{"id":3022,"date":"2013-05-06T21:02:25","date_gmt":"2013-05-06T21:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.africlub.net\/awdf\/?p=3022"},"modified":"2013-05-06T21:02:25","modified_gmt":"2013-05-06T21:02:25","slug":"statement-to-the-african-regional-meeting-of-the-2013-world-economic-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/awdf.org\/OldSite\/statement-to-the-african-regional-meeting-of-the-2013-world-economic-forum\/","title":{"rendered":"Statement to the African regional meeting of the 2013 World Economic Forum"},"content":{"rendered":"

We the undersigned participants at a strategic meeting on Women\u2019s Economic Empowerment and Livelihoods, held in Cape Town on 3-4 May under the auspices of the African Women\u2019s Development Fund (AWDF), wish to communicate the following key messages from our deliberations to the World Economic Forum-Africa meeting \u201cDelivering on Africa\u2019s Promise\u201d, 8-10 May 2013<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We welcome the new positive image of \u201cAfrica Rising,\u201d and stand proud of the achievements of the continent\u2019s women and men against overwhelming odds. As partners in the efforts to ensure that Africa\u2019s growth is sustainable and is in the interest of the continent and its peoples, we wish to bring to the attention of this meeting, the following concerns in the hopes that they will form a part of the deliberations:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We remain sceptical that real progress for Africa\u2019s one billion people\u2014the majority of whom are women–will change radically through policies centred unremittingly on markets and profits, and based predominantly on the extraction of mineral resources. African people\u2019s needs and interests\u2014particularly those of women\u2014are not part of this narrow economic vision. As African women, we are only too aware that:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. From colonialisation to globalisation, African women have been brutally marginalised from Africa\u2019s economic activity. The colonial economic model, which dominates \u201cdevelopment\u201d planning to this day, deliberately destroyed indigenous African systems of production, which were based on careful custodianship of our natural resources for present and future generations. As a result, African women\u2019s economic contribution, skills and knowledge have been devalued and relegated to the \u201cinformal economy.\u201d The result has been that even now, economic growth and the so-called \u201cpromise of Africa\u201d have had little relevance to the vast majority of Africa\u2019s women.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Women\u2019s wealth in Africa has been intimately tied to traditional forms of communal resource ownership in which communities have evolved equitable and sustainable systems of wealth creation and distribution. These same communal systems have protected and enriched Africa\u2019s greatest assets: a natural heritage second to none, with abundant water, forest and land based resources, as well as bounteous plant, marine and animal life. The definition of Africa\u2019s wealth and economy in limited terms of GDP obscures the true value of the continent\u2019s real capital.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

       <\/p>\n

        \n
      1. The fuel of Africa\u2019s economic growth and development is its food system. Food systems in Africa rely on indigenous local products.The 2010-2011 report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation on \u2018The State of Food and Agriculture\u2019[1]<\/a> indicates that in Africa 50-80% of agricultural labour is provided by women. Africa\u2019s primary food security systems are at threat from the process of relentless land degradation, dispossession, privatisation and large scale land grabs. Furthermore, these local food production systems are threatened by the loss of women\u2019s indigenous knowledge necessary to preserve our rich ecosystems, seeds and animal biodiversity. However, women farmers are being driven out of the food economy under the relentless drive towards exclusively large-scale commercial agriculture. The impact of these approaches to our environment and to our complex ecosystems cannot be stressed enough. It is time for urgent action now.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

         <\/p>\n

        We urge African political and business leaders participating at the Regional Africa World Economic Forum 2013 to broaden their understanding of an \u201cemerging Africa\u201d beyond extractive industry driven GDP. A balance must be struck between nurturing real African economies\u2014where we \u201cproduce what we consume and consume what we produce\u201d\u2014and slavishly aligning our production systems to the requirements of external powers. As African women, we wish to end the cycle of exclusion and marginalisation that has characterised Africa\u2019s location in the global economy, and our participation as citizens within it.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        As a group of African feminists, women\u2019s rights and social justice activists passionate about the realisation of the rights of all Africans we commit ourselves to work with women, decision makers, business people and thought leaders across the continent to reimagine and work towards Africa\u2019s transformation guided by principles of sovereignty, self-determination, equity and justice.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Signed:<\/p>\n

        African Women’s Development Fund (Regional)<\/p>\n

        African Women\u2019s Economic Policy Network (Uganda)<\/p>\n

        Biowatch (South Africa)<\/p>\n

        Busia Community Based Services (Kenya)<\/p>\n

        Economic Justice Network (South Africa)<\/p>\n

        Gaia Foundation (International)<\/p>\n

        Grassroots Organisation Operating Together in Sisterhood (Kenya)<\/p>\n

        Land Access Movement of South Africa (South Africa)<\/p>\n

        Positive Women’s Network (South Africa)<\/p>\n

        Rural Women’s Movement (South Africa)<\/p>\n

        SOS Addis (Ethiopia)<\/p>\n

        Surplus People Project (South Africa)<\/p>\n

        Tanzania Gender Network Program (Tanzania)<\/p>\n

        The African Biodiversity Network (Kenya)<\/p>\n

        The Association of Uganda Professional Women in Agriculture and Environment (Uganda)<\/p>\n

        The Mupo Foundation (South Africa)<\/p>\n

        Wheat Trust (South Africa)<\/p>\n

        Women and Resources in Eastern and Southern Africa (Zimbabwe)<\/p>\n

        Women’s Leadership and Training Programme (South Africa)<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

        Press Enquiries<\/b><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah (AWDF Communications Specialist)<\/p>\n

        Tel: +233 302 521 257<\/p>\n

        Email: nana@africlub.net\/awdf<\/a><\/p>\n

        Website: www.africlub.net\/awdf<\/a><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n


        <\/p>\n
        \n
        \n

        [1]<\/a>Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, 2011.2010-2011: The State of Food and Agriculture <\/i>[pdf] Available at: http:\/\/www.fao.org\/docrep\/013\/i2050e\/i2050e.pdf<\/a> [Accessed 5th May 2013].<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        We the undersigned participants at a strategic meeting on Women\u2019s Economic Empowerment and Livelihoods, held in Cape Town on 3-4 May under the auspices of the African Women\u2019s Development Fund (AWDF), wish to communicate the following key messages from our deliberations to the World Economic Forum-Africa meeting \u201cDelivering on Africa\u2019s Promise\u201d, 8-10 May 2013   […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[182,718,257,262,719],"class_list":["post-3022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-africa","tag-cape-town","tag-economic-empowerment","tag-livelihood","tag-world-economic-forum"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStatement to the African regional meeting of the 2013 World Economic Forum - 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