IWD: Group Calls For Women’s Empowerment, Gender Equality

A group, Friends of the Earth (FoE) has called for a transformative course towards women’s empowerment and gender equality.

The Friends of the Earth (FoE), a non-governmental advocacy group, and its partners issued the call over the weekend during a virtual press conference to commemorate 2024 International Women’s Day (IWD).

Participants at the virtual conference pledged their support for environmental justice and gender equality to improve women’s status in Africa and around the world.

Rita Uwaka, the coordinator of FoE’s Forest and Biodiversity Programme, stated at the landmark conference that there is an urgent need to chart a transformative course towards women’s empowerment and gender equality.

She stated that leaders, particularly in Africa, must articulate a compelling vision of inclusive governance and gender parity, supported by structures that will provide women with more opportunities to hold key decision and policy-making positions.

Uwaka, a prominent advocate for women’s empowerment, lamented that women play important roles in agro-commodity production but are denied access to land due to obnoxious traditional and cultural practices that impede and limit their potential.

She urged the government and the media to help strengthen the means to democratise development and make women’s voices heard within international solidarity organisations that promote and support women’s rights and allow women greater access to land ownership, emphasising that “environmental justice cannot happen without gender justice.”

Edna Tabajuika of Tanzania stated in her remarks that “women are the backbone of the societies because they are the primary producers in East Africa, but they receive fewer benefits because of cultural practices that deny them land ownership.

She decried the situation in Tanzania, where extractive industry companies are notorious for grabbing land from women, warning that this is causing food insecurity.

Tabajuika stated that “food security suffers when women lose access to land because it leads to economic disempowerment.”

In her remarks, Azeeza Rangunwala of Groundwork in South Africa highlighted the rising level of violence against women in the country while also calling for a “feminist transition” to dismantle the patriarchal system that has hampered women’s emancipation.
She called for reforms in all branches of government to give women more space, and to put an end to the obnoxious ideas and cultural practices that exacerbate the crisis that women are facing.

In her submission, Normor Bee from Liberia urged women to play a more active role in shaping the human trajectory. She advocated for a new generation of empowered women, equipped with knowledge and skills gained through training and capacity building, to effect positive change in their communities and elsewhere.

In her remarks, Sierra Leone’s Aminata Massaquoi stated that policy issues in plantation areas are rarely discussed. She emphasised that advocacy groups in Sierra Leone are working hard, particularly to strengthen laws that protect women.

She did, however, note that in most parts of the world, particularly in Africa, improving the status of women has faced significant challenges due to a historical pattern of poor priorities and policies, as well as cultural practices that have hampered women and limited their potential.

All participants agreed that women play a significant role in agricultural productivity in Africa, as their efforts help to feed the continent’s growing population. However, women have limited access to land in most communities, and many others, and they face gender violence, unequal pay for jobs, and severe exclusion from decision-making bodies.

They lamented that women are victims of wars and conflicts, such as the one in Gaza, where many women have reportedly been killed, and that such conflicts frequently result in massive sexual exploitation, plunging women into poverty and deprivation.