From 20-22 September 2010, New York
For more information, visit:
http://www.un.org/en/mdg/summit2010/
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15th Ordinary session of the African Union : Maternal and child health in Africa
15th Ordinary session of the African Union : Maternal and child health in Africa
19-27 July in Kampala, Ouganda
The 15th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) will be held from 19 to 27 July 2010 in Kampala (Uganda) under the theme “Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa”.
Africa’s maternal mortality rate remains the highest in the world according to UNICEF statistics, more than 500,000 women die from complications of pregnancy or childbirth each year, most of them in Africa. Meanwhile African Union heads of State agreed on the launching of the continental “Campaign for the Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality (CARMAA)” in May 2009.
Other development partners, especially the World Bank has just published in May 11, 2010 an action plan on reproductive health for the period 2010-2015. This action plan will help developing countries to reduce their high fertility rates and to fight against the high maternal and infant mortality.
Specific dates for the meetings of the different AU organs during the Summit will be as follows:
19 -20 July 2010: 20th Ordinary Session of the PRC
22 -23 July 2010: Ordinary Session of the Executive Council
25 -27 July 2010: 15th Ordinary Session of the Assembly.
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47th Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights will hold its 47th ordinary session in Banjul, the Gambia from 12th to 26th May 2010. The following states will have to submit their periodic reports: Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Cameroon and Rwanda.
For more information, please visit the website at: http://www.achpr.org/english/_info/...
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122nd Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly
The Inter-Parliamentary Union will hold its 122nd assembly in Bangkok, Thailand from 27th March to 1st April 2010 under the theme “ Parliament at the heart of political reconciliation and good governance ”. The event will be an opportunity for women parliamentarians to hold their Fifteenth Meeting under the theme “Combating Violence against Women, with a particular focus on women held in places of detention and imprisonment”.
There will also be various segments during the general debate devoted to other important issues such as the Follow-up session on Maternal Health and Child Survival.
For more information, please visit the IPU website at: http://www.ipu.org/conf-e/122agnd.h...
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The fifteenth-year review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action
The global review of Beijing + 15 is expected in March 2010 in New York during the 54th session of the UN Comission on the Status of Women.
For more information, please check the site of the UN Division for the advancement of women at : http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing15/index.html
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The fifteenth-year review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action
The adoption of the Beijing Action Plan in 1995 has opened a new era for women’s empowerment. This action plan calls on all governments to intensify their efforts to support gender inequality issues. Thus, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is preparing the fifteenth-year review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in Africa . The Regional evaluation meeting for African countries is expected from 16-20 November 2009 in Banjul, Gambia while the Global review meeting is planned for 2010.
During the evaluation meeting, 53 member states are requested to submit their reports regarding the implementation of the Beijing Platform of Action.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has thus sent a questionnaire to countries for the elaboration of reports and also to help them have a reliable database on women. WILDAF West Africa, which is are actively involved in the preparation for Beijing + 15, also prepared a questionnaire for NGOs in order to help them submit a shadow report on the implementation of African women’s human rights recognised in the Protocol to the African Charter on human and peoples’ rights on the rights of women in Africa and in the Beijing platform of action in West African countries. Some terms of reference elaborated by WILDAF are also available for its focal points and national networks in order to enable them to participate in the evaluation process of Beijing + 15.
For more information, read the questionnaire , the terms of reference and the Calendar of the preparatory meetings on Beijing + 15 Review Process .
States who have replied to the questionaire,their responses can be found categorised under regional commissions at this webpage:http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing15/national-level.html#quest
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Forum on the participation of NGOs in the 46th ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights and 20th African Human Rights Book Fair
The African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) will host the Forum on the participation of NGOs in the 46th Ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights from Ba7 to 9 November 2009 Banjul, Gambia.
The meeting will focus on human rights situation in Africa in general and attempt to bring to the fore specific situations that need to be highlighted in order to attract the attention of the African Commission in particular and the international community and other concerned bodies. The Forum also aims to foster closer collaboration and cooperation between NGOs themselves and with the African Commission in order to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa, to provide a discussion platform for organizations working on democracy and human rights issues in the continent, and to promote inter-regional/organizational networking for the implementation of decisions of the Forum.
As usual, women’s rights issues will be aroused and a particular attention will be given to the implementation of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s rights on the rights of Women in Africa and the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa.
The 20th African Book Fair is expected to be held alongside with this forum. The fair will enable NGOs to network and initiate or renew the exchange of documents and information and awareness activities.
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Fourth Conference for Members of Parliamentary Committees on the Status of Women and other committees dealing with Gender Equality
Under the theme “ Is parliament open to women ?” the Fourth Conference for Members of Parliamentary Committees on the Status of Women and other committees dealing with Gender Equality will be held on 28 and 29 September 2009 at the Geneva International Conference Centre. The two-day event will focus on women’s access and participation in parliaments.
It will help members of parliament to debate and take stock of progress made, and identify future priorities for realising the goal of equality in politics. The Conference will appraise progress made in terms of women’s parliamentary participation across the world since the Beijing Conference, and take stock of concrete steps and special measures that have been taken to open parliaments up to the participation of women. The role of political parties, the influence of money in politics and the effects of quotas and electoral systems will be considered, together with the ways in which women parliamentarians are changing politics and redefining political priorities to include the concerns and priorities of women.
For more information about this event check the Inter-parliamentarians website at http://www.ipu.org/splz-e/gender09.htm
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Celebration of the 30-year Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
It is 30 years since the inception of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in collaboration with UNIFEM are coordinating the celebration activities of CEDAW, which is expected to take place in November in Banjul, The Gambia.
In order to commemorate the anniversary several events are expected to take place among which a morning plenary with the Ministers and experts/CSOs during which, a report will be given on progress made by African countries in the implementation of CEDAW by UNIFEM.
Testimonies will be given by women whose lives have been positively impacted through the implementation of CEDAW. An expert of the CEDAW Committee is also expected to make a presentation on the challenges in the implementation of CEDAW, including in the context of emerging issues such as climate change, financial crisis, and war on terror.
UNIFEM and UNECA (United Economic Commission for Africa) have also developped a Leaflet to mark the event.
For more information about CEDAW Convention, read the following articles:
- A brief story about CEDAW convention
- CEDAW Number of ratifications
- The potential of CEDAW for achieving gender equality
