Women want more power at the Pan-African Parliament

The African Union has proclaimed 2015 as "year of development and the empowerment of women" in the context of action 2063. The goal is to accelerate the process of ratification and internalization of the Protocol of the African Charter on the rights of man and of peoples relative to the rights of women in Africa.

So far, the only 36 States have ratified this document better known as the Maputo Protocol. The members of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) and a hundred other members (women for the most part) yesterday completed a two-day forum devoted to the empowerment of women.

In Africa, women play a vital role in the economy of development. "For example, in the world, African women have the highest economic activity rate (percentage of people who make available their workforce for the production of economic goods), including the OECD countries, this rate is estimated at 61.9%», considered the Aïchata Haidara, President of the network of women parliamentarians at PAP.

This was an opportunity for these members to enhance their knowledge on the legal instruments that will enable them to claim more space in their respective countries. It was also question to share between them the experiences elsewhere.

We learn that the Parliament of South Africa is one of the most equitable in the continent with almost a parity of 50%. Mauritius has gradually introduced free primary, secondary and university education, which brought the educational level of girls to 90%. Rwanda guarantees the equal right to land for both spouses (names of the spouses on the land title).

Even Malawi has improved women's access to training in agricultural techniques, information, inputs and services in order to boost agricultural production for rural women. In closing the work yesterday, the Honourable Roger Nkodo Dang, president of the PAP said that "the woman is the future of humanity.