Network of Women Parliamentarians of Central Africa (RFPAC)

Last Updated on Wednesday, 06 February 2013 15:44 Written by Communications Intern Tuesday, 30 August 2011 13:20

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rfpac2010

Political Coordinator
Hon. Magda De Meyer (Belgium)
Ms. Julie Standaert (Belgium)

Background

The Network of Women Parliamentarians of Central Africa (RFPAC) was established in March 2002 on the request of women parliamentarians of the region during a AWEPA regional conference. RFPAC is formed by the women parliamentarian platforms from the following parliaments: Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Republic of Congo.

Based on a crucial mechanism of parliamentary good practices and references exchange, the network statutes integrate key statements and documents such as the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Beijing Action Plan, the UN Resolution 1325, and the Millennium Development Goals.

Objective

The Network of Women Parliamentarians of Central Africa aims to contribute to:

the political, economic and social promotion of Central African women;
the construction of a gender balanced democracy;
peace keeping and the promotion of impartial justice through strengthening and supporting women parliamentarians in their legislative and executive oversight role, and constituent’s representation functions; and,
representing the voice of women in their countries.

The network contributes also to peace preservation and stability of the Central African region. RFPAC members, represented by different Central African countries, come together to employ parliamentary diplomacy mechanisms and exchange messages among their countries. Through the RFPAC programme, AWEPA aims to build the capacity of women parliamentarians, and subsequently improve the position of all women in the region, by supporting women candidates in elections, supporting the economic position of women, and, enhancing the capacity of women.

Impacts

The following outcomes can be attributed to actions carried out in 2011 as part of the RFPAC-AWEPA programme:

Women parliamentarians succeeded in bringing gender topics such as Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) and Resolution 1325 into their parliamentary national agenda in their home countries.
Workshops empowered women parliamentarians and strengthened their role within their national parliaments.
Women parliamentarians drafted an action plan to implement regional and national strategies of accountability towards future generations, in regards to socioeconomic environmental problems such as health care, birth control, and the role of women in climate change.
Women Parliamentarians succeeded in integrating gender aspects in the AWEPA organised seminar on the occasion of the Polish Presidency for the EU Council on African Development Cooperation Strategies Towards the MDGs, held in Warsaw in July 2011.

Example Activity

Regional Conference of the RFPAC on the right to health and birth control and on women’s role towards climate change, 3-5 May 2011, Bujumbura, Burundi

The regional conference, held bi-annually, was made up of delegations from the member countries of the Central African region. The two-day activity focused on women’s rights towards health and birth control, and the role of women in climate change. The conference also included experts from UNFPA, UN-Women and FAO, each who provided examples of regional and local solutions on the topics of health and birth control, and the role of women in climate change.

During the meeting, women parliamentarian’s shed light on existing legislation texts and their experiences in this field, and in working groups, they discussed best practices such as how to work closely with civil society in order to provide follow up to the Parliament on laws passed on such issues such as birth control. As a subsequent part of the programme, two field visits were organised, the first to a healthcare centre which raised concrete ideas such as the importance of family planning as a basis for development. Following the visit to the healthcare centre, participants visited Tanganyika Lake, in which the participants observed the impacts of climate change on local communities.