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Mbeki urges African citizens to take action, implement women’s rights

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Former President Thabo Mbeki says failure by African leaders to implement laws which seek to protect and promote women’s rights and empowerment is a major indictment of the continent’s ability to embrace progressive policies.

Mbeki was addressing the closing ceremony of the Thabo Mbeki Africa Day lecture at the University of South Africa in Pretoria on Friday.

Mbeki then urged African citizens to take action and push for the implementation of the African Union protocol on women’s rights and gender equality.

“We know what is wrong and we know that this African continent has correct policies to address this matter about gender equality. But what is missing is us in action, we need to come to a point of acting to make sure that the issue of women emancipation and gender equality is addressed. Our governments will not act until we the people Act.”

South Africa’s former deputy president and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka says men have a moral responsibility to dismantle patriarchy.

She was delivering a keynote address to mark the 9th annual Thabo Mbeki Africa Day Lecture at the University of South Africa (Unisa) in Pretoria Friday night.

Mlambo-Ngcuka who served under former president Thabo Mbeki, has been criss-crossing the world to advocate for women’s rights.

Unisa’s Z.K Mathews conference hall was packed to capacity as university students, business executives, members of the diplomatic corps, and the academia came to hear a public lecture by the country’s first ever woman deputy president.

The annual Thabo Mbeki Africa Day public lecture was held in partnership with Unisa, under the theme “Gender Equality and Women Empowerment: A Necessary Paradigm Shift in Africa’s Quest for Democratisation, Development and Poverty Eradication.”

Although Mlambo-Ngcuka acknowledged that women were often the main culprits in reinforcing patriarchy, she challenged men to lead the way in dismantling the practice that prevents women from achieving their socio-economic potential.

“All over the world not enough men have been mobilised to become gender activists who can lead from within and dismantle patriarchy. I also blame feminists of my generation because we did not pay enough attention to mobilising men as partners in the struggle for gender equality.”

Mlambo-Ngcuka has also accused African governments of not doing enough in investing in women-owned co-operatives, including providing social protection for women whose livelihoods is heavily depended on subsistence farming and the informal trade sector.

“Almost 60% of employed women work in the informal sector and that denies them to have sustainable livelihoods.  Because we don’t have social protection policies that address the needs of these women, many of them are destined to be poor.”

The UN Women Executive Director has also hailed the signing of the Africa Free Trade Area pact which seeks to fast track intra-African trade. The continental free trade deal which was signed in Rwanda recently is meant to bring together 54 African countries with a combined population of more than one-billion people, and a combined gross domestic product of more than three-point-four-trillion US dollars.

“ The free trade area is crucial because it takes us to the step to address economic fragmentation of African markets which is detrimental to Africa’s true women economic empowerment.  Over-arching economic policies need to be in place for women economic empowerment so that they can work in our favour.”

In his closing remarks former president Thabo Mbeki challenged African leaders to implement all the agreements relating to the affirmation of women in top leadership positions, and the narrowing of the gender wage gap.

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