Celebrating the Pan African Women's Organisation on International Women's Day

Let me first start by saying that the month of March is one of my favourite months in the year. Scratch that. The month of March is my favourite month in the year. You may ask why. Several personal and professional events take place in March. All my children have their birthdays in March; my mentor and friend, Carlos Lopes, has his birthday in March; my wedding anniversary is in March (mental note to self-buy a present); it is the independence anniversary of my motherland Ghana and most importantly, we celebrate International Women's Day (IWD). The International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on the 8^th of March and in many countries is used to showcase the political and social struggles of women worldwide in a hopeful manner. This year’s theme is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”.

Celebrating our own

As we celebrate International Women’s Day 2016, I would like to pay tribute to one of the greatest women’s organisations on the African continent. This organisation has dedicated its existence to the continuous empowerment of the African women. Sadly, this is one of the least known of the pan Africanist organisations, even though it is older than the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) now the African Union (AU). I personally was only introduced to this organisation a couple of years ago.

I wish to celebrate the Pan African Women's Organisation (PAWO). PAWO was founded in 1962, a year before the OAU was formed in 1963. This means that whilst the men of the continent were debating whether African unity meant economic unity or political unity (the now infamous Casablanca Group versus the Monrovia Group), the women of the continent had resolved to unite and did indeed unite, despite the artificial barriers of languages, political opinions prevailing at the time. 

Feminism in the Pan African narrative

The Pan African Women`s Organisation, (PAWO) has a special place in African history, being one of the oldest Africa wide organisations in the continent. But very little is known about the inception and even the current work of the organization. This is in contrast to the OAU where the founders are seen as great men of vision and worth. We salute Kwame Nkrumah, Gamal Abdul Nasser, Sekou Toure, and Julius Nyerere for the roles they played in the Pan African story. Other freedom fighters such as Patrice Lumumba, Steve Biko, Cheikh Anta Diop, Leopold Sedar Senghor, Amilcar Cabral, JE Casely Hayford, are named as standing for the unification and liberation struggle. 

Indeed, the outcome of the liberation struggle affected both men and women. One question no one asks however, is how come the narrative of African unity not have the names of any of the many women who also sacrificed and dedicated their lives to the liberation and emancipation of the African continent? Where were the women when the men were purportedly making history? Why are there no women in our pan African story? I do not believe it is as a result of indifference. Herstory (as opposed to history) indeed tells us of many women who dedicated their lives to support the push for independence and African unity. We need to celebrate them. 

Women of substance

Have you heard about Mrs. Jeanne Martin Cisse of Guinea who became first Secretary General of PAWO? A distinguished diplomat, an extraordinarily experienced politician in her home country and a mother of six, she broke many glass ceilings for women generally and African women specifically. She became the first female President of the UN Security Council. At the ripe age of 80, she is still fighting the cause of women worldwide. In an interview in 1972, she is widely quoted as saying ‘…men didn’t liberate Africa by themselves. They did need the woman’s part in the struggle...’. {word!}

Indeed, women belonging to many liberation movements worked tirelessly through PAWO and other political organisations to spearhead the struggle for political freedom and for the full emancipation of women in our continent.

Another great foremother of African Unity is Madam Gertrude Mongella of Tanzania.   Madam Mongella must be celebrated and applauded. She was instrumental in the targets and achievements chalked on behalf of all women at the Beijing Conference where she was the UN chair, thus getting her the name ‘Mama Beijing’ and many other portfolios where she has championed the cause of African women’s rights. She became the first president of the Pan African Parliament and continues to play a strong role in the general empowerment of women across the globe. 

More women of substance

As we celebrate IWD 2016, let us also celebrate the silent roles that African women have played since the dawn of time in ensuring that our pan African dream shall soon be achieved. May I use this opportunity to applaud the work of women, both living and passed, that have supported the pan African story and continue to support as we weave our destiny and that of our children.  Madame Ruth Neto, Ama Ghana, Queen Nzinga of Matamba, Mrs. Diallo Virginie Camara, Empress Taito, Winnie Mandela, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, Yaa Asantewaa, Kaigiwara the Nyabingi Priestess and many more women whose names and activities cannot be found even on Google. 

Do you know any great women of herstory who contributed to African unity at a local national or pan African level? Share your stories with me on teikosabah@gmail.com.

Tags: International Women's Day (IWD), Pan Africanism, Pan African Women's Organisation

Letter to Madam Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma

 Dear Madam Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma,

Hello! (not the Adele type, but a warm, friendly African Hello).

You don’t know me, but I know you. Infact, I have met you personally on several occasions and every time I meet you, I come away with a deep and profound sense of admiration, awe and inspiration. I am encouraged by your hectic work schedule and how you are able to manage it, flitting from one part of the continent to the other, always prepared, always ready to deliver and intensely knowledgeable about the continents challenges and opportunities. I remember one time when you had just arrived in Addis Ababa from a meeting in some country, I think, Liberia and walked off the plane straight into another High Level meeting, well prepared and up to date on all the issues. 

Well, this is between me and you, but I wish to compliment you on your Afropolitan fashion taste and your love of wedged platform shoes. Nice. I also love wearing platform shoes. Thank God for whoever invented the platform shoes. They are comfortable, can be worn for long periods of time and yet very classy and give one height and lift. 

Ok, back to the reason for this letter. As a feminist pan Africanist blogger, I am always looking interesting topics to wow my readers on a regular basis. I hope that during one of your night flights from Addis to Pretoria, you will make time to peruse my blog on pan africanism  and send me comments.  So I was pleasantly surprised to learn from the newly updated African Union website that the theme for the African Union for this year was on human rights with particular focus on the rights of women.

 I wish to congratulate you for choosing such a relevant theme for this year. As a feminist and an African, (not necessarily an African feminist), I am pleased at this choice of theme. Infact, over the time you have been AUC Chair, I have been looking forward to when your feminist side will show up more. And now I see it in the same clarity as your work as a freedom fighter during the South African apartheid era.

The African woman suffers all forms of atrocities, most of them silently. From being the receiver of wars, plagues and pestilences to being marginalized in all decisions especially those concerning her personally. She watches her children die daily from hunger, disease and malnutrition; she loses her property on the death of her partner, she labours day and night for the benefit of her family and many at times, to the detriment of her own goals and suffers atrocious human rights abuses under the guise of ‘custom’ and ‘tradition’. But she is also brave, courageous, tenacious and creative. She walks many miles to get fresh drinking water for her family; she works many hours to put food on the table. We are all witnesses to the undying spirit of the specie Africanus feminus.

Earlier this week, you addressed the gender pre-conference to this year’s AU summit and spoke to women about being agents of change for Africa’s development, being transformers and not conformers. I applaud this and look forward to your speech at the AU summit proper.

Madam Zuma, humbly allow me to add my take to what I believe the AUC should focus on whilst working on human rights with particular emphasis on the rights of women in 2016 and beyond. These, I have classified as the three ‘E’s of women’s growth and development- Education, Economic stability and Empowerment.

Education is at the heart of any type of development and the education of women and girls have been proven as a sure and sustainable way to development. As Kwegyir Aggrey said, ‘if you educate a man, you educate an individual but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation’. Malala Yousafzai said, “If we want the education of girls, we should be united. We should not wait. We should do it now.” I totally agree with this courageous young lady.

Economic stability as a major panacea to most of the challenges that the modern day African woman faces. underlying factors  such as access to land, access to finance and access and use of new technology will make the African woman more profitable. It is also proven that when a woman makes money, she spends it on bettering the lives of her family members. This ensures reduction in malnutrition rates, she is able to pay for her children to go to school and for healthcare needs for herself and her family. A new hairdo and a pair of wedge platform shoes also did nobody no harm. lol

Empowerment in its bare form means to give power or authority to. It can also mean to enable or to permit. It is a fact that gender bias and discrimination against women is still a powerful negative force in significant percentages of Africa and this must be aggressively dealt with over and over again. Empowerment encompasses all but also stands alone as a major tool to the development of the African woman and girl child. An empowered woman will speak out against oppression in her community. Most importantly, an empowered woman is a role model for young girls. This will create a snow ball effect which, ultimately, is in the interest of Africa.

So when you meet all those old men Presidents in suits next week at the 26^th Ordinary Session of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, kindly give them this message of change from a young African girl who wants to see that Agenda 2063 is gender compliant. My message is simple. Mr. Presidents, commit boldly to change the future of the African woman. Be audacious in the decisions you make and dare to support your affirmations. Ensure our children go to school and support our work and we will in turn work hard for our respective countries and for Africa as a whole. Remember, every woman is either your daughter, sister, mother or wife.

For me, I will continue to do my best to promote the interest of the African woman through my blog and through my work. As Martin Luther King once said, ‘be a bush if you cannot be a tree, if you can’t be a highway, just be a trail, if you can’t be a sun, be a star. For it isn’t by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are’.

 I therefore join Madam Diop when she says that ‘We, Women of Africa, must seize this opportunity as we all know that Africa will not achieve its Agenda without the women and youth of this continent”.

Sincerely,

(signed)

Rebecca Sabah

Pan Africanist. Feminist. Optimist.

Tags: African Union, pan africanism, African Union Chairperson