Little progress has been made in enacting the Beijing Platform for Action aimed at eradicating gender discrimination, despite the supposed impetus created  by the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals, which include gender equality as a distinct goal, and the numerous declarations on and instruments for achieving gender equality adopted by African governments during the past decade, including the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. Little wonder, then, that the Regional Ministerial Conference on Women held in October 2004 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, concluded that ‘African governments continue to commit to international instruments promoting and protecting women’s rights, but there has been a lack of effective implementation at the national level.’

This book provides an overview of existing international gender instruments, and critically examines the factors influencing their implementation in sub-Saharan Africa via essays by activists, academics, and policy-makers from across the continent. Building on discussions at a regional workshop, where these studies were first presented, it concludes with pragmatic suggestions for ending the impasse on women’s rights in Africa.

Edited by: Christi van der Westhuizen

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