GAC - Bridgetown Protocol - Economic and Community Development Working Group Report



		THE BRIDGETOWN PROTOCOL HOME TABLE OF CONTENTS Back to Working Group Reports PART III - WORKING GROUP REPORTS GENDER WORKING GROUP REPORT Co-chairpersons: Kenturah Babb and Kwame Kalimora INTRODUCTION PRIORITY AREAS RECOMMENDATIONS BARRIERS INTRODUCTION OVERVIEW OF PROBLEMS Afrikan people and people of Afrikan descent must acknowledge that we have monumental gender issues which must be addressed in order to overcome racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerances. These issues affect both genders. We are convinced that racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerances manifest in a differentiated manner for women and girls, men and boys, and can be among the factors leading to deterioration of their living conditions, poverty, poor health care, HIV/AIDS, violence including armed conflicts, trafficking in women and children and denial of women’s human rights. Fundamentally, race and gender are social constructions created by human beings to implement and define power relations. In this respect, imposed identities are used against the oppressed to produce wealth for oppressors. For example, just as the enslavement of Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants has created enormous wealth for the so-called developed nation states at the expense of Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants, so too has women’s unpaid labour in the home enriched the nation states at women’s expense. Unfortunately, we continue to buttress racism and sexism by means of certain cultural traditions, social policies and religious and secular practices. We must therefore integrate a gender perspective into relevant policies, strategies and programs of action to deal with racism and racial discrimination in order to address the inter-sectionality of race and gender. That is, the recognition that Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant women are disadvantaged both on the basis of their gender and their racial identity. Therefore we need a gender-conscious perspective that challenges: · Lack of research that reflects the realities of Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant women; · Afrikan customary law which prevents Afrikan women from inheriting land; · Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant women occupying the bottom rung of the socio-economic ladder; · Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant women’s disproportionate affliction by the health crises of malaria, HIV/AIDS, obesity, diabetes, etc.; and the predominance of prostate cancer among Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant men; · Women’s exclusion from formal schooling, skills training, political decision-making; · Globalization of national economies which results in women being victims of servitude and sexual trafficking; · Discriminatory immigration and naturalization laws which impact women in unique ways; · Incarceration of Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant males; · Gender perspective not being incorporated in school curricula, educational materials, social polices and the media. PRIORITY AREAS AREAS OF CONCERN Issues affecting Afrikan women include, but are not limited to: 1. Limited access to all levels of education 2. HIV/AIDS 3. Armed conflict 4. Persistent poverty 5. Inadequate health care including maternal and reproductive health 6. Land distribution (including women’s inheritance rights in Afrika) 7. Racial and ethnic discrimination 8. Religious intolerance 9. Trafficking of women and girls for sexual slavery and servitude 10. Current forms of slavery in parts of Afrika 11. Negative media images of Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant women and men 12. Women’s marginalization in employment 13. Lack of resource allocation for women with disabilities 14. Poor quality and low availability of housing for Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant women 15. Widespread teen parenting (female and male) Having thoroughly discussed these issues the Gender Working Group concludes that there should have been a special plenary on gender during this conference, and all thematic caucuses should integrate a gender perspective in their strategies, plans of action, programs and decision-making processes from inception. The group discussed initiatives that are being undertaken in their respective areas or in relevant regions to address the identified problems. We reaffirmed that some work is already being done which we need to tap into, strengthen or develop further. These include grassroots programs that are conducted in parts of Afrika to educate the youth on reproductive rights, HIV and prevention from AIDS; and Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant women’s involvement in the peace processes in post conflict situations. RECOMMENDATIONS AND STRATEGIES OVERVIEW · Integrate a gender perspective in design and development of strategies and decisions aimed at fighting against Racism; and all identified issues of concern. · Incorporate race and gender analysis in the implementation of all aspects of the Program of Action adopted at the Barbados Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant World Conference Against Racism, particularly in the fields of employment, education, poverty, armed conflict, health, HIV/AIDS and the media. · Provide appropriate legal assistance to women victimized by racism, ethnic discrimination and related intolerances in their fight against such discrimination. · Ensure that conflict resolution programs address health issues including HIV/AIDS, nutrition, reproductive health, mental health; as well as psychological, spiritual, and other forms of, counselling and healing. RECOMMENDED STRATEGIES · In the following, we recommend strategies at local, national, regional and international levels and in different institutions of the state and of civil society. NATIONAL, REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS 1. National Level · Facilitate women’s increased access to credit, loans, employment and training for their economic empowerment · Provide childcare support to enable women’s equitable participation in economic activities · Undertake Afrikan centred programs and services to strengthen Afrikan family units · Develop gender based research reflecting the issues affecting Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant women 2. Regional Level · Establish informative regional working groups which are linked to an international structure that aims to rebuild Afrikans at home and in the Diaspora spiritually, mentally, and physically. These groups should also revisit and capture the indigenous social and parenting values of Afrika in order to recreate a better social structure for people of Afrikan ancestry. 3. International Level · Pressurize the developed countries, World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other international financial institutions to adopt fair trade regulations with the Afrikan continent which include a focus on women’s access to the global market. · Pressurize the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to adopt economic policies, which put people’s well being before profit. · Hold member governments of the United Nations accountable for a more vital role in implementing measures for the protection of women’s rights. NGOs · Establish a global network of NGOs as a step towards developing linkages with NGOs working in similar fields and devise a mechanism for information sharing with the aim to further our cause. We should start by taking stock of existing NGOs and reach out to others in our regions with the aim of identifying the gaps that need to be filled, and then take action to stimulate the establishment of other NGOs to address specific problems that have been overlooked. We emphasize the importance of networking regionally and globally for local solutions, fund-raising activities etc. · Make use of documents such as the Beijing Platform of Action, which some of our sisters participated in developing, and contain strategies of benefit to Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant women. · Recognize, and commit to, actions that will break away from the culture of dependency, and promote self- reliance. · Lobby governments to incorporate a gender budget in provision of social services, economic planning and resource allocation. · Develop systems and mechanisms to monitor all government policies and programs to ensure that they include anti-discrimination measures. · Develop a systematic approach to monitoring and correcting racial and gender discrimination in all government policies and programs. Refugees · Develop means of protecting refugees and internally displaced women and girls from violence. This is to be undertaken, specifically, by Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant NGOs with expertise within the field of human rights for refugees Education and Training · Develop training modules which contain adequate, relevant and accurate information, promoting traditional value systems and an understanding of the nature, root-causes and effects of various gender related tensions within our communities. · Promote women empowerment through information and education at grassroots level and emphasize women’s traditional peace building knowledge and skills. HIV/AIDS Develop facilities and women’s networks to: · Care for and provide counselling for victims of HIV; including women traumatized by rape as victims of war; · Prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS; · Advocate and lobby pharmaceutical companies to allow the manufacturing of generic drugs at accessible costs; · Make special provision for survivors of households afflicted by AIDS Media · Incorporate anti-racist and gender sensitive policies into Codes of Conduct for the media to discourage stereotyping of Afrikan and Afrikan Descendant women and men. · Establish a Code of Conduct that will hold the media accountable for promoting any form of discrimination Religion · Encourage NGOs to work with leaders of religious groups to promote among their followers values of respect and non-discrimination for diverse cultural and linguistic groups Poverty · Create awareness about the fact that persistent poverty in Afrika and countries with majority populations of Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants are also linked to globalization, which began with the slave trade and continued through colonialism and is perpetuated to the present day. · Demand debt cancellation as a way of compensating for the exploitation of Afrikan human and natural resources during slavery and colonization, and the use of proceeds to re-invest in programs against racism, for health care, education, housing and other social services. BARRIERS BARRIERS: · Lack of resources. · Social pyramids which exists, such as institutional/systemic racism. · Globalization. · Language barriers. · Fragmentation throughout Afrika and the Diaspora which was re-enforced during colonialism. · Ethnic conflicts. · Religious prejudices, and cultural/traditional practices that women face in their daily lives. · Judicial systems biased against women. STEPS TO OVERCOME BARRIERS: · Develop alliances across board, locally, nationally and internationally · Establish mechanisms of self-reliance among Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants Back to Working Group Reports _________________________________ Please direct questions or comments to website@globalafrikancongress.com Copyright © Afrikans and Afrikan Descendants World Conference Against Racism 2003. All Rights Reserved.