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Lack of access to information and technology affects Africa in general and women in particular. However, through the efforts and co-ordination of many government and NGO agencies, that essential access to information is slowly progressing throughout southern Africa. 'Information as a Tool for Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality - Towards 2005' was the theme of a regional gender conference held recently in Maputo in order for women to gain perspective on information opportunities and barriers, as well as to evaluate and monitor progress. The conference, which preceded the meeting of the Standing Committee of SADC (Southern African Development Community) Ministers of Gender and Women's Affairs, took place on 18-19 May 2001. It developed a number of recommendations for the ministers to discuss and possibly implement. Participants represented 13 SADC countries. The conference was part of the second phase of the Women in Development Southern Africa Awareness (WIDSAA), a programme of the Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC). The project has been a catalyst for collecting, processing and disseminating information on the status of gender issues and monitoring progress in the implementation of the SADC Gender and Development Declaration. It also had the task of developing profiles of the status of women, both regionally and nationally. The conference was organized in collaboration with the SADC Gender Unit and UNIFEM along with regional networking partners, to:
These objectives were based on the Beijing Plus Five outcomes document in order to develop recommendations to the standing committee on how best the region can meet the targets. Duarte Joaquim, national director in Mozambique's ministry of women and co-ordination of social action, opened the conference by stressing the need for a gender balance in the media and highlighted the importance of women's networks and other mechanisms in information dissemination. The conference evaluated the achievements, constraints, opportunities and challenges by SADC governments articulated in the Beijing Platform for Action and SADC Declaration. The critical role of the standing committee in advancing this agenda was recognized. One continuing issue is that of women's human rights unfulfilled due to incompatible laws, unimplemented international treaties and the absence of a human rights framework for planning and programming. Limited gender mainstreaming and information gaps in planning and programmes, coupled with linkages between national and regional machineries were also criticized. Participants noted a number of challenges for the region, such as globalization, deepening poverty, high debt servicing, HIV/AIDS and limited access to information communication technology. The conference expressed concern over the possible impact of the SADC restructuring exercise on the policy and the institutional framework for gender in SADC, which could reverse some of the gains made. The restructuring at SADC has been done with the aim of creating a more efficient organization through centralizing to bring a stronger coordinating role to SADC headquarters. This will be done through the formation of clusters of the former sectors to be established over 18 months to 2002. In 1999, the gender unit became a department on its own with gender focal persons in each sector, but by the end of 2002, all sectors will be replaced by 'clusters', and gender will become a part of a department, with the aim of putting 'gender in the engine of SADC.' SADC will be restructured into the following clusters:
These clusters will be headed by directors reporting to a chief director who will be in charge of the department of strategic planning, gender and policy harmonization. The rationale is to ensure that gender is mainstreamed in all SADC activities and the programme of action. Dr. Athaliah Molokomme, senior gender programme officer of the SADC gender unit, urged the participants attending the conference in Maputo to view the restructuring as an opportunity to influence the future of gender strategy since the framework of roles and structures was still not clear. For instance, it is not clear how the gender component will be constituted within the chief director's office, or how it will relate to the activities of the directorates. It is also feared that mainstreaming gender is one of many strategies to achieve gender equality, and has its own limitations while its impact is often long term. Some participants felt that while mainstreaming is a strategy that seeks to ensure that gender issues be recognised in the design, implementation and monitoring of policies and programmes, there is a real danger that this might remain rhetoric. On the contrary, empowerment, which is another strategy that has been used by the SADC gender unit to achieve equality between women and men, has achieved short term, yet measurable targets. - Women's empowerment programmes are concrete, positive measures intended to 'fast track' progress, with clear timeframes for achievement of targets, says one of the conference documents. Recommendations made by the conference and adopted by the ministers are that the standing committee should:
These recommendations, based on what still needs to be accomplished in order to meet the gaps identified in the Beijing Plus Five outcomes document and targets for 2005, were created by the workshop participants to influence the restructuring process and how it deals with gender within SADC. The conference provided an opportune forum for stakeholders to make suggestions regarding the gender agenda within SADC and the context of the restructuring process. "The women and men of this region are committed to the empowerment of women and achievement of equality 100 percent and can go to any length to make that happen," said Bookie Monica Kethusegile-Juru, head of the WIDSAA Programme. By Leya Chatta-Chipepa and Carmen Dyck; Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC)
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