and justice sectors to make them accessible to both boys and girls, women and men. The EDF is also instrumental in building the national capacity to design and imple ment gender poli cies. Through the Thematic Programmes, especially “Investing in peo ple 2007-2013, which contains a budget for ‘sexual and reproductive health and rights” and ‘gender equality and women’s rights’, the EC supports civil society organisations active in the field of gender equality and women’s rights. Also the EC cooperates with the United Nations (see below). Women’s entrance to the Great Mosque (Harar, Ethiopia), 2009. Reporters/Photononstop She is a hero , sprayed on canvas, Rini Hartman, 2008. This painting is part of a project, “8 Visions of Hope”, dedicated to the eight UN Millennium Development Goals. Websites: http://8visionsofhope. ning.com/ and http://www.rinihartman.nl/

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6 Uhe development community’s approach to gender empowerment has evolved since the 1970s when the United Nations’ International Year of Women in 1975 and international women’s decade (1976-85) saw the formation of a rash of women’s ministries and the adop tion of ‘Women in Development’ policies by governments and non-governmental bodies, although such projects had limited success since they did not include issues of land ownership and access to markets, credit and information. The mid-1970s brought in a move towards a more strategic approach to empowering women, encompassing legislative change. The 30 articles of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979, was based on the principles of equality, non discrimination and state obligation. CEDAW’s obligations are binding although reservations (meaning non-compliance) are permitted on individual articles. One hundred and eighty five states are currently party to the Convention. The Beijing Action Plan, put in place follow ing the Fourth United Nations’ Conference on Women in 1995, confirmed the move from projects under the banner of women in devel opment to mainstreaming of gender empow erment policies. It highlighted the inequalities where action was required across all branches of governments who signed up to the plan from unequal access to health care and related serv ices to the effects of armed conflict on women. > “Best practices” But as President of Liberia, Ellen JohnsonSirleaf, said at European Development Days in Stockholm, Sweden, national plans postBeijing have ”fallen below expectations”. In Stockholm, she made an appeal to look at “best practices”. She told the conference she had placed women in strategic cabinet posi tions such as Justice, Finance (traditional male preserves) and put the girl child at the Applying good intentions A body of international legislation recognises gender equality as a fundamental right and of importance in combating poverty although implementation has often fallen short of targets, notably the Millennium Development Goal (MDG 5) on improving maternal health. Progress often depends on individuals taking up the mantle such as Sweden’s Minister for International Development Cooperation, Gunilla Carlsson, who has put women’s participation in peace and security talks on the agenda of the Swedish Presidency of the EU. President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is also leading by example in having organised a women’s international leadership conference in Monrovia in March 2009. T E U

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7 SPECIAL EDITION N.E. – DECEMBER 2009centre of her strategy which had included bringing in a tough rape law to stamp out the violence against women which was rife when she became Head of State, postconflict, in 2006 Progress lags on the attainment of some of the specific United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted by governments at the turn of the century relating to women, highlights the United Nations’ own 2009 Millennium Goals Report, notably MDG 5 on improving maternal health. The number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births has hardly fallen in sub-Saharan Africa declining from just 920 in 1990 to 900 in 2005, and half of all maternal deaths (265,000) annu ally occur in sub-Saharan Africa, says the report. Progress on MDG 3 the promotion of gender equality and female empower ment – meant to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, and in all levels of education not later than 2015 is also wanting. “In the developing regions as a whole, 95 girls were enrolled in primary school for every 100 boys in 2007, compared to 91 in 1999. However, the target of elimi nating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005 was missed. Ensuring the opportunity is not lost again in 2015 will require renewed urgency and commitment”, says the report. The same report contains rosier figures for the proportion of seats held by women in single or lower houses of national parlia ments in sub-Saharan Africa which stands at 18 per cent, compared with 9 per cent in 2000 and in Latin Amercica and the Caribbean, 22 per cent, the highest regional average recorded. “Sub-Saharan Africa continues to make strides, with Rwanda out in front: it made history in September 2008 when its lower chamber elected a majority (56 per cent) of women members, reads the report. But nine chambers – mainly in the Pacific islands and Arab Gulf States – have no women members of parliament at all. The report also says that the 2008 global financial crisis has created new hurdles to women’s employment. D.P.Hll eleven of the EU’s Special Repre-sentatives (Foreign Affairs) are men, fewer than 10 per cent of international peace negotiators are women and out of 300 peace agreements, only 10 mention sexual violence. The sta tistics were given by Margot Wallstrm, the Swedish EU Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategies dur ing the European Development Days event in Stockholm, Sweden, 22-24 October. The Swedish government draws attention to the fact that governments are trailing in the implementation of United Nations resolution 1325, adopted in 2000, which deals with the impact of war on women and foresees women’s central contribution to conflict resolution and achieving sustain able peace. Sweden has its own action plan and wants other EU countries to follow suit (only 8 out of 27 member states currently have similar plans). The EU’s own European Development Report on ‘Overcoming Fragility in Africa’ highlights the case of the indiscriminate use of rape as a weapon of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Between 1998 and 2003, 51,000 cases of rape were reported in the provinces of South Kivu and Kalemie. The EU’s current Swedish presidency is seeking the participation of a higher pro portion of women in international peace and security building operations and for the protection of women and girls in conflict situations to be strengthened and to ensure that women participate fully and on equal terms with men at all levels in mechanisms and institutions for conflict prevention. All EU representatives must have knowledge of resolution 1325, says Gunilla Carlsson. Visits to conflict areas must include meet ings with national and local women’s organ isations. The Swedish government suggests that development cooperation funds be used to strengthen women’s participation in postconflict situations and that women benefit from loans, credit and other financial serv ices for education and vocational training in post-conflict situations.Peace and security – a woman’s affair Keywords Gender; women; Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); Sweden; Minister for International Development Cooperation; Gunilla Carlsson; Liberia; Ellen JohnsonSirleaf; European Development Days; Stockholm; CEDAW; United Nations. EU A< A refugee-camp area de-forested by Sudanese refugees in Chad. Women have to trek far from the camp to find fire wood, increasing their risk of being attacked 2009. Reporters> Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf at European Development Days (EDD) Stockholm, Sweden, 22 October 2009. Reporters/ScanpixSwedish Development and Cooperation Minister, Gunilla Carlsson, at the EDD, Stockholm, 2009. Hegel Goutier

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Women on Top Educate a woman and you educate a nation Keywords Dr. Attaliah Molokomme; University of Botswana; gender equality. 8 Batswana women have higher levels of education now than when the nation of Botswana first attained independence from Britain in 1966. Dr. Maude Dikobe, Chairperson of the Gender Policy Committee in the Faculty of Humanities, University of Botswana, says there is some way to go to bring about gender equality in top jobs. A fricaMaude Dikobe “The gender ratio over the past six years has been stable at close to 1:1. On aver age, more females were enrolled in the university. More males than females were enrolled in the Faculties of Engineering & Technology and Science over the past planning period. More females than males were enrolled in the Faculty of Health Sci ences. The male student enrolment has been decreasing from 7,886 (2003/2004); a decrease of 3.5 per cent, while female enrolment increased by 12 per cent from 2003/2004 to 2006/07. Both female and male enrolment dropped by 8.7 and 14.0 per cent from 2006/2007 to 2008/09. University of Botswana Annual Report 2009 (21).Hs in most African cultures, it was traditionally felt that the boy child should be given a chance to ven ture into higher education, while the girl child was only expected to go as far as primary school. Boys were given priority of access to education and the girl child was groomed for marriage. Today, Botswana has a higher proportion of females in higher education (see box). Botswana is unique among many African countries in that as far as higher education is concerned, the gender gap is narrowing. Student enrolment might create the impres sion that there will be equality once these students graduate and enter the job market. This is not the case, especially if you look at the University of Botswana’s top manage ment. The absence of women in senior man agement positions raises a lot of questions. The Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor, and the two Deputy Vice Chancellor positions are all occupied by males except for Deputy Vice Chancellor, Student Affairs. Tilting the lens to the academic section, 93 per cent of professors are male and about seven per cent female. In her paper, ‘Gender Audit at the University of Botswana: The Case of the Faculty of Humanities’, Rosaline Nhlekisana says that most positions are occupied by males because of the institution’s “patriarchal cul ture” which is not unique to the university and is rampant in some of the organisations outside the academy, where the employer is constantly faced with the challenge to prove that, perhaps, “the best man for the job is a woman”. Progress on gender equality in traditionally male posts has been slow although Batswana women are breaking through with such as the appointment of Dr. Attaliah Molokomme as Attorney General. The Botswana Defence Force is also now welcoming women into the army. But the giant leaps women are making into careers traditionally reserved for men do not sit well with some males. Some detractors feel that Batswana women have sufficient opportunities and no longer need affirma tive action policies. There is hence a lot of backlash with the need to curtail women’s efforts for equality if they get too powerful and oust men from their privileged posi tions. Access to education is one thing, gender equality another. We need measures to improve equality within managerial posi tions, boardrooms, parliament etc. This calls for a change of mind-set.AUniversity of Botswana. Flickr.com

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SPECIAL EDITION N.E. – DECEMBER 2009 9 Married men committed to wives’ health In Niger, men are taking action to improve the health of women and children by engaging in awareness-raising campaigns initiated by women’s groups and associations. Hmere decade ago, men were openly hostile to any issue pertaining to sexual health. Even now, a consid erable number still prevent their wives from visiting family health centres. “When chatting, I make my friends aware of the benefits of preand postnatal consulta tion”, explain a shopkeeper in Niamey, and someone who knows a lot about maternal and child health. Most often, awarenessraising events take place in the public square or during local festivities. The work, carried out by men, leads to impressive results. “Women are now visiting family health centres more and more. At the slightest worry regarding their health, they go to their nearest centre”, recalls Aichatou, a midwife at Niamey. “Results are even more striking in the many villages where the men themselves drive their wives to their appoint ments, which was unheard of only a few years ago”, adds a colleague . > Broken taboos Without inhibition, men now allow their wives to make use of contraception. “This is all thanks to the emancipation of the woman in Niger. Our associations have made great strides. It’s taken a long time, but the effort has been worth it”, rejoices a militant advo cate of women’s rights. Views have changed regarding contracep tion. In the past, opposition was widespread in both rural and urban areas. “My husband forbade me to take any medication to space out the births. Even so, I still used it all the time. Now, though, we both decide on whether to use it”, explains a 33 year old mother of four. Many women like her took contraception without their husbands know ing. But a large number now do so with the approval of their spouses, who are better informed on the subject. “In the past, I thought this kind of idea was a very Western one. But since meeting with the group of men who have agreed to change their relationship to family planning, I have quite a different take. Now I discuss this type of question with my wife”, confides a 47 year old man. The media have made a considerable contri bution alongside women’s organisations to convince men of the arguments in favour of changing their attitudes towards reproduc tion. These efforts have met with consid erable resistance, however, on the part of the marabouts (Islamic leaders and teach ers). But as times change, the latter have started preaching on the subject in their sermons. Since then, the prevailing climate has changed appreciably. “Limiting births is prohibited in Islam, but not their deferral.”Souleymane Saddi Mazou Africa Keywords Niger; Health; men; women; civil society. A Reporters/LAIF

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Need for social movements capable of impacting policy10 Marie-Martine BuckensIt was in the aftermath of the World Conference on Women in Mexico in 1975 that the majority of African coun tries began to take measures to insti gate gender equality. There was one nota ble exception, Rwanda, which from 1965 onwards already had a system in place, but one which still has little substance, as Fatou Sarr explains in a report drawn up in 2008. Nonetheless, remarks the expert, the min istry for gender and women’s promotion (referred to as Migeprofe), set up in Rwanda in 1999, is a model of its type in as far as its role has been clearly defined, namely that of promoting gender fairness and equality within the development process and lead ing the shift from a ‘vertical’ approach to a ‘horizontal’ one. This is not the case in countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Senegal, Gabon or Togo. “Very often”, she explains, “these countries have confined themselves to action plans containing eclec tic, ad hoc programmes which correspond to the particular needs of the development stakeholders.” Since the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, various ‘national women’s councils’ have been set up in the majority of these countries. As advisory bodies to gov ernments, their main activity is the organis ing of special events. A further innovation are the ‘gender focus points’. Unfortunately, adds the sociologist, these lack the necessary skills and expertise, meaning they exert lit tle influence, owing (with the exception of Rwanda) to their lack of strategic position ing. Moreover, they sorely lack the financial means they seek from their national minis tries (often less than 1 per cent of the national budget, as in Togo (0.29 per cent), the DRC (0.042 per cent) or Senegal (0.2 per cent). The solution? According to Fatou Sarr, meas ures need to focus on heads of state – “in Africa, the social structure is still very strati fied” – to encourage them to raise the budget allocated to the issue, reinforcing this social movement and thus giving it the necessary clout to have a decisive impact on policy. Africa Mechanisms put in place in Africa concerning gender equality are in urgent need of overhaul, according to Fatou Sarr. Sociologist and director of the gender laboratory and of scientific research at the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, as well as an inter national consultant, she sug gests potential remedies, all of which depend on support being lent to various social movements. Keywords Fatou Sarr; gender equality; Africa; parliament. Good progress, considering “In spite of frustrations, gains have been made”, acknowledges Fatou Sarr. The aid project for young mothers in Gabon which has allowed eleven crches to be constructed and which pays for the retraining of these young women, allowing them back onto the jobs market, is a notable example. On a political level, the five countries cited by the sociologist have no cause to be embarrassed as far as representation of women in their parliaments is concerned. According to 2006-2007 fig ures, this stands at 11 per cent in Togo, 16.7 per cent in Gabon, 22 per cent in Senegal, 8.4 per cent in the DRC and 48.8 per cent in Rwanda, something of an unprecedented fig ure worldwide. In Canada, one of the leading lights in this regard, female representation in parliament stands at 21.3 per cent, as against 18.2 per cent in France, 16.8 per cent in the US and 9.4 per cent in Japan. Newly-elected Member of the Rwandese Parliament swear in at the opening ceremony of the new National Assembly, 10 October 2003, before Rwanda’s President, Paul Kagame. AFP

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SPECIAL EDITION N.E. – DECEMBER 2009Nikolaj Nielsen*11 Keywords NAFGEM; Female Genital Mutilation. Africa Some of the women who work with NAFGEM have themselves suffered through the procedure as girls. The body disseminates information and documents cases to try to change attitudes to some deep-rooted customs. Education, according to NAFGEM, is essential to com bating FGM. A lot of women live in remote rural areas and find it difficult to bring for ward a case. NAFGEM’s little office on the third floor of a side street in Moshi is the epicentre of a movement that has made a positive change in the Kilimanjaro Region. But among the Masai, says Mrs. Renju-Urasa, the practice of FGM stubbornly persists. “The Masai cannot imagine someone not circumcised. It is a must. And the uneducatedthe women, accept it”, she adds. Just outside Chekimaji, a village nestled at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, a mother and daughter from the Kamba tribe are standing ground. The girl’s father, a school teacher, has recently passed away and now her uncle has taken over the household. He demands that her mother become his concubine. She refuses. Furious, the uncle says he will stop paying for Pascalini’s secondary schooling in Dar-es-Salaam. The uncle wants to marry the girl off; circumcised. Circumcision entails serious psychological impacts and potentially life-threatening physical com plications. According to NAFGEM, some girls can subsequently develop an abnormal growth that obstructs normal bodily func tions. The most common mutilation proce dure involves simply cutting off part of, or the entire clitoris. Tanzania’s National Plan of Action to Combat FGM (2001-2015) attempts to address the issue but so far, with limited success. Penal Code 1930 was enact ed to criminalise the practice of FGM but the passive nature of law enforcement means the practice is condoned. Striving to apply the law against Female Genital MutilationBassilla Renju-Urasa, executive coordinator of Tanzania’s Network of Women Against Female Genital Mutilation (NAFGEM) says that although Tanzania outlawed Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)/circumcision in 1998, the practice continues. “We exist because the law is not applied”, she says.The mother reported the uncle’s intentions to the authorities but without results. Her daughter then threatened to kill herself rather than undergo the procedure. Frightened for her daughter’s life and unable to rely on the local authorities, the mother sends someone from the village off to NAFGEM. The next day I find mother and her daughter standing under the sparse shade of a tree Pascalini remains, for the most part silent, as her mother speaks on her behalf. “My daugh ters hate this hell”, she says. She has seven children, four of whom are daughters. The family feels abandoned and is despised by everyone in the village, she says. “Most have turned their backs on us”, she says. A letter, unsigned, was delivered to her doorstep. Threats were made against her children, she says. Back in Moshi, Mrs. Renju-Urasa listens to the report that the girl in question is facing the threat of FGM and notes that her fear is tangible. A proper investigation is required but only by those that understand the intimacy of the Kilimanjaro region: by someone from NAFGEM.* Brussels-based journalist.“Circumcision entails serious psychological impacts and potentially life-threatening physical complications”. Reporters/LAIF

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12 > From redundancy to a thriving business – The Jennifer Williams storyForty-two year old Jennifer Williams was forced to become an entrepreneur after she was made redundant from a food and distribution company in Jamaica where she had worked for six years as a salesperson. She has never looked back. With a little encouragement and not much money, she started her own fashion design business, Akira Lyn , focusing mostly on swimwear and leisure wear made from crotchet mate rial. “I used to make doilies”, she says of her early interest in sewing. “There was no challenge doing that. I then started creating and putting things together and it looked good.” Williams, whose business is home-based, was able to get wider publicity for her skills through her association with the Jamaica Fashion and Apparel Cluster group, established by the Jamaica Business Development Centre (JBDC), a government C aribbeanVictoria Burbridge* I don’t like the idea of working for people; I love being selfemployed “Just start the engine and drive”Two Jamaican businesswomen in the fashion industry recount how tough times have stoked greater ambition.Jamaican top model. Reporters

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SPECIAL EDITION N.E. – DECEMBER 2009 agency which provides business and techni cal support services to small businesses. Her pieces were shown at the national level at House of Flava, an established fashion house in Jamaica, and at the international level when she was part of a delegation to Brussels last year. She was also part of a team of local design ers who prepared a 30-piece wardrobe for last year’s ‘Miss Jamaica World’ pageant. “I am always happy and excited when I see people wearing my pieces”, she says glow ing with pride in being a part of that select group of designers. “When I see my work in the paper or at a photo shoot, it feels good.” Williams, however, says there are challenges in keeping the business afloat, especially in marketing: “People will see your stuff and like it but may say it is too expensive.” > Economic downturnRunning a young business in the current economic downturn can be difficult, espe cially in getting start-up capital, but she has learnt from a difficult childhood always to look for the opportunities in difficult situ ations. “Recession prepares you for better things. You use every bad situation as a step ping stone and I am used to recession”, she says. Growing up in Bull Bay, a poor com munity in the parish of St.Thomas, has been no barrier to her big dreams for the busi ness. “I hope to see myself up there going to China, Africa the entire world”, she says smiling. She eventually wants her grand daughter, Akira, after whom she named the business, to take it forward. “I am trying to pave the way so that she won’t have to go through what I did while growing up”, she says, fighting back the tears when recalling what seems to have been a tough childhood. While it is difficult to get a business going in these hard economic times, Williams believes that it is good to take risks. Her advice to other aspiring entrepreneurs? “Just start the engine and drive”, she says, “you have to be a go-getter; you can’t give up”. When down to her last few coins, she says she would use what she had to buy material to make one of her pieces. “Don’t be afraid to take chances”, she says. > Aspiring factory owner – Simone Garden Simone Garden, a 36 year-old mother of three, aspires to one day opening a sewing factory where she can employ several per sons in creating leisure wear clothing from crush cotton sheer and bright tie and dye colours. For now, Garden is carving out a niche market for herself in Jamaica’s fledging fashion industry. She owns a small fashion boutique in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, where she sells her own garments. Garden, who opened her boutique doors just three years ago, says she has been sewing since the age of eight. “I started sewing for friends not collecting any money, just sewing because I love it. I love seeing people in my pieces”, she says, recounting the first time she cut a piece of material freehand. With no formal training, Garden says she learnt her skill at the knees of her mother who was a dress maker and whose mother was a dressmaker and father a tailor. “I grew up seeing my mother, grandmother and grandfather busy with their own lit tle business”, she says. “I don’t like the idea of working for people; I love being self-employed.” Although she completed secondary education, she says she was moti vated to start her own business. She got help from her mother with buying a sewing machine but as the business got bigger she decided to rent a shop in one of the plazas located outside Spanish Town, the capital of St. Catherine, the largest parish in Jamaica. > Unique designs She says business on the plaza has been slow, especially since the economic down turn, but she finds ways of getting around this by going where the customers are. “I try very hard to be creative. So (customers) even if they don’t want to buy are forced to when they look at the designs. The designs are unusual and have a unique finish.” Garden says most of her clients are persons in the entertainment industry – especially those who wear Dancehall outfits. She how ever produces for a diverse market including casual, resort and children’s wear. Despite the challenges, it’s her love for her work that keeps her going. She would like to open a factory where she can create jobs for others. “I would love to one day have some good dedicated workers to help me in creating my designs”, she says of her future plans. Garden also got local exposure when she participated in the Caribbean Fashion Week, a popular Caribbean fashion show organised each year in Jamaica which show cases pieces from several Caribbean design ers. Meanwhile, her work was also high lighted overseas when she was also asked to create one of the pieces for the wardrobe of last year’s ‘Ms. Jamaica World’.* Jamaican journalist. Keywords Jennifer Williams; Simone Garden; Jamaica; Jamaica Business Development Centre; Caribbean Fashion Week. Caribbean 13Jennifer Williams shows off her pieces, 2009. Victoria Burbridge

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Stepping up the fight against maternal mortality14 An international workshop, organised by the European Commission (EC) and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group, was held 14-15 October in Brussels on the Sexual and Reproductive Health Programme financed by the EU implemented by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).Khe programme benefited 22 ACP* countries between January 2003 and October 2008. It was launched by the EC to relieve the dramatic impact on poor countries in the wake of the former administration of United States President George Bush to cut off the US contribution to international family plan ning programmes. In 2002, the UNFPA estimated that if US financing had contin ued, it would have made it possible to avoid two million unwanted pregnancies, mean ing 800,000 fewer abortions, as well as more than 77,000 deaths of infants and children. The joint EC/ACP/IPPF/UNFPA pro gramme has enabled over 1.6 million peo ple to benefit from sexual and reproductive health services and has trained thousands of professionals, while at the same time helping ACP governments to draw up and implement policies in the sector. In Rwanda, for example, more than 150,000 people attended awareness sessions on HIV/ AIDS prevention and family planning. Almost 10,000 young Rwandans underwent voluntary testing for HIV, while 1,500 peo ple who tested HIV-positive were assisted by health insurance funds in gaining access to treatment. About 100 peer educators were trained and almost 40,000 people ben efited from family planning and reduced risk maternity services. The IPPF representative in Rwanda also drew attention to Kigali’s adoption of a law punishing rapists with 25 years in prison, or even life imprisonment for transmitting fatal diseases. There is no avoiding the fact, however, that the international community is still a long way from meeting Goal five of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that aims to reduce maternal mortality by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015. Currently falling at the rate of scarcely one per cent per year, of all the MDGs, this is without doubt the one that has seen the least progress. Conference participants therefore stressed the urgent need to strengthen the capacity of healthcare professionals in ACP coun tries and to encourage governments to make reproductive health a priority in their strate gic documents to reduce poverty. In future, it is important for health ministers to have an input in such documents. And despite the financial crisis, donors must pledge to step up universal access to reproductive health and achieve the 2010 milestone of 35 million more births attended by trained medical staff each year. The EU is to invest 86M up to 2015 with a special focus on involving civil society in ACP countries and helping the most vulnerable and unders erved young people, among whom unwant ed pregnancies are most prevalent. President Obama’s decision to resume US contributions to the UNFPA and the IPPF, confirmed by the US representative to the conference, was welcomed with relief by the event participants.* Financing: 32M. Countries: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Jamaica, Niger, Rwanda, Suriname, Tanzania, Congo, Dominican Republic, Gambia, Haiti, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritania, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tuvalu, Zambia.T A cpAnne-Marie Mouradian Keywords Sexual and Reproductive Health Programme; HIV; ACP; EC; UNFPA; IPPF. MDG five on maternal health has seen the least progress After the Bush administration withheld $US34M in funding to UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) in 2003, the UN organisation sought “34 million friends” who could donate one or more dollars. Reporters

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SPECIAL EDITION N.E. – DECEMBER 2009 15 Umember of the Diaspora her self and chairing the Diasporaled BWPD in the Netherlands, Mbanzendore is an empowering voice for her counterparts. There is no deny ing the role that women in the Diaspora have played in developing the continent, she says, “particularly in the fields of intel lectual cooperation, technology transfer, education and healthcare and the fight for peace and development in Africa”. In the EU and Africa, opportunities are opening up for women to establish con tact with decision-makers and express their views through regular conferences and sem inars. These include BWPD seminars on fostering unity, youth and development and AIDS prevention. But with opportunities come challenges. “The same women who lobby are never taken seriously when it comes to implement ing projects for their countries”, she says. Accessing EU funds for some Diaspora-led projects can be “very difficult” and “more complicated than in bilateral cooperation”, she adds. > Global presence, local impactLiving abroad, the Diaspora run the risk of being disconnected from realities on the ground. This is where Diaspora organisations can play a major role, says Mbanzendore, providing the missing link between stakeholders in African countries and the rest of the world. Through “cooperative relationships with organisations on the ground”, African Diaspora organisations are constantly kept informed, she says. This is essential for BWPD which is implementing various Diaspora-led projects in Burundi, includ ing ‘Social Harmony’, which has established ‘peace committees’ for conflict resolution in local communities and has organised local visits for former refugees. In the Burundian province of Kirundo, they have organised and participated in advocacy campaigns encouraging women to vote and stand for elections, provided mills to groups of women and trained local teachers. The crown jewel of their efforts can now be found in a new multi-purpose centre in Kirundo city with conference, library and cinema facilities which serve as meeting points for people from the provinces in the north of Burundi. BWDP is just one of various examples of female-led Diaspora organisations making a difference in their local communities. How can development cooperation ensure that there will be many more examples to come? “We would like to see the expertise of emi grants taken seriously and made better use of”, says Mbanzendore. “We would like funders and decision-makers to consult us for advice because a lot of donations are being used in the wrong places. This is why development aid has still not been able to improve living conditions in Africa, and has in fact had the opposite effect.” Amidst the complex environment of inter national development aid, it is sometimes the small-scale Diaspora-led projects that have the greatest, most visible and most direct impact on the lives of the poor, says Mbanzendore. This is why existing funding systems “urgently need to be reviewed and why such projects should be accommodated if the financial organisations really want to improve the lives of Africans”, she adds.For more information, see: www.burundesevrou wenvoorvrede.nl (in Dutch) D iasporaThe African Diaspora are increasingly recognised as significant development actors, providing remittances, Foreign Direct Investment, technology and knowledge transfers and positive political contributions to their countries of origin. African women in the Diaspora are coming to the fore. But as Stphanie Mbanzendore, Chairperson of Burundian Women for Peace and Development (BWPD) notes, better targeted policies are needed. Harnessing the role of African women in the DiasporaOkechukwu Romano Umelo AStepping up the fight against maternal mortality Keywords Stphanie Mbanzendore; African women; Diaspora; Burundi; Burundian Women for Peace and Development. Landscape, Burundi. Jean-Claude Ernst/LUXPRESS

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16 Vhe study of traditional African art shows how this difference affects the artistic creation of societies. The Muse Dapper* recently hosted two exhibitions on this very theme: Women in the Art of Africa (October 2008-July 2009) and The Art of Being a Man – Africa, Oceania (15 October 2009-11 July 2010). Art collec tor, Fabrizio Corsi, also put together educa tional exhibitions on the topic. As well as being key figures in African socie ties, women play an important role in cul tural legends. The male conveys this in his representations of the female in art; the male has control over religion, and has the power to create related images (statues and masks). Sexual attributes are enhanced, indicating the natural inclination of the ancestors of a community to procreate. One such exam ple is found in extraordinary wooden body masks. The stomach of a pregnant woman is celebrated by a number of ethnic groups, such as Baul, Yoruba and Makonde. When a human being does not reproduce, the entire life cycle of his existence becomes futile, and for this reason infertility is considered the worst possible disgrace. A common theme in the great diversity of artistic forms and traditions in the African continent is the celebration of the vari ous cycles and stages in life. The woman’s role as wife and mother is the most exalted aspect, as well as elements of beauty and sensuality such as ritual sacrifice, sophisti cated hairstyles, folds of fat in the neck and small mouths etc. The relationship between couples is also revered, with the woman often shown as the opposite of the male. However, due account must be taken of art created by women, even though this is con fined to the so-called ‘applied arts’, which is unfortunately defined as a less important art form by eighteenth century art criti cism. The woman creates art mainly in the following areas: internal and external wall painting; terracotta containers; pokerwork on calabashes and fabric painting. In all cases, the work is carried out jointly with men or in partnership with other women. Even in this field, the co-operative spirit characterising the African woman, who has a propensity to create harmonious human relationships in every manifestation of life, is expressed. The art of the female, which is identifiable through its use of linear and geometric forms, is also important in terms of its influence on the upbringing of the young and on the visual language of the ethnic group to which they belong. While the male being uses hard materials such as wood, stone, ivory and metal, and his art par excellence is sculpture, the woman decorates the communal spaces of the vil lage and the home. This is therefore a form of public art, which exclusively uses soft and fluid materials, such as earth, pigments, water and plant fibres. * The Muse Dapper is located in Paris (France). Website: www.dapper.comIn gender studies, the term gender is used to refer to the social and cultural construction, representation and behavioural motivation that give rise to the masculine and feminine states. Gender identities and differences go beyond differences in sex. They are built and affected by different aspects of the cultural lives of populations. Women need to be more aware of the cultural nature of this difference both for their future personal development and that of societies. Gender difference in African Art A rtSandra Federici Keywords Gender; Africa; art; woman; Muse Dapper; woman’s role; difference TSculpture dege dyinge of the couple of primordial twins. Wood, metal, pigments, height: 66 cm, Muse Dapper, Paris, Inv. no 2617. Muse Dapper/photo Hughes DuboisMask of belly. Wood, pearls, pigments, height : 58cm, Muse Dapper, Paris, Inv. No 0717. Muse Dapper/photo Hughes Dubois

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and European Union countriesCARIBBEAN Antigua and Barbuda The Bahamas Barbados Belize Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic Grenada Guyana Haiti Jamaica Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago PACIFIC Cook Islands Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru Niue Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Timor Leste Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu AFRICA Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Congo (Rep. of) Cte d’Ivoire Democratic Republic of the Congo Djibouti Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Kenya Lesotho Liberia Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda Sao Tome and Principe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe EUROPEAN UNION Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom The lists of countries published by The Courier do not prejudice the status of these countries and territories now or in the future. The Courier uses maps from a variety of sources. Their use does not imply recognition of any particular boundaries nor prejudice the status of any state or territory.

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Table of contentsTHE COURIER, SPECIAL ISSUE NEW EDITION (N.E)EDITORIAL 1 FROM BEIJING TO NOW 2 EU 6 AFRICA 8 CARIBBEAN 12 ACP 14 DIASPORA 15 ART 16 Not for sale KQ-AH-09-001-EN-C ISSN 1784-682X