Presentation of the network of African women economists

1. Presentation of the network of African women economists • Introduction • The Visionof NAWE • The Objectives of NAWE • Areas of work of NAWE • Process for the operationalisation of NAWE • The International Inception seminar • Activities implemented Yassine Fall

2. Introduction The Vision of NAWE is to strive for the realization of African women’s economic rights and security in the context of globalization and feminized poverty. The Objectives of NAWE are: • To influence macro-economic and trade policy-making and monitoring to focus on feminized poverty. • To create an enabling environment for African women to influence all aspects of ICT use and policy at national, regional and international levels. • Within an economic rights framework, to promote African women producers’ access to and influence over technology, finance and markets and ensure that their experiences inform and shape macro-level policies and globalization instruments. Yassine Fall

3. Areas of work for NAWE • Advocating for economic and trade policies more responsive to poverty concerns and gender equality. • Building a critical mass of African women economists knowledgeable in gender equality and human rights issues to mobilise and work towards engendered macroeconomics. • Promoting networking and exchange among women’s groups, women’s rights activists, civil society organisations, government officials, parliamentarians, universities and research institutions, on gender and macroeconomic issues. • Launching policy dialogue to articulate a gender perspective in development plans and policies, national budgets, Poverty reduction strategy policies, trade agreements, debt management, ICT and lending policies, etc. • Generating specialised knowledge on gender and macroeconomics and gender sensitive indicators and statistics. Yassine Fall

4. Process for the operationalisation of NAWE • Identification of potential members from universities, research centers, women’s rights activists, civil society organisations, the media, etc. African Women’s network, national UNDP offices and research institutions in the sub region provided support by proposing CVs of possible members and resource people. • Organisation of an International Inception seminar to build capacities and to officially launch the network. Potential members were requested to collaborate for the preparation of national gender perspectives on various areas This was also intended to help them get familiar with the issues to be covered by the network and identify gender gaps in national statistical and constraints for access • Promotion of networking at national level. Each national team that participated at the seminar organised a debriefing on the issues discussed in Dakar bringing a large forum. Yassine Fall

5. The International Inception seminar • I/ Objectives of the seminar • Capacity building in the analysis of macro-economic policies from a gender perspective • Operationalisation of the network • II/ Participants • In West Africa: Burkina Faso, Benin, Cape-Verde, Cote-d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Senegal • In Central Africa: The Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad • Resource people from Uganda, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Senegal were invited to share their experience and expertise in the areas covered. Yassine Fall

6. Activities implemented • National inception seminars were organised in Burkina Faso, Benin, Cote-d’Ivoire, Chad, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea Bissau. • Various publications are underway: a book on gender and macroeconomic policies, magazines on the activities of the network, various study reports, a lobby and advocacy card of the network, a directory of individuals and organisations working on gender, macroeconomics and trade issues, a collection of photos and testimonies entitled ‘African Women’s Eyes on Poverty’, etc. • Network members participated actively in various events such as the UN Conference on Financing for Development held in Monterrey in March 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Bamako 2002 Preparatory Conference on the Information Society, etc. • Activities planned for the upcoming months include National forums with Parliamentarians and consultations with ministries, Training of Trainers seminars, studies on the impact of water privatisation on African women’s security and rights, as well as various other activities as defined by the NAWE national focal points during the strategy planning meetings/seminars. Yassine Fall

7. NETWORK OF AFRICAN WOMEN ECONOMISTS National budgets HIPC Directory of organisations NETWORKING Trade agreements Case studies Networks WICEJ IWGGT WIDE, etc RESEARCH PRSPs Regional institutions ADVOCACY Civil society organisations Partners IGTN GERA AAWORD Etc. Bibliography AWE • Ministries • Finance • Budget • Women • Planning Indicators and statistics Data collection Women’s groups Parliamentarians CAPACITY BUILDING Yassine Fall Training workshops Needs assessment Training materials TOT