Women’s empowerment at the 25th AU Summit in South Africa

From the 7th to 15th June 2015, African leaders from across the continent gathered in Pretoria for the 25th summit of the African Union (AU) . The summit was held under the theme: “Year of women empowerment and development towards Agenda 2063.” Participants celebrated the fact…

July 2, 2015 - Last update: February 10, 2023

Participants celebrated the fact that there are more and more women entering the labor force and involved in decision making processes; more attention and investment is being made in ensuring that girls have access to education and are not married at an early age.

The theme of women’s empowerment and development was a common thread in all discussions. It was carried through to the meeting of the Union’s Executive Council, where AU Commission Chairperson, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, announced that a gender scorecard would be launched. The scorecard is an instrument to monitor progress in women’s development, share best practices and to hold each other accountable.

The Assembly adopted a declaration on 2015 Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development Towards Agenda 2063. The declaration contains commitments to:

Enhancing women’s contribution and benefits from formal agriculture/ agri business value chains.
Enhancing women’s access to health
Pushing forward women’s economic empowerment
Enhancing the Agenda on Women Peace and Security
Enhancing women’s participation in governance
Enhancing women and girls’ access to education, science and technology
Mutual accountability to actions and results
Strengthening the AU Commission to support delivery on these commitments

The declaration ends with a commitment to an expedient process of translation of these economic and transformational commitments into results.