Date: 24/08/2010
Source: The Department of Water and Environmental Affairs
Title: SA: Mabudafhasi: Address by the Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, at the 4th Women and Environment conference with a pre-launch of Africa's chapter of network for women Ministers and leaders of environment

Progamme director: Minister of Economic Development
Your Excellencies, Ministers from Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia, Uganda
and Zambia
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee for Water and Environment
Veterans
MECs for Environment from Northern Cape and Gauteng Provinces
The Chairperson of the National Women and Environment Forum
Permanent Secretary from Lesotho
Representative from UNEP
Honorable ladies and gentlemen...

Good Morning!

We are here to conduct a pre-launch the Network of African Women
Ministers and Leaders for the Environment. It is important for me to
state that Africa is the first region out of 7 regions to launch its
chapter. That should be recorded in the history books of environment
sector.

Agenda 21 of the Rio Declaration of the World Conference on Environment
and Development in Rio de Janiero, Brazil (1992), recognized the crucial
role that women played in environmental management. This was further
reinforced by The Beijing Platform of Action of the UN Women's
Conference in Beijing China (1995) and the Johannesburg Declaration of
the World Summit on Sustainable development held in Johannesburg, South
Africa (2002).

In trying to realize the decisions taken in the conferences I have just
mentioned, IUCN and the Council of World Women Leaders convened a
meeting of women ministers and leaders of environment in Helsinki,
Finland which was chaired by the ex-Minister for Environment and
Development Cooperation for Finland, Ms. Satu Hassi, and myself as
Deputy Minister for Environmental Affairs and Tourism, South Africa. 22
Women Ministers for the Environment and 28 women leaders representing
non-governmental environmental organizations from Africa, Asia, Europe,
North and South America attended the meeting. The purpose of the meeting
was to mobilise women to take immediate action in addressing the
challenge of environment degradation as it affects economic development
and worsens poverty.

Ladies and gentlemen on the basis that women comprise more than half of
the world's population and also that women are the custodians of
environment, the meeting unanimously agreed that women must come
together and speak with One Voice and play a leading role in the
development of environmental management policies in our respective
countries in order to ensure that gender is an integral component of
environmental management. The Network of Women Ministers for the
Environment was thus born. When women come together they always make a
visible impact that improves lives of their communities and countries.
At this inaugural meeting Ms. Lena Sommestad, Minister for the
Environment of Sweden and myself were appointed co-chairs of the Network
of Women Ministers for the Environment representing the global north and
the global south. Today I remain the only chair of this Global Network.

The broad objective of the Global Network is to promote gender
responsive sustainable environmental management at regional and global
levels and enhance representation and involvement of women in
decision-making in the areas of environment and sustainable development
at all levels.
Since its establishment 2002, the global network has been actively
involved in a number of activities, one of them being the hosting of
first ever Global Women's Assembly on Environment: Women as the Voice
for the Environment (WAVE) at the headquarters of the United Nations
Environment Programme, (UNEP), Nairobi, Kenya in 2004 which was attended
by over 150 participants from 65 countries. One of the key resolutions
was to promote existing small-scale projects initiated by communities
and also formulation of women structures from local, national, regional
and global levels as platform to push the agenda of gender mainstreaming
in policy development and environmental management. UNEP was tasked to
develop a concrete Gender Plan of Action that will realize the above
mentioned resolutions.

To grow strong and be more effective on the ground, in February 2008
Women Ministers and Leaders met in Monaco and resolved to set up
regional, sub-regional and national chapters that will ensure that the
global objectives are implemented, the launch of the National Forum on
Women and Environment in South Africa, the 4th Women and Environment
Conference held yesterday and the Pre-Launch of Regional Chapters today
realizes the resolution of Monaco conference. We will also ensure
integration these women structures into the existing structures in
Africa as well as into Nairobi declaration and Plan of Action. We call
upon other countries to establish similar national forums that will
constitute the membership of the Africa Network. As South Africans we
pledge to lend support to the Region in setting up national women forum
or strengthening existing structures.

We have made strides in ensuring that the decisions made in all the
global conferences are realized, Africa will today become a leader in
the forefront of laying down clear framework that will enable women
working together to ensure environmental sustainability, reinforce that
women are as custodians of the environment, and recognize that women are
key players in steering the way forward in fostering green economic
growth, skills development for women , eradicating poverty and creating
jobs for women .

Ladies and gentlemen,
In October 2010, in Nairobi Kenya, the African Union will launch the
African Women's Decade from 2010-2021. This will come at a time when
we will be celebrating 25 years of the Nairobi Forward Looking
Strategies adopted at the UN Women's conference in Nairobi Kenya
(1985). Many of you will recall that these strategies opened up
opportunities for critically addressing the role that women played in
environmental management and also in decision-making. The next ten years
will therefore provide us with opportunities to not only fully address
the achievements made under the commitments made in these conferences,
but also to ensure that in follow up decisions, women's concerns,
achievements are fully addressed and commitments are matched with clear
cut implementation processes. This will be a challenge for the Network
of African Women Ministers and Leaders for Environment.

This we can only achieve if we work together, speak together in one
voice and walk together from Dakar to Maputo, Cape to Cairo, Casablanca
to Dar-es-salaam.

African women are a formidable and strong force that is capable to
bring about unrivalled green economic growth in our continent.

Truly, this is the time for Africa and Africa's Women!

Thank You.