UN Women Executive Director to call for women’s full participation in the African Renaissance at the African Union Summit

Date: Friday, 25 January 2013

Increasing women’s participation in politics and economy and ending violence against women to be a key focus of the visit.

Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women Michelle Bachelet will travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 26 to 29 January to participate, as part of the delegation of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in the 20th African Union Summit. The theme of the Summit is “Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance.”

Ms. Bachelet will call on African leaders to fully include women in the African Renaissance framework, and will commend the election of the first woman Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. The AU Commission seeks to achieve 50-50 parity in its employment structures, ensure that women attain decision-making positions, and advocate for women’s development across the continent on the platform of the African Women’s Decade.

UN Women’s Executive Director will reiterate the urgent need to end violence against women and girls, to advance women’s political participation and leadership, expand women’s economic empowerment, to increase women’s participation and decision-making in peacemaking and peacebuilding, and support national plans and budgets to advance gender equality.

In the run up to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) that will focus this year on the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls, Ms. Bachelet will strongly urge African leaders to ensure robust policies to end violence against women, which affects up to seven in ten women in many countries worldwide. She will ask them to COMMIT—through a newly-launched UN Women initiative, to new, concrete steps in their nations to end violence against women and girls.

During her three-day visit, Ms. Bachelet will meet with Heads of State and Government, as part of the UN Secretary-General’s delegation. She will also meet with the Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, Carlos Lopes, and women leaders including Ministers, Ambassadors and representatives of civil society.

Ms. Bachelet will address several high-level events including a dinner with senior women Ambassadors to the AU, and the High-level Africa Inter-Generational Dialogue on the African Renaissance and the Post 2015 Agenda: Young Women and the Future we Want.

Ms. #Bachelet calls for #women‘s full participation in the #African renaissance at the #AUsummit owl.li/hbV8u
— UN Women (@UN_Women) January 28, 2013