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Date Added to
Site: 1st March 2005 |
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Short Summary
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| Title |
West African NGOs Report on the Implementation
of the Beijing Platform for Action |
| Author |
Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) |
| Publication
Date |
August 2004 |
| Publisher |
Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) |
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Short Summary |
This report summarises the outcomes of a consultation
organised by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) through the
African Centre for Gender and Development, contributing to the decade
evaluation of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA). It begins by
outlining the 12 critical action areas emerging out of the BPfA, noting
that West Africa had achieved some progress in areas including girls'
education and the passage of laws to protect women's health and counter
violence. Despite this, significant challenges remained: persistently
low levels of female literacy and discrimination against girls in
schools; few economic gains for women despite the introduction of
microcredit and other schemes; low levels of female representation
in women's decision-making; low levels of female participation in
the media; high cost of armed conflict to women and children; and
high rates of maternal mortality, particularly in rural areas. Recommendations
include the need to focus on seven key areas: poverty and economic
empowerment; decision making; health including HIV/AIDS and reproductive
health; violence including trafficking of women and children; education
of women; peace and security; and the needs of the girl child. This
requires committing more resources, including budgetary resources,
to the implementation of gender-equal policies, for both government
and NGOs.
The report is also available in French:
http://www.wildaf-ao.org/fr/IMG/doc/SyntheseAO_ONG_FR_fevrier2005_.doc
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| Complete Document |
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PostScript Document (pdf) |
