The situation of African women is more and more complicated. Some of the barbaric issues which other parts of the world have overcome are still pervasive in Africa, so it has become necessary to discuss the issues comprehensively and find out solutions towards ending the problems affecting women in Africa.
Some of the problems have been outlined as:
– Violence against women
– Child marriage
– Women facing wars in Western Sahara, Niger and other war-torn areas
– Female Genital Mutilation
– Poverty
– Educational Gap
– Employment Gap
– Lack of access to healthcare, proper shelter, food and basic social amenities
– Underrepresentation and lack of participation in political leadership
– Discrimination against women
We are at a time when fascism is on the rise; when terrorists cannot use proxies any more so they go for political power themselves; when it is clear that we cannot continue threatening life support ecosystems but a few individuals still burn the planet anyway without thinking about the irreversible impact such as a possible extinction of all living species; when the International Working Women’s Day has been co-opted to celebrate women who commission war and drop bombs even when it is their fellow women and children on the line of fire; when working class men are sacrificed for wars they know nothing about.
Solution:
The first step that would be to organize campaign and sensitization programs where we bring to light all these problems. We should employ all necessary mechanisms to raise awareness among our women and to show to the world the consequences of imperialism and how it effects women freedom, stability and development. We want to emphasize that capitalist society has contributed to limiting women’s education and consciousness making it difficult for women to fight for their rights and mental well-being. We therefore call for consistent campaigns from pan-Africanist revolutionary movements towards conscientizing all women in the fight for mental, physical and economic well-being so that we achieve equality.
We want to call on the ISL Gender Commission and women’s commissions in our various revolutionary movements to lead the fight towards the emancipation of women across Africa and the world at large. To achieve this, grassroot mobilization and collective action are important.
We call out for the abolition of cultural practices which inhibit the freedom and enjoyment of liberty by women.
Viva Women, Viva!
Viva the ISL Gender Commission, Viva!