Closing address to the Congress of the Pan African Women's Organisation

The Secretary General of the Pan African Women's Organisation,
The President of the ANC Women's League,
Distinguished delegates,

Today marks the conclusion of a critical conference that we had all been eagerly waiting for. Thank you for inviting us to be part of the making of history.

The Pan African Women's Organisation, (PAWO) has a special place in African history, being the oldest organisation in the continent, preceding even the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Women led the way towards continental unity for a common purpose of rebuilding and uniting our continent.

Women belonging to ruling parties as well as to then exiled liberation movements such as the ANC, SWAPO, MPLA and FRELIMO worked tirelessly through PAWO to spearhead the struggle for political freedom and for the full emancipation of women in our continent.

It is for this and many other reasons that as the African National Congress we took a resolution at our 51st national conference in Stellenbosch, that PAWO must be transformed and restructured in order to meet the current challenges women face on our continent such as those identified within the African Union and NEPAD.

We also reaffirmed the decision of our 50th Conference to host PAWO, and to support the holding of the PAWO conference in South Africa. In our 96th anniversary statement on January 8 this year we reiterated our commitment to the revival of PAWO, of which the ANC Women's Section in exile was a founder member in 1962. We said that this important event would mark a milestone in the ongoing struggle for the emancipation of women on the continent.

The reason for our position is that we recognize the meaningful role that has been played, and will continue to be played by PAWO in the advancement of gender equality and the reconstruction and development of our continent.

Let me from the onset recognise and salute the Secretary General of PAWO who has managed to run this organisation for so many years under very difficult conditions.

With minimal support, you persevered as you were determined to make PAWO survive for the good of our continent, and the good of all the women of this continent. We thank you most sincerely for this commitment, dedication and sacrifice.

Our history indicates clearly that PAWO's most valuable contribution was in the advancement of the struggle for African liberation from colonialism and oppression. PAWO spoke out against conflict and oppression in the continent, and called for action from the structures of the OAU and later the African Union, the United Nations and all its organs as well as the Non Aligned Movement.

PAWO was able to play this role due to the active role of women in their native countries, in the struggles for freedom.

In South Africa our stalwarts such as Charlotte Maxeke, Lillian Ngoyi, Gertrude Shope, Aminah Cachalia, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and many others laid a firm foundation for the participation of women in the struggle for freedom, human rights and the public life of our country.

Their achievements, fighting side by side with their male comrades, underlined the pivotal role of women in the defence of, and promotion of human rights and freedom.

It is important to note that this central role of women in the public and political life dates back many centuries. We recall the key role played in history by women such as Mkabayi ka Jama, a key power broker and political and strategic adviser to King Shaka in the Zulu Kingdom.

When we go northwards to Egypt, the assertiveness of Queen Nefertiti broke new ground and demonstrated that women had views and could take their own decisions regarding both their personal and public lives.

Women are not being done a favour by men if voted into positions of power and influence; they have earned this right through decades of hard work.

Comrades and friends, this conference marks the revival of a key organisation, and it is a step in the right direction given the challenges facing us in our continent. The themes you discussed here talk accurately to the difficulties facing African women - Women and Economic Development; HIV, AIDS and Malaria; Information Technology and Education. African women have a key role to play in the formulation of strategies and plans for the development of their respective countries, and continent. It means therefore that the role of PAWO in the AU, regarding socio-economic matters, needs to be more pronounced.

With regards to the socio-economic development of the continent, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) clearly spells out the role of women, as well as programmes through which the empowerment of women can be achieved.

These include the promotion of women in social and economic development by reinforcing their capacity in the domains of education and training; the development of revenue-generating activities through facilitating access to credit; and by assuring their participation in the political and economic life of African countries.

PAWO should play a leading role in monitoring and evaluation, to ascertain whether the AU and its organs meet such obligations and undertakings. Another critical area is peace and security. The majority of African women live under conditions of perpetual threat to their personal safety and security, and that of their children. We sadly still have pockets of conflict in the continent, and women and children bear the brunt of such mini-wars.

We have learnt from our own situation in South Africa and from the experiences of the Congo, Sudan as well as the Ivory Coast, that women and children are most vulnerable when there is no peace. We have also learnt that when one or two countries in this beautiful continent made of 53 countries, are at war, all of us are denied peace and our chances to achieve our development goals are diminished.

Fortunately, a lot is being done to end the conflicts, and women continue to play an important role to support such peace efforts. In South Africa, we applaud the work of the South African Women in Dialogue initiative, under the patronage of Zanele Mbeki, for the dialogues they have been championing with the women of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Sudan. SAWID has demonstrated that peacemaking is not the domain of men only. Peacemaking and peace-keeping are the responsibilities of both men and women. It is our hope therefore that PAWO will intensify its engagement with organs such as the AU Peace and Security Council to promote the interests and conditions of women living in conflict situations, and to mitigate the impact of conflict and wars on women.

Women should not be seen only as victims of war and recipients of assistance. They should be more active players in the peace and security structures to inform and manage the manner in which the continent deals with conflicts.

In this regard we hope that PAWO will play a critical role in the resolution of the dispute that is currently taking place in Kenya, to ensure that the final solution does not marginalise women of Kenya, but puts their issues in the forefront.

The same should also be said about the situation in Zimbabwe, that women can play a crucial role in finding a lasting solution to the problems that are faced in that country. From the ANC point of view we hope that the coming elections at the end of March in Zimbabwe will indeed resolve the problems that have plagued Zimbabwe for the past years. We also believe that PAWO in both Kenya and Zimbabwe, Darfur as well as other parts of the continent where there are conflicts would play a critical role to help bring peace and stability.

But I will also like to call on governments to help provide resources that will help PAWO to undertake these important tasks. I do not believe that we can continue in the same old way, wherein this important organisation was almost treated as a step-child. We need to mobilise all our organized formations to address the African problems.

In addition, PAWO should play more of an active and visible role than before. Its presence must be felt in the day to day activities and programmes that address the affairs of the continent.

In addition, the United Nations Resolution 1325 calls for the full inclusion of women in international peace and security processes, and is a useful instrument for pushing through the participation of women internationally in conflict resolution and peacekeeping.

It is the first ever UN Peace and Security Council resolution that focuses on the impact of war on women and their contribution to peacemaking and peacekeeping. The resolution calls for action in four areas related to women and peacekeeping, namely:

* Participation of women in conflict resolution;
* Integration of gender perspectives in peacekeeping missions;
* Protection of women and girls in conflict zones;
* Mainstreaming of gender sensitisation in UN reporting and implementation systems.

Comrades and friends, a commitment was made in Maputo in 2004, to strengthen PAWO and to restructure its administrative and operational capacity to meet the new political, social and economic challenges faced by African people in general, and women in particular.

The Maputo Declaration of PAWO also made a commitment to develop the organisation into a strong voice of African women, and to ensure that PAWO becomes inclusive of all women of Africa.

This congress has taken PAWO a step further towards meeting those goals outlined in the Maputo Declaration, and we congratulate you on the progress you have made in your deliberations.

We are encouraged by the plans to make PAWO to play an active role in working with the structures of the African Union, especially since Africa has made progress in institutionalising gender equality.

The Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa, adopted by the AU Summit in 2004, reaffirmed commitment to the principle of gender equality as well as to continue, expand and accelerate efforts to promote gender equality at all levels.

This declaration asserts that women must be represented in all facets of public office and in the private sector on a 50/50 basis with men. The declaration calls for Africa to adopt the practice of parity in representation of both men and women. We trust that PAWO will monitor each country and ensure the implementation of this declaration. The ANC took a resolution at our last national conference in December to ensure 50-50 representation of men and women in the leadership positions.

It is important to note that all the institutional and implementation organs of the African Union, including NEPAD and the Pan African Parliament, have committed themselves towards gender parity and representation in all the work they undertake in rebuilding the continent.

For example, for every fifth representative of all member states of the Pan African Parliament, the Constitutive Act decrees that one must be a woman.

We urge the African Union to provide extensive support to PAWO, as such noble goals will not be realized without the full participation of women.

Fellow Africans, let me extend our most heartfelt gratitude to the people and government of Angola, who have supported PAWO for so many years financially, politically and through various other means.

We also thank all the women's formations throughout the continent who see the value in PAWO, and who are determined to make it succeed. Our gratitude also extends to the South African government, especially the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the ANC Women's League for making this congress a reality, and for working with all to make it the success it has been.

And thanks to all the delegates for taking the continent a step forward towards the mainstreaming of the participation of women in the affairs of the continent, especially political, social and economic development.

It is important to underline the fact that it is not within the cultural fabric of Africa to dismiss the central role of women. Women are the custodians of the freedoms we have fought for, and they have a critical role to play towards building a continent that is united both politically and economically, and which is a safer and more stable place to live in.

In order to achieve this, women have to promote the interaction of the progressive political formations in the continent, so that women are part of the active political discourse to shape the political landscape of the continent. In this context the Progressive Women's Movement is an appropriate and important vehicle. This means that those women who belong to this movement, must deliberately within the African continent use this movement to promote progressive ideas and to deepen democracy.

In that context the progressive women's must lead, the broader women's organisation in the continent.

We must all go back with a firm determination to implement the resolutions of the conference. We give you our commitment as the African National Congress that we will continue to work for the strengthening of PAWO, and towards true emancipation of women in our continent.

The continent also needs to develop a strong progressive and continental women's movement which will take the struggles and issues of women to another level.

I thank you.