The <e-gen-af> electronic forum on "ICTS for gender equality: joint parenting in Africa" was launched in strategic partnership with UNFEM Dakar, and with the support of Oxfam America, as a component of the project "Information and Communication Technologies in support of the women's programme for gender equality", implemented by ENDA Third World (Dakar), with the support of International Development Research Centre (Acacia Initiative, Ottawa). Opened on the 28th of January, it closed on 23rd of April, 2002.

The aim of the forum was to highlight the overdue local implementation of the international recommendations for promoting gender equality, in particular about parenting rights; to exchange information on International Woman Day celebrations in francophone Africa; and to share experiences and strategies in using Internet-based technologies to promote gender equality in Africa. The full archives of the forum are accessible at: http://famafrique.org/parenteconjointe/forum/forum.html

(Enda, Dakar, April 23, 2002) - The first virtual discussion forum on Women and the Internet in francophone Africa is closed. Beside the lessons learned from this initiative, francophone African women seem to have made a good start in participating in the globalisation process.

The list opened with 60 participants, and closed with a number of 150. They were based in Senegal (32), unidentified (23), Mali (16), Burkina-Faso (12), Benin (9), Cameroon (9), Niger (6), Guinea (5), Morocco (5), Togo (5), RD Congo (5), Canada (5), Ivory Coast (3), Mauritania (3), France (3), Gabon (2), Belgium (2), Algeria (1), Chad (1), Rwanda (1), Kenya (1), India (1), Germany (1), Italy (1), the Netherlands (1), United Kingdom (1), Switzerland (1). Men counted for about 10 (6%).

Overall, 46 members (30% of the total members) including 6 men, participated actively, from 19 countries: Algeria (1), Belgium (2), Benin (4), Burkina Faso (3), Cameroon (3), Canada (1), France (3), Guinea (1), India (1), Italy (1), Mali (1), Morocco (1), Mauritania (1), Niger (3), RD Congo (5), Rwanda (2), Senegal (11). An amount of 115 messages have been exchanged, that is about 10 messages per week.

The list members stressed that their main need was to exchange information and experiences on sub-regional strategies and improving the development actors' capacities in gender approach.

In their inaugural messages, the Joint Parenting Coordinator (ENDA) and the UNIFEM Regional Director (Dakar) recalled that the United Nations state-members have committed to have their national legislations reviewed in conformity with the recommendations of the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) before 2005, in a context were communication technologies are an asset for women. Indicators demonstrate the fundamental role played by women in terms of family survival and maintenance, when family is the basis of society. It is therefore a paradox that most African women are legally denied the possibility to exercise their rights as parent, when African national constitutions grant an equal status to every citizen.

A case study from Benin introduced the issue of national application of international instruments for the promotion of gender equality, and contributions were presented from Mauritania, Cameroon, Guinea, Senegal and Algeria. Discussions showed that human women rights are governed by rather old texts based on diverse sources: religions, traditional rules (written or not), codes derived from Napoleon or colonial codes, partially modified. Nearly all the founding texts (national constitutions) are far more recent, and grant equal legal status to every citizen, without sex-discrimination. Some countries (such as Benin, Guinea) have tried to modify their law in terms of personal and family rights, without success until now, and in spite of the support granted to public services by women's organisations. Senegal, with the Family Code being only 30 years old, is an example of the difficulties encountered when attempting to adapt to the current evolution of national and international societies.

To discuss equality of parents' rights lead discuss women status within the family and the society: a much needed debate in the current development process. That implies to inform and sensitize several actors in the society: women, men, traditional leaders, decision-makers. Even in countries where the preservation of cultural identities is given a strong value, this is not impossible, providing a full cooperation between public powers and civil society organisations, and especially women's organisations. Some participants advocate for a recovery - including through women's eyes - of the traditional and religious social basis. But this strategy seems short or even impossible to others: they prefer advocate for secularizing and democratising the national entities.

Many hindrances delay this transformational process. Some are related to under-development, such as poverty, illiteracy, non-implementation of legal decisions, low action capacity of public services, spatial disparities. And some relate to the general marginalised situation of women, in terms of participation to the public and political life, public powers blindness about gender inequality, lack of peer dialogue between men and women.

This year, the International Woman Day was celebrated around the issue of "Gender and Poverty", which was introduced in this forum by a contribution from Burkina Faso. Poverty is an issue of lack of resource, of knowledge and of power, and must be analysed from the perspective of "structural inequalities", such as access to employment, health, training, information, appropriate technologies, decision spaces, etc. What are the chances of women in terms of peer exercise of authority, when they are in disadvantaged statutory position?

Information and communication issues are therefore central issues at skate, as well as the appropriation and the use of new technologies for that end. Their importance as a tool for change is now fully acknowledged in francophone Africa, including in this forum. For women - and especially women in rural areas - the most popular (such as community radios), the fastest and the cheapest (such as ICTs) means of expression are strategic issues, for all debates of universal importance, such as citizen rights and political options, including in their of global or regional dimension.

Promoting gender equality and promoting e-governance (governance through the use of ICTs) appear to be the two-faces of a single issue, in a context of democratisation and globalisation. This topic, presented through a contribution from Senegal, was discussed from other sub-regional perspectives. Without the willingness - from both parts - for a permanent dialogue, communication, information and process facilitation, between those who govern and those who are governed, governance has no sense. Information and communication are basic human rights, in order to protect one's needs, health, knowledge, and life. ICTs and the Internet are first-rate tools for governance and democracy.

Poverty and exclusion are striking more heavily on women; therefore they must be in position to use the ICTs to share their concerns and views. Some women's organisations in francophone Africa already use computers, in spite of numerous difficulties, to inform women on legal issues, promote their status, lobby against discrimination, act quickly and identify solutions through exchange of experiences and knowledge, solidarity and collective strategies.

There will be no governance without fair participation of men and women in the decision making processes, transparency in the decision making, and leader's accountability. Follow-up actions must be organised in terms of education, political and advocacy training, communication facilitation, legal information and mainstreaming of gender relationships.

The idea of opening a virtual information and documentation centre on women's rights in Africa (through a website) in close cooperation with the civil society organisations and the law authorities would be a start. But it would be much more useful to have it relying on national languages, decentralisation of information through partnerships with the Medias and community radios, and the setting of virtual directories and networks based on solidarity and training.

In any case, actions in terms of using virtual communication techniques for the promotion of gender equality and governance must not prevent from other concrete fields, such as extending the training period of girls, and delaying their entrance in the women's life cycle, as well as re-balancing the gender roles and tasks allocation in public and domestic life.

The issues discussed in this forum are not really new, indeed, but for the first time, they have been dealt with in this context and through these technical means. Participants told about the hopes this initiative has raised, and the new perspectives it arises, even if accessibility and connectivity difficulties, exclusions and silences (illiterates, men, antagonists, and public authorities) have been stressed and regretted. Gender equality and e-governance are not anymore a dream the sub-region.

 

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