This is part of a series of recap blogs on our experiences at the Women and Girls Africa Summit (WAGS) which took place virtually November 16-18. Bringing together over 3,500 participants, the summit aimed to foster crucial dialogue that will lead to the development of initiatives, programs, and institutions that address the challenges of women and girls in Africa.
The week leading up to the Women and Girls Africa Summit had us working like ducks; calm on the surface yet rapidly paddling beneath. Now, it depends who on the team you ask about their pre-summit tasks, but it ranged from last-minute logistics to acclimating ourselves with the technology that goes in hand with a virtual summit, and everything else in-between. Before we knew it, November 16 arrived and the week we had long anticipated was underway!
If you thought the learning process only applied before the summit officially began, WAGS proved to be a learning curve for the organisers and participants alike throughout its duration. Setting up virtual booths, juggling multiple Zoom links, calculating time differences—there was no shortage of circling thoughts in our minds logistics-wise; not to mention the lineup of panels and speakers was enough to bring on the excitement.
If you thought the learning process only applied before the summit officially began, WAGS proved to be a learning curve for the organisers and participants alike throughout its duration. Setting up virtual booths, juggling multiple Zoom links, calculating time differences—there was no shortage of circling thoughts in our minds logistics-wise; not to mention the lineup of panels and speakers was enough to bring on the excitement.
As far as technical hiccups go, however, we managed to get that out of the way right at the beginning of our first panel and it was nothing but lively conversation thereafter! Just like that, the panel, “Magnifying the Voices of African Women on the Future of Gender Equality” was live! Moderated by at the Forefront co-founder Evelyn Sallah and featuring Nana Apanem Dagadu, Lucy Wainaina, and Mame-Yaa Bosomtwi, the panel put out a unified call to action for African women to take ownership for the progression of gender equality on the continent.
Before we could establish the future of gender equality, we needed to recognise the present status of gender equality in the eyes of African women.
As we close in on the 20th anniversary of the Maputo Protocol (2003), a political commitment to establish comprehensive rights for women and girls in Africa, panelist Mame-Yaa Bosomtwi pointed out how the issues addressed in the protocol remain prevalent presently. Ultimately, she asserted that these systemic issues can only be tackled if women interested in improving our current state are placed in policymaking roles.
Ms. Bosomtwi currently serves as the Executive Secretary of the Organisation of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD), originally coming together in 2002 to collectively advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. She noted this as a key example of First Ladies across the continent leveraging their access to policymakers and key influential figures to affect action in their communities.
Zeroing in on one of the issues disproportionately affecting women, particularly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of our panelists, Lucy Wainaina, broke down new perspectives we can interpret the data being released daily.
This phenomenon can be seen from the national level, as Lucy shared, to the global trends we see as more data is released pertaining to the shadow pandemic of gender-based violence. Because of this, the COVID-19 pandemic and GBV must be simultaneously tackled to determine nuanced responses to the public health crisis we are in the midst of.
Our third panelist, Nana Apenem Dagadu brought some much-needed insights on how gender equality is a two-way street if it is to be successful.
We’re often caught in the mindset that gender equality is a women’s issue; however, this misses the mark of the greater mission to dismantle inequality in our existing systems as opposed to just flipping who is in power. With that, Nana spelled out key interventions that boost mutual support between women and men in interpersonal relationships:
CHOICE: Discuss and decide when to have their first child and subsequent children.
PARTNERSHIPS: Determine how to raise these children whether they are married or not?
DIALOGUE: Ultimately, you (within the relationship) cannot do this alone and you will need to seek support from family, friends, and organisations in your community. If there’s a disagreement within the relationship, these external avenues of support ensure that there is an opening to dig deeper and find a resolution.
As our moderator, Evelyn Sallah, put it, “we must own the data and research that represents us as African women in order to move forward on our own terms—from the accessibility in local languages to our unique understanding of cultural processes.”
The full recording of the panel session can be viewed here.