Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA P. O. Box 3243 Téléphone: 5517 700 Fax: 5511299

AFRICAN UNION

UNION AFRICAINE

UNIÃO AFRICANA

Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA P. O. Box 3243 Téléphone: 5517 700 Fax: 5511299

DIRECTORATE OF COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION

PRESS RELEASENº012/2011

AFRICA UNION OUTLINES STRATEGIC AREAS OF COLLABORATION WITH UNWOMEN

Addis Ababa, 4 March 2011–The African Union today outlined its priorities for collaboration with UNWomen- the UN entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women.

In a meeting with the UN Women’s Representative to the African Union and to the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Ms Florence Butegwa, the Commission’s Deputy Chairperson Mr Erastus Mwencha highlighted the need for the two institutions to work in partnership in fulfillment of AU priorities under the ten year UN capacity building programme for the AU.

Ms Butegwa said shewas at the Commission to identify key priority areas for collaboration and to negotiate modalities for a new Memorandum of Understanding. She recalled that the UNWomen’s Executive Director attended the 16th summit of the AU held in January and that her priority was to consult with African leaders on the main areas for gender.

Mr. Mwencha welcomed the opportunity to refresh the collaboration with the UN body, saying that, although much has been achieved, a lot of work still needs to be done. He said the AU has achieved parity of the sexes in senior management positions but at lower levels, women make up less than 30 percent of the workforce and this epitomizes the broader challenge. Among some of the problems still being faced by women, he included the difficulties faced in conflict situations and exclusion from leadership positions and politics.

The Commission’s Director of Gender and Women’s Empowerment Ms Litha Musyimi Ogana said there were many similarities in the priorities of the UN Women’s programme and those of the AU’s African Women’s Decade (AWD) and that this should form the basis of collaboration regarding promoting women’s development and equality. The AWD centers round ten themes i.e.; fighting poverty and promoting economic empowerment of women entrepreneurship; agriculture and food security; health, maternal mortality and HIV and AIDS; education, science and technology; environment, climate change and sustainable development; peace, security and violence against women and girls; governance and legal protection; finance and gender budgeting; women and decision making and mentoring youth.

Another priority area will be to make the ten year capacity building programme gender sensitive. The two organizations also agreed to revisit their Memorandum of Understanding, initially signed when UNWomen was still known as UNIFEM. The new MOU to be crafted would include priorities for other departments of the AUC that have to do with women’s development.

WZM/