NEW YORK, December 14, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Mohammed Loulichki ( Morocco):
The members of the Security Council held consultations on Guinea-Biss…
GENEVA, Switzerland, December 14, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The United Nations Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice expressed deep concern regarding equality, non-discrimination and protection and promotion of women’s human rights in the final draft of the new Constitution which was approved by the Constituent Assembly on 30 November.
It calls upon the Egyptian Government to abide by commitments made through the ratification of international instruments to which it is a party, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which obligate States’ parties to ensure that the Constitution and other legislation are compatible with the principle of non-discrimination against women, and equality of women with men.
“Key opportunities have so far been missed,” stressed independent expert Kamala Chandrakirana, who currently heads the UN expert body charged with identifying ways to eliminate laws and practices that discriminate against women, and making recommendations on implementation of the law and empowerment of women. “We are concerned that almost no women were represented in the Constituent Assembly charged with drafting the new Constitution and that women’s perspectives were grossly under-represented in the final draft.”
“Political transitions offer a unique opportunity to address inequalities of the past, advance women’s human rights and ensure that equality between women and men is one of the foundations on which the new legal system is built as indeed we emphasized in our report to the HRC in 2012*”. However, she said, “despite offering unprecedented opportunities for progress, political transitions can result in regression and bring new forms of discrimination.”
The UN expert group has been closely following unfolding events in Egypt and takes note of the planned referendum on 15 December. It is of the view that critical review of the draft Constitution is still necessary.
While the Working Group welcomes a number of positive provisions on human rights in the draft Constitution, including free maternal and health services, it draws attention to issues relating to equality for women that need to be brought in line with international human rights standards.
The experts acknowledge that the final draft Constitution includes in its preamble a general principle which provides that “equality and equal opportunities are established for all citizens, men and women, without discrimination or nepotism or preferential treatment, in both rights and duties”. It also provides “that all citizens are equal before the law and have equal public rights and duties without discrimination”.
However, crucially, it does not include in its substantive provisions the guarantee of non-discrimination based on sex necessary to give effect to the principle of equality between men and women in the preamble and in accordance with Egypt’s international human rights obligations. Furthermore, the Working Group notes that the implementation of temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality of women in subsequent legislation might be obstructed by the formulation in the preamble.
According to article 2, Islam is the religion of the State and the principles of Islamic Sharia are the principal source of legislation. Although article 6 espouses democratic principles, including citizenship on an equal basis, political pluralism, separation of powers, and the rule of law, as well as respect for human rights and freedoms, the experts expressed concern about the absence of a provision incorporating international law, including on women’s human right to equality, into the domestic legal order and stipulating its primacy.
“Treaty bodies regularly recommend that States guarantee women’s human rights in the national Constitution and thus ensure that they prevail over inconsistent laws of lesser status” Ms. Chandrakirana said.
Article 2 provides that Islam will be the principle source of legislation and article 3 provides that Egyptian Christians and Jews personal status will be regulated under their religious laws. However, there is no provision that women’s right to equality in the family will be respected, protected and fulfilled by the State in accordance with international human rights standards. In addition, article 10 provides that “the family is the basis of the society and is founded on religion, morality and patriotism. The State is keen to preserve the genuine character of the Egyptian family, its cohesion and stability, and to protect its moral values, all as regulated by law.”
Over the last 30 years, human rights mechanisms have emphasized that violations of women’s right to equality cannot be justified by reliance on religious or cultural tradition. The experts also noted the absence of protection for women of diverse beliefs and opinions, religious or other, against any form of discrimination and exclusion.
The Working Group notes that article 4 extends the powers of the independent Islamic institution Al-Azhar, stating that “Al-Azhar Senior Scholars are to be consulted in matters pertaining to Islamic law,” which puts it effectively in charge of interpreting all Sharia-related matters. The experts urged the Egyptian authorities to clarify that measures will be taken to ensure that interpretations provided by this body to the executive, legislature and judiciary will be brought into line with the legally binding international instruments Egypt has ratified, including on women’s human rights.
“We would also like clarification on how the independence of the judiciary, and in particular of the Supreme Constitutional Court, an independent judicial body provided for by article 175 to exclusively exercise judicial control of the constitutionality of laws and regulations, will be guaranteed, as well as women’s equal representation in the Supreme Constitutional Court.”
“We urge the Egyptian Government to ensure women’s full and equal participation in all processes related to the political transition, to guarantee their freedom to express their views, to be protected against violence in their political and public activities and have their voices incorporated in public discourse and in shaping the society. Further, the Government should ensure that the Constitution provides the strongest guarantees to advance equality and women’s human rights in line with Egypt’s obligations under international law,” Ms. Chandrakirana underscored.
(*) Read the Working Group’s first report: http://www.ohchr.org/Backup%20(1)%20of%20Documents/Issues/Women/A-HRC-20-28_en.pdf
WASHINGTON, December 14, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
December 13, 2012
Special Adviser for Global Youth Issues Zeenat Rahman will travel to Kampala, Uganda, December 13-16, and Lusaka, Zambia, December 17-20.
In Kampala, Special Adviser Rahman will attend TEDxYouth@Bukoto, a forum to showcase young Africans’ innovative solutions to some of Africa’s most pressing challenges. Using the theme “Our Moment,” the event will demonstrate how young people are harnessing their collective energy and potential to create a new future for themselves and their communities. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Special Representative to Muslim Communities, the Office of Global Youth Issues, and U.S. Mission Uganda, TEDxYouth@Bukoto will feature 11 speakers who will share their inspirations, ideas for social good, and their visions for the future of Africa. Many of the speakers are alumni of one of the many Department of State programs in Africa designed to encourage local talent to address local challenges.
While in Uganda, Special Adviser Rahman will participate in the Second Annual Muslim Youth Development Conference and in a roundtable discussion with the Embassy’s youth council, the Youth Advisors to Washington. She will also meet with youth-focused civil society groups, including Restless Development Uganda and the Children’s AIDS Fund Uganda.
In Lusaka, Zambia, Special Adviser Rahman will meet with the Ambassador’s Youth Council, students, young entrepreneurs, alumni of State Department exchange programs, and Muslim youth leaders. She will participate in a meeting of the Embassy’s Civil Society Strategic Working Group, which focuses on democracy and governance issues, as well as a town hall with youth. She will also be interviewed by youth journalists, and will engage with young people in Malawi via digital video conference. Additionally, Special Adviser Rahman will travel to Livingstone to discuss environmental conservation efforts in Victoria Falls, take part in a social media training workshop with local youth leaders, participate in a radio interview, and meet with youth to emphasize the importance of sports diplomacy, especially for young women and girls.
For information about the Office of Global Youth Issues, please visit http://www.state.gov/j/gyi/.
For updates on Special Adviser Rahman’s trip, follow the office on Facebook: www.facebook.com/GlobalYouthIssues, and follow her on Twitter: @zeenat.
For further information about TEDxYouthBukoto, visit Twitter and follow the #TEDxYouthBukoto tag, and follow the event on Facebook. Information can also be found on the TEDx website.
OTTAWA, Canada, December 14, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird wishes Leila Bouazizi good luck with her studies in Canada and expresses Canada’s solidarity with Tunisia on the eve of the second anniversary o…
OTTAWA, Canada, December 14, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird meets with Moncef Marzouki, President of Tunisia.
Baird and the President discussed key economic and commercial files, including negotiations to…
OTTAWA, Canada, December 14, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today wrapped up a working visit to Morocco and Tunisia that saw him attend the Friends of the Syrian People ministerial meeting and the G-8-BME…
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, December 14, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Over the past decade, the Ethiopian economy has been growing at twice the rate of the Africa region, averaging, 10.6 percent GDP growth per year between 2004 and 2011 compared to 5.2 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new report by the World Bank.
The Ethiopia Economic Update launched today attributes this impressive economic growth mainly to agricultural modernization, the development of new export sectors, strong global commodity demand, and government-led development investments.
“Two and a half million people in Ethiopia have been lifted out of poverty over the past five years as a result of strong economic growth, bringing the poverty rate down from 38.7 percent to 29.6 percent between 2004/05 and 2010/11”,says Guang Zhe Chen, World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia. “The Government target to reduce poverty to 22.2 percent by 2014/15is ambitious but attainable.”
The Government of Ethiopia has also made progress in tackling the persistently high inflation which affected the economy over the past two years by tightening its fiscal and monetary stance. As a result, inflation is on a decreasing trend, falling from 33 percent in 2011 to 15.8 percent in October 2012 (year on year).This is good news for the poor and for the overall economy.
“Ethiopia follows a strategy of increasing exports to facilitate growth. This is appropriate given the limited size of the domestic market and it is consistent with the development experience of some of the recently successful countries, particularly in East Asia”, says Michael Geiger, the Bank’s Country Economist for Ethiopia and one of the lead authors of the report. “Growth of goods exports has mainly been driven by volume growth across a variety of product groups, implying that Ethiopia is increasingly diversifying its export base.”
Lars Christian Moller, Lead Economist and Sector Leader for Ethiopia said “Ethiopia is one of the few large, land-locked economies in the world that exports more services than goods. Yet, there is widespread perception that the comparative advantage of a low-income country like Ethiopia lies in export of primary products and labor intensive, low-skill manufacturing goods.”
Ethiopia’s fiscal performance appears to be adequate given the current state of the economy and financing requirements for development, according to the Bank report. The overall general government deficit (including grants) declined from 1.6 percent of GDP in 2010/11 to 1.2 percent of GDP in 2011/12.Tax collections have been boosted by the 2010 tax reform, while public management reforms (such as program-based budgeting) have strengthened public expenditures. Public debt is on a declining trend at 35 percent of GDP in 2011/12 and Ethiopia has a low risk of external debt distress.
The launch of the Ethiopia Economic Update was complemented with the presentation of a Survey Report of Chinese Foreign Investment in Ethiopia. Responding to a request from the Government, the World Bank surveyed 69 active Chinese enterprises doing business in Ethiopia with a tailored enterprise survey. The report recommends a series of policy areas to facilitate foreign investors coming into Ethiopia so that the country can reap the benefits it needs to further its development path. Key recommendations include streamlining custom procedures and trade regulations, improving tax administration consistency and efficacy, and increasing the supply and quality of skilled workers.
The two reports form part of a new programmatic knowledge service prepared by the World Bank as a part of its economic policy dialogue with the Government of Ethiopia. Going forward, the Bank is planning to release an Economic Update report for Ethiopia every six months along with other tailored knowledge products in close coordination with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.
EL FASHER (DARFUR), Sudan, December 14, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The African Union – United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) on 12 December handed over a rural court to the local and judicial authorities in Tawilla, North Darfur, which was built as part of the Mission’s quick impact projects.
The facility is the only judicial institution in Tawilla which will be used to settle conflicts between members of the community and will facilitate access to justice by the population, especially the internally displaced persons, women and children in the locality. The court will contribute in the fight against impunity and in strengthening the rule of law culture.
“UNAMID will continue to intensify its support to the rule of law institutions in Darfur including the construction and rehabilitation of other judicial institutions in North Darfur,” said UNAMID’s Head of Rule of Law unit Ly Djibril.
In his remarks, Chief Judge for North Darfur Bakri Mohammed Bakri, thanked UNAMID for its efforts in the construction of the court and its contribution to the justice system in the region, assuring that the authorities will equip and furnish the newly built court in Tawilla.
UNAMID’s Rule of Law support in Darfur includes mobile courts, capacity building for judges, prosecutors and lawyers, and facilitate access to justice for people in remote areas through provision of transportation.
EL FASHER (DARFUR), Sudan, December 13, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The United Nations Country Team (UNCT) and the African Union – United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has pledged to combine their efforts to work together in implementing specific initiatives including: voluntary returns, human rights and justice, institutional capacity development, and peace building and reconciliation.
This important milestone was reached today in the second session of the UNAMID/UNCT Joint Secretariat which concluded today at UNAMID’s headquarters in El Fasher, North Darfur.
In the run up to the two-day session, the joint working groups produced matrices setting out the existing activities implemented in collaboration between the UNCT and UNAMID.
The Joint Secretariat expressed their satisfaction with the work produced by the working groups and specifically with the innovative ideas proposed as part of the new joint activities. These proposals, which are now to be developed into more elaborate concept notes, will be submitted to the High Level Committee at the UNCT/ UNAMID meeting, scheduled to take place in February 2013.
The Joint Secretariat was established under the UNAMID/UNCT Vision Strategic Framework to oversee the work of the six UNCT/UNAMID joint working groups created within the framework of the implementation of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur.
The concrete implementation of the joint activities will provide an additional opportunity to the parties to increase their collaborative efforts in support of sustainable peace in Darfur.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, December 13, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The new Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Mr. Carlos Lopes today in Addis Ababa announced a major restructuring of ECA’s work programme to better reflect a “changing world, a new phase of globalization” and the present realities of rapid urbanization in Africa which is recording steady economic growth but few jobs and which needs to accelerate its transformation agenda.
He told hundreds of ECA staff members in a Town Hall meeting that he had consulted a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including ECA’s strategic partners and staff members over the past three months, and developed a better and more targeted structure with new business processes designed to serve Africa better.
Today, he announced the creation of Macroeconomic Policy Division, Regional Integration and Trade Division, Special Initiatives Division, Social Development Division and a strengthened and expanded African Centre for Statistics which will be charged with collating and collecting credible data and statistics on African development issues. These Divisions, he said, will take charge of ECA’s renewed focus on “Policy Research”.
To carry out “knowledge delivery”, he announced the creation of an Office of Partnerships and a Capacity Development Division which is composed of an African Union and NEPAD Team as well as a team of highly skilled experts who will serve as Regional Advisers. With this Division, Lopes expects that ECA will better respond to the capacity needs of the African Union and its NEPAD programme as well as benefit from the experience of renowned experts in various capacities around the world.
Since the most significant change has to do with data collection and statistical analysis, Lopes said ECA’s five Sub-regional Offices (SROs) (in Lusaka, Kigali, Rabat, Niamey and Yaoundé) would be strengthened and re-focused to reflect this objective.
Accordingly, the SROs will have the primary task of serving as Data Centres, collecting credible statistics on various development issues and challenges in the countries that they cover. They will also cater to subregional “special initiatives”.
While the new structure is expected to take effect from March 2013, Lopes called on staff to join any of 10 task forces he established in order to ensure that all opinions and recommendations are factored into the operations of the new structure. The task forces will examine wide ranging areas including re-profiling, communications strategy and conferencing. He will adopt some recommendation and “publicly explain why he did not adopt others”
While some Divisions (Food Security and Sustainable Development; ICT, Science and Technology; and Governance and Public Administration Divisions) appeared to have disappeared, Lopes said their programmes had actually been absorbed in other new structures. For instance, Food Security, Agriculture and Land, are now part of the Regional Integration and Trade Division, while the African Gender Center is now part of a wider Social Development Division.
He said no priority of Africa had been overlooked in the present structure, stressing the overall objective of ECA being known for fewer things, but considered to be the best in those things.
“For example, we do not need to get involved in gender advocacy; instead we should develop the tools for others to carry out such advocacy, and when we work on food security, it should have a focus on regional integration” he said.
While the new structure is expected to take effect from March 2013, Lopes called on ECA staff to join any of 10 task forces he established to review and make recommendations that will factor into the operations of the new structure.
The task forces will examine wide ranging areas including re-profiling, communications strategy and conferencing. He said he will adopt some recommendations and publicly explain why he does not adopt others, he promised.
The overall reaction of ECA staff appears to be one of optimism as they get ready to embrace the change.
