Southern Africa Development Cooperation (SADC) Gender Equality Protocol

1
Southern Africa Development Cooperation (SADC)
Gender Equality Protocol
Presented By Lois Chingandu Executive Director
SAfAIDS On behalf of Southern African Gender
Protocol Alliance
2

• The Road from a Declaration to a Protocol

3
Outline of Presentation

• Brief Description of Campaign and Lobby for a
  SADC Gender Equality Protocol
• Context
• Initiative
• Lessons
• What Now?
• Actions

4
Context

• Efforts to promote gender equality, equity and
  womens rights in Africa has gained momentum over
  the past 10 years thus setting the stage for the
  further gains.
• Yet.2005 was a significant year for several
  reasons
• It was the 25th anniversary of SADC.
• It was the tenth anniversary of the Fourth World
  Conference on Women in Beijing.
• It was the deadline set in the SADC Declaration
  on Gender and Development for the achievement of
  30 women in all areas of decision-making.
• In September, leaders from around the world
  reviewed progress towards the implementation of
  the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) five
  years after their adoption.

5
Initiative Campaign for Gender Protocol

• Audit
• Key Findings
• Key Recommendations
• The single greatest challenge identified in the
  audit is to move the SADC region from an era of
  commitments to an era of implementation
• The main recommendation arising from the audit
  was that
• Heads of State adopt a Protocol to Accelerate
  Gender Equality in SADC This would entail
  elevating the SADC Declaration on Gender and
  Development into a Protocol, as contemplated in
  Article 26 of the Addendum to the Declaration on
  the Prevention and Eradication of Violence
  Against Women and Children which makes provision
  for the adoption of legally binding instruments.

6
Rationale for the Protocol

• The Protocol breaks new ground globally by
  incorporating and enhancing all existing
  commitments
• The Protocol incorporates all existing targets
  and also sets realistic, achievable targets where
  these do not exist
• The Protocol is accompanied by an action
  planning framework

7
Members of the ALLIANCE

• The SADC Gender Protocol Alliance comprises
• Botswana Council of NGOs (BOCONGO)
• Federation of African Media Women (FAMW)
• SADC
• Gender Links (GL)
• Gender and Media Southern Africa Network (GEMSA)
• Justice and Peace (Lesotho)
• Malawi Council of Churches
• Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
• NGO Gender Coordination Network Malawi
• SAFAIDS
• Society for Women and AIDS in Africa Zambia
  (SWAAZ)
• Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF)
• Women in Law in Southern Africa (WLSA)
• Women, Land and Water Rights Southern Africa
  (WLWRSA)
• Women in Politics Caucus Botswana
• Womens Leadership Centre Namibia
• Young Womens Christian Association Botswana
  (YWCA)

8
Key steps

• 2005 Work started with the Audit done by CSOs
• Findings presented in Botswana which gave birth
  to the Southern Africa Gender Protocol Alliance
• SADC Gender Unit fully involved and driving the
  process
• UN systems not openly involved
• Donor support was minimal but later increased
• August 2005-1st attempt to have it signed at the
  HOS summit in Botswana- Failed HOS accepted the
  50 women in decision making but silent on the
  protocol.

9

• 1st Key Lessons learnt were
• Go for the big picture
• HOS think narrowly about gender equality. Most
  think its about jobs for women
• Media was key to put the agenda on the map
• Country consultations were key

10
2nd Step

• Target the next Summit in 2006 in Zambia
• Presentations at the round table meeting of
  gender ministers in Angola Sept 2005 to seek
  support for protocol. Communique that
  acknowledged the need to do more in gender and to
  accelerate any legislation that will facilitate
  change

11

• Formation of a Regional Protocol Task Force (2
  CIVIL SOCIETY, TROIKA,SADC Gender Unit and
  chaired by Lesotho PS for Gender and incoming
  SADC chair
• Draft template of the protocol developed
• Dec 2005- Regional Consultative Conference held
  to discuss template

12

• June 2006- Meeting of Protocol experts roundtable
  and Task force to review Zero Draft 1 and Map out
  advocacy strategy
• SADC Legal unit joined to advice on process and
  language
• Road map developed
• Missed 2006 summit

13

• Road Map to 2007

Zero Draft 2 Aug 2006
Draft Framework April 2006
Zero Draft 1 May 2006
Adopted and signed Aug 2007
Zero draft 3 Oct 06
2nd Draft August 2007
1st draft June 2007
Zero Draft 5 May 2007
Zero Draft 4 March 2007
14

• 2nd lesson was the involvement of the legal unit
  was key to help us understand how things work in
  SADC
• Led us to become more real about process and to
  do it right
• July 2006 Regional Protocol Campaign writing and
  IT skills workshop by Genderlinks

15

• National Consultations began to review Zero Draft
  1-Zero Draft 2
• Regional Seminar Officials for Gender and Justice
  Ministries reviewed Zero draft 2-3
• Ministers of Gender and Senior Officials reviewed
  Zero draft 3-4
• Ministers of Justice and senior officials
  reviewed Zero draft 4-5
• Integrated Council of Ministers reviewed Zero
  daft 5 which became the First Draft
• Council of Ministers reviewed first and second
  draft to Head of States Summit.

16

• August 2007- Protocol Rejected at the Zambia
  Summit.
• Outcry from Civil Society
• Draft watered down
• Back to the drawing board
• Developed the Livingstone Draft with 19 section
  instead of the 14 recommended

17

• Fresh Lobbying in country and at regional level
  focused on the 8 areas
• dropped in Zambia through the same road map again
• 2008 HOS in South Africa- After 7 drafts and
  three years of lobbying the protocol was signed
  although still opposed and Botswana and Mauritius

18

• 3rd Lessons
• Policy Change Takes Time and Requires Long-term
  support
• Partnerships are Key Between Civil Society and
  Government at National and Regional level.
• Staying Focused
• Civil Society Leadership is key

19
Challenges

• SADC countries are not necessarily at the same
  level of understanding of gender
• Country priorities and sensitivities, cultures
  differ
• The many levels of reviews does not necessarily
  make the document better-new people, new thinking
• Areas of contention in Zambia (terminology can
  derail and water down a good document)

20
What Now?

• The adoption of the Protocol in August 2008,
  marks the beginning of the most critical
  processes, namely ratification, implementation
  and monitoring.
• The Alliance has identified at least 5 actions
  that need to take place in the next three years

21
Role of Civil Society in the implementation
process

• 1.To mobilise for the ratification of the
  Protocol
• According to the legal requirement, a Protocol
  shall come into force upon ratification by a two
  thirds majority of SADC Member States. Only then
  can it enforceable and Member states shall have a
  legal obligation to comply with the commitments
  as set out.

22

• Action
• Alliance members immediately engage with relevant
  stakeholders in particular the governments in
  country, to ensure that the ratification occurs
  in record time, in order that implementation
  effectively begins.
• Alliance members would have to lobby and
  advocate in country, including political
  engagement with relevant ministries with a view
  to pushing for ratification of the Protocol.

23

• 2.Raise awareness on the content of the Protocol
  at national and regional levels
• Use various media and other forums to raise
  awareness on the content of the Protocol. i.e
• news supplements, opinions and commentaries for
  various media, as well as information brochures
  and posters.

24
3. Strengthen meaningful coordination of the
Protocol campaign

• Meaningful coordination of Alliance work, is
  essential if momentum is to be sustained, remain
  systematic and make an impact.
• Create in country Clusters
• supported by expert advisors, these clusters will
  form powerful voices to make input and lobby at
  relevant processes, whilst serving as a reference
  point on the specific thematic issue for the rest
  of the Alliance members.
• Specifically the clusters shall play a key role
  in tracking and monitoring compliance with the
  Protocol by SADC governments, and supporting
  country processes in terms of monitoring and
  tracking, as well as technical input into
  monitoring work at country level.

25
4. Develop indicators and evaluate progress
towards achieving targets and benchmarks in the
Protocol

• develop indicators for measuring progress in all
  areas of concern as outlined in the protocol at
  country level
• Alliance members are to take a lead role in
  monitoring progress towards compliance with the
  commitments in the Protocol. Through the
  production of parallel reports documenting
  progress, and based on a clear set of indicators.
  
• Produce annual reports in all 14 SADC countries,
  beginning 2009.

26
5.Develop the skills set of Alliance members to
apply for a successful campaign

• Enhancing the knowledge and skills set of
  Alliance members to leverage the Protocol in
  their work
• Use every strategy review/planning meeting as a
  training ground for members.

27
6.Document and evaluate the campaign

• The Alliance experience of working on the
  development, adoption and implementation of the
  Protocol provides a good case study for reference
  and learning by other networks

28

• Produce an audit of progress achieved in 2010.
  This will be five years after the first audit
  conducted by NGOs in 2005 that is the baseline

29
Conclusion

• More attention need to be paid to countries that
  were in opposition
• Do not loose sight of the processes and
  strategies we used in the lobbying
• The role of the SADC Gender Unit will remain key
• Do not over individualize the countries

30
Thank You