Values are priorities that define our goals. According to David M. Taylor “Values drive behaviour. Your values are like a compass. This compass does not point north, south, east or west. It points to what is right. Every decision you make is guided by this compass”.

Gender Equality is a continental shared value of the African Union, others being peace, governance, development, human rights, participation and culture. Our leaders deserve a pat in the back for elaborating comprehensive frameworks on gender equality and women’s empowerment. These frameworks include the Constitutive Act of the African Union (2000), the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA) (2004), the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003), the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (2004), the AU Gender Policy (2008) and the declaration of 2010-2020 on the Decade for African Women, and other instruments.

 

Although the promotion of women’s rights constitutes a shared value, the general status of African women highlights the challenges of development in Africa. It is disappointing to note the wide gap between normative instruments and practice. African women still experience high rates of maternal mortality, insufficient protection for women in conflict areas, persistent violence against women, low representation of women in decision-making structures and discriminatory laws and policies that all point to the failure to fully adopt and reinforce the set standards.

 

The 16^th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union, under the theme-“Towards Greater Unity and Integration through Shared Values, was intended to provide the opportunity for deliberation on the instruments that articulate the basic standards of human rights that constitute shared values in the African Union with a view to furthering the integration process and stregthening the platform for collective action in addressing various challenges faced by the continent.

 

The Summit was an opportunity for women’s organisatios to engage AU member states and insist that they recognize and fully implement these shared values. It provided time to reflect and come up with strong recommendations and action in order to turn commitment to action. It was an opportunity to commend the 29 countries that have ratified the Protocol and to encourage the remaining 24 to do the same, while urging countries that have entered reservations to remove them. It was also an opportunity to review the performance of the Member States in implementing the SDGEA.

 

As the debate on Regional Integration intensifies African Union member states have an obligation to set aside adequate resources to implement their commitments on gender equality, document progress to enhance their accountability to the women of Africa and to ensure that issues on gender equality remain permanently on the agenda. While this is being done, it behoves on African women themselves to be proactive and get involved in the debate, ensuring that this integration involves harmonisation and implementation of laws to embrace the continental shared values on gender equality and women’s rights, without which the dreams and gains of integration will remain a mirage.

 

By: Roselynn Musa

 

References

David M. Taylor, ‘Why Values are Important’ University of Alberta, 1989

African Union, The January 2011 Summit On the Theme “Shared Values”, 2010

African Union, Towards Gender Unity and Integration through Shared Values, 2011

African Union, Draft Discussion Paper on Shared Values, 2010