11/03/2013

SADC gender protocol enters into force



Southern African News Features SANF 13 no 5, February 2013
 ___________________________________________

SADC gender protocol enters into force

The SADC Protocol on Gender and Development has entered into force following ratification of the instrument by the requisite two-thirds of Member States.
            According to a communiqué issued after the annual meeting of ministers responsible for gender and women affairs in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, held in Mozambique in mid-February, 10 Member States have ratified the protocol.
            These are Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
            “The meeting applauded Member States efforts in depositing instruments of ratification that has subsequently led to its entering into force,” said the communiqué. 
            The meeting re-iterated the importance of ensuring effective implementation of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development. This requires the domestication of the Protocol into national law.
            The process of approval of a regional legal instrument requires, first, signing, and then ratification, a process that differs from country to country.
            The protocol “enters into force” following ratification by two-thirds of SADC member states. This advances the regional law from being a stated intention to actual application.
            The objectives of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development are to provide for the empowerment of women, eliminate discrimination, and achieve gender quality and equity through gender-responsive legislation, policies, programmes and projects.
            The targets include, among others, the achievement of 50 percent representation by women and men in politics and decision-making by 2015, in line with the decision by SADC Heads of State and Government and the African Union.
            The ministers also approved the proposal to develop an Addendum to the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development to accommodate gender and climate change.  
This is in response to the concern that the impacts of climate change affect women and children disproportionately in the region.

Progress in signing and ratification of the SADC Gender Protocol
Country
Date of signature
Date of ratification
Deposited instruments
Angola
2008
2010
Botswana
Not yet signed

DRC
2008

Lesotho
2008
2010
Madagascar
2008

Malawi
2009

Mauritius
Not yet signed

Mozambique
2008
2010
Namibia
2008
2009
Seychelles
2008
2011
South Africa
2008
2012
Swaziland
2008
2012
         √
Tanzania
2008
2010
Zambia
2008
2012
Zimbabwe
2008
2009

(371 words)

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