Pan-African Parliament adopts Report of Women’s Caucus

The Pan-African Parliament on Wednesday adopted a report on the activities which the Women’s Caucus has undertaken after the last session of the Parliament in November 2022.

The report presented by the Vice President of the Women’s Caucus of the Parliament, Hon. Victoria Kingstone included recommendations that the Plenary adopted on Wednesday.

The first item on the report by Hon. Kingstone was on the celebration of the International Women’s Day that took place on 08 March 2023, which the Caucus celebrated with the rest of the world on Women’s Day under the theme: “For an Inclusive Digital World: Innovation and Technologies or Gender Equality”.

Following on the theme, the Caucus has made the following recommendations:

• Recognize and celebrate the women and girls who are championing transformative technology and digital education

• Explore and address the impact of the digital gender gap on widening economic and social inequalities

• Spotlight the importance of protecting the rights of women and girls in digital spaces and addressing online and ICT-facilitated gender based violence.

• Encourage the inclusion of women and other marginalised groups in the field of technology to foster more creative solutions and innovations that meet women’s needs and promote gender equality.

The second item presented for adoption by Hon. Kingstone were the recommendations following PAP’s participation in the 67th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) which took place from 6 to 17 March in New York, USA.

She reported that a delegation of PAP members attended this year’s event by the CSW, a principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

PAP’s participation gave the delegation an opportunity to enhance their visibility on the work that it does with regards to gender-related issues whilst also promoting PAP’s agenda amongst the CSW forum.

In that respect, the delegation made the following recommendations:

• That efforts by PAP member countries and all their stakeholders need to consider the social, political, and economic factors that drive the design, development and use of digital technologies and put women and girls at the center of technological change, innovation and education.

• Design and implement law, policy, administrative and practical measures to address existing structural inequalities in income, education, and employment opportunities, and remove political, economic, legal, cultural, technological and barriers that prevent women and girls from accessing and using the internet and ICTs.

• Actively include women and gender equality experts in policymaking, regulatory and governance processes to ensure fairer and fairer digital and data outcomes.

The Caucus also presented a draft resolution on the current war in Sudan and its effects on women and children.