Gender and Law Initiatives in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa : Gender and Law Workshop in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa (March 1998)
As a result of two years of constructive dialogue between the World Bank (WB), government agencies and grassroots' associations involved in the advancement of women, a workshop for the Promotion of the societal status of women in Francophone S...
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
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Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/1999/06/12389538/gender-law-initiatives-francophone-sub-saharan-africa-gender-law-workshop-francophone-sub-saharan-africa-march-1998 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9863 |
| Summary: | As a result of two years of constructive
dialogue between the World Bank (WB), government agencies
and grassroots' associations involved in the
advancement of women, a workshop for the Promotion of the
societal status of women in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa
was organized in March 1998 in Cotonou by the Association of
Women Jurists (AFJB) with WB technical and financial
assistance. From the perspective of the Bank, this
initiative provided a timely forum to discuss the potential
of gender-responsive legal and judicial reforms as part of
the overall WB poverty alleviation and economic growth
strategy. These were to provide for: a) an exchange of views
(between civil society and government agencies as well as
between countries) on country-specific substance of law, law
enforcement and legal literacy issues, as these relate to
women's experience of discrimination; and b) a
constructive comparison of the operational experiences of
the participants in these areas of activity. As such, the
workshop was understood to be the first step in a foreseen
twelve month process leading to the development, formulation
and financing of country-specific action plans, for the
participant countries. These were very effectively
structured and facilitated by the President and members of
the AFJB. These included: eleven country-specific
presentations discussed during the first day plenary and
from this basis, the participants identified the three
themes which provided the focus for the active working group
debates on the second day: a) political leadership and the
institutional and legal status of women; b) the weight of
religion and traditions in socio-cultural discrimination
against women; and c) women's access to resources in
health, education, and financial services. |
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