The
Acting President of the Pan African Parliament (PAP), Rt. Hon. Bouras Djamal has called on African national parliaments
to ensure the enactment of legislations that would protect African women and
children during the COVID-19 period.
Bouras made the call on Thursday while
speaking during a webinar on COVID-19 and Gender-Based Violence: Parliamentary
support to gender-responsive COVID-19 national plans organized by the Pan-African
Parliament (PAP) through its Women’s Caucus and the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA).
He expressed gratitude to the UNFPA for assisting to build the capacity of African
parliamentarians in dealing with women related issues, regretting that Africa
loses about thirty percent of her economic potential when women are not giving
the opportunity to contribute to the economy.
In her speech on the
Impact of COVID-19 on Gender-Based
Violence, the UNFPA Gender Specialist for East and
Southern Africa, Julie Diallo regretted “that limited health system response and testing
capacity for COVID-19 deepened the existing inequality and humanitarian crisis
including food security with disproportionate impact on women and girls”.
Diallo called for the strengthening of Gender Based Violence (GBV) services
for women and girls including existing community based mechanisms to help those
who experience violence or are at the risk of violence during the COVID-19
period.
She urged African
Parliamentarians to ensure the recognition of GBV services as an essential
service under the COVID-19 national response as well as ensure the representation
and participation of women in decision making.
She also urged
parliamentarians to ensure that social protection mechanisms and economic
stimulus packages properly respond to the needs and demands of women and girls
adding that African governments must invest in social protection packages that
target assistance to those vulnerable groups.
Speaking on Examining policy solutions to address the
impact of COVID-19 on women, the Director,
Poverty and Social Policy Division, United Nations Economic Commission for
Africa, Ms. Thokozile Ruzvidzo,
noted that the COVID-19 lockdown resulted in unemployment with the attendant
loss of income and therefore, stressed the importance of cash transfer support
for poor households including those in the informal sector.
To ensure that
payments are timely and reach the correct beneficiaries including women led
businesses, Ms. Ruzvidzo recommended the use of digital solutions to strengthen
accountability.
The webinar was
moderated by Ms. Josiane Wawa Dahab,
Senior Assistant Clerk, Pan African Parliament. Other speakers included Ms. Caroline Ngonze, Chief ad interim, and Officer-In-Charge,
UNFPA Liaison Office to the AU and ECA
who gave an opening speech on the theme of the webinar; Hon. Carole Agito, a member of the Pan African Parliament from
the Democratic Republic of Congo; and Ilwad
Elmi of the Department of Women, Gender & Development (WGDD), African
Union Commission who spoke on the Impact of COVID-19 on Gender Equality and
Women Empowerment (GEWE).
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