Spain, Africa to meet on gender equality

NAMIBIA will host the sixth Spain-Africa international meeting in Windhoek on April 9 and 10 to consider issues around ‘women for a better world’.

Making the announcement in Parliament last week, Deputy Minister Angelika Muharukua said this year’s meeting will coordinate developmental projects that are aimed at facilitating the empowerment and advancement of African women. The Spanish government brought the agenda of gender equality and the fight against domestic violence during its European Union (EU) presidency that ended in June last year. Some years ago, the EU adopted a roadmap to equality between men and women that set out priorities for 2006 to 2010. This combined specific initiatives and measures for the advancement of women and the integration of equality in all EU policies and activities. It also proposed the creation of a European observatory for gender-based violence. Because gender-based violence is a global phenomenon, the Spain-Africa meeting will seek to promote an exchange of good practices and successful policies and strategies to promote gender balance. Muharukua commented that there will be no progress in gender equality until equal sharing of responsibilities between men and women are realised. She said gender equality issues should start with families getting involved and young children being taught to respect others. ‘It must be clear where your rights end is where someone else’s rights begin,’ said the deputy minister, arguing that this would reduce incidents of gender-based violence and the spread of HIV-AIDS. She said it would also increase production and service delivery in both paid and unpaid labour between men and women. Namibia has a national policy that calls for gender equality, for women to access resources and participate in decision making at all levels of society.The country has also acceded to a range of regional and international instruments to precipitate equality in politics and management. Muharukua said progress in this regard remains slow, but steady, and asked for the documentation of women’s achievements, especially in areas where they have not been seen before.

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