Gender Issues - Women all around Africa unite!!

Yesterday I also spoke to Vainola Makan (R2K),Nomaceno(R2K), Mary Tal ( World Wide Women) Wendy Pekeur ( Ubuntu Women’s Movement ) Natalie as well as Tilda.

“Women in Africa Conversation”   

Women in Africa will be coming together in a dialogue to commemorate Africa Day on Sunday 24th May at Salt River Community House.            

  

The purpose of the dialogue amongst other things is:

To bring Women from Africa together to share their experiences with respect to living on the continent as women; 

To amplify the voices of women with respect to speaking out against all forms of violence and discrimination on the continent.

To create a safe space for women to share their experience of living in South Africa to distinguish and celebrate what we have in common: and

To discuss how we can build relationships and solidarity with respect to each other's struggles. 

Context and Rationale:

The dialogue happens at the backdrop of violence, poverty and socio-economic inequalities escalating in our countries on the continent. African women and their families living in South Africa are being at risk of what is called xenophobic violence. During the Xenophobic violence that flares up in South Africa intermittently and again recently, many reasons are sited for what is happening and many actions are taken by different actors to show their dissociation with the violence. Some are blaming the contestation for scarce resources, others attribute it to the country’s violent past, inadequate service delivery and the influence of micro politics in townships, involvement and complicity of local authority members in contractor conflicts for economic and political reasons, failure of early warning and prevention mechanisms regarding community-based violence; and also local residents claims that foreigners took jobs opportunities away from local south Africans and they accept lower wages, foreigners do not participate in the struggle for better wages and working conditions. We will create safe spaces for women both local and migrant, including refugees and asylum seekers to confront issues affecting them as women; these will include unemployment, poverty, intergenerational abuse, and the burden of poverty on women and how to seek solutions for the improvement of the status of women.

Reasons for the attacks differ range from some blaming the contestation for scarce resources, others attribute it to the country’s violent past, inadequate service delivery and the influence of micro politics in townships, involvement and complicity of local authority members in contractor conflicts for economic and political reasons, failure of early warning and prevention mechanisms regarding community-based violence; and also local residents claims that foreigners took jobs opportunities away from local South Africans and they accept lower wages, foreigners do not participate in the struggle for better wages and working conditions.

The event assert that when the women voices are being heard and come out stronger in these difficult times, solutions would be found that is lasting and workable to take everybody on the continent forward in our question for peace and fight for the quality and human rights for each person on the continent.

This event will be a mixture of cultural exchange, talking together, listening to each other, educating and learning from each other and strategising together to build a strong sisterhood in the face of many challenges that the women have in common.  

      

Please contact Vainola Makan from Right to Know Campaign at 0620144969 or vainola2@gmail.com Mary Tal at World Wide Women at wwwomen@mweb.co.za and Wendy Pekeur from Ubuntu Women's Movement atwendy.pekeur@gmail.com