Committee : Organisations of Islamic
Cooperation
Topic : Gender equality
Institution : African Union
Delegate: Anisa Indah Pratiwi
20 years on, we are still fighting to make this slogan a reality for all women in the world.
Womens participation is a central principle of human rights.
Womens rights are human rights
Opening Remarks of the High Commissioner at AU-OIC Side Event on women's participation
As we arrive in twenty first century and meritrocracy flourished, shall we not be
binded by the religious or cultural values which confine us to improve our life. The African
Union believe that any kind of individual does not possess any rights to limit a certain
individual choices. They, as in women, shall be given an equal opportunity to compete and
participate actively in all aspects without being judged. Thus we strongly oppose the fact that
in some states existed within our region, or other Muslim states, who have not abolished their
old rules regarding the position of women.
The African Union, as the one who support this prominent issue of OIC, have
endeavored to encourage all the member state to prioritise this issue as their main concern in
improving their states qualities. The African Union believe that the unfair treatments
received by women cannot be addressed merely as a women issue but as a human rights
issue. Shall we not be blind for we have witnessed thousands of women being abducted,
raped, and even killed. Yet we also cannot close our eyes that even in the states where the
rate of violance against women have decreased or even vanished, their rights to participate in
parliament equally is yet to be upheld. For it means that the democracy has not been
implemented rightfully.
Therefore The African Union have embarked on extending the gender equality
principle that we have adopted regarding the Commission of the African Union to all the
other organs of the African Union, to the Regional Economic Communities, and to the
national and local levels. These principles are enshrined in Article 4 of Africa Union (I) of
the Constitutive Act of the African Union, as well as other existing commitments, principles,
goals and actions set out in the various regional, continental and international instruments on
human and women's rights.
The African Union would like to encourage all the member states of OIC Committee
to cooperate with the precedent agreements and recognise that gender equality is a multi-
dimensional issues which need to be solved in no time. For that reasons, The African Union
would like to propose several solutions to overcome this issue;
1. Galvanise national legislative processes to promulgate and enforce specific laws
relating to inequal treatment experienced by women in all sectors
As the above statement is written in the declaration on Gender Equality in Africa, we
would like to further explain the mechanism. We believe that the root of the current
problem is that the Gender Equality issue has not been constituted in any articulation
of the states law. We believe that only and only when the law is enforced properly, the
inequal treatment experienced by women in all sectors could be reduced or even
eradicated.
2. Deploy all efforts to expand the gains already made in bridging the gender
disparity in education and to meet that Millennium Development Goal which
seeks to close the gender gap in primary education by the year 2005
The African Union believe that the rights to receive an equal education is a rights
given by God. For knowledge is the main factor which determine the proliferation of
a nation. An inequal education shall not be happened for it is the same as increasing
the baggage to improve the welfare of a state. Never will a state achieve its betterment
if there is disparity in terms of education. By enforcing an equal education women
will find their way to compete fairly with men and thus, the quality of the human
resources will be enhanced.
