Women, Peace and Security Initiatives: Southern Africa Region

12th Pre Summit Consultative Meeting on Gender Mainstreaming in the African Union
June 21-23 2008, Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

This 12th Pre Summit was organised by the "Gender is My Agenda" network, composed of 40 members and coordinated by Femmes Africa Solidarite. The event was offically opened by the First Lady of Egypt, H.E. Mrs Suzanne Mubarak,who strongly advocated for the empowerment of women, respect for their freedom and dignity. In the outcome document of the meeting called Solemn Statement and Recommendations, the women also undertook to take measures to protect Zimbabwean women and girls affected and displaced by violence after the March 29 Presidential and Parliamentary elections. The women in attendance agreed to send a Women Solidarity Mission to Zimbabwe to support women of that country after the Presidential Run-Off election scheduled for June 27, 2008.

To read the press release for the 12th Pre Summit meeting, please click here
To read the Solemn Statement and Recommendations, please click here

The Acacia Initiative
2004
Communities and the Information Society in Africa Program Initiative is an international program to empower sub-Saharan communities with the ability to apply information and communication technologies (ICTs) to their own social and economic development. This initiative is designed as an integrated program of research and development and demonstration projects to address issues of applications, technology, infrastructure, policy, and governance. Conceived and led by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Acacia supports Canada’s contribution to the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) which was endorsed by African governments as an action framework to build Africa’s information and communication infrastructure. Click Here for more information on the Acacia Imitative.

Africa’s Right to Health Campaign
Aiming to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic affecting the region, this initiative calls for the unconditional cancellation of African countries illegitimate foreign debt, equal access for African governments to access generic drugs and treatments, and the end of discrimination based on race, gender, and HIV status. Click here for the full text of the Resolution and Brochure. For more information visit Africa Action.

HIV/AIDS Initiative
1999
Africare’s HIV/AIDS initiative focus on HIV prevention through education, voluntary counseling, information and testing, and on supporting people already infected with HIV or suffering from AIDS as well as assisting orphans. The education is centered in subjects, such as gender inequity, cross-generational and transactional sex, and stigma reduction, among others. They also seek to support and strenghten capacity building in local communities to mitigate the impact of the epidemic in the region. For more information visit Africare.