Experts meeting on the Draft Model for Accelerating the Implementation of CEDAW and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human Rights and the Rights of Women, 7^th—10^th July 2008, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), in collaboration with the African Union—Women, Gender and Development Directorate (AU WGDD) are developing a tool that can support the AU and its members states to fast track delivery on commitments to women’s rights and empowerment. The tool will build on the UNIFEM model for a multi-sectoral approaches to accelerating the implementation of CEDAW. The Model is to be adapted to apply to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, its Protocol on Women’s Rights in Africa, and the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA).

In this regard, UNIFEM in collaboration with the AU WGDD have organized an Experts meeting from the 8^th—10^th July 2008, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with the aim of reviewing and adapting the Model to the AU instruments, and propose a strategy for follow-up actions that will lead to the adoption and use of the tool by African Union, its member states and other organizations.

The opening of the meeting was attended by representatives of several UN and bilateral agencies including UNFPA, ILO, ECA, UNIFEM, European Union, Sweden, and Austria. During the deliberation, several experts would discuss the proposed Model and review its adaptability and coherence within the African Continent. It is expected that at the end of the meeting, the Model would be enriched so that it would support the AU and its member states in accelerating delivery in women’s rights commitment in CEDAW, the AU Protocol on Women’s Rights, and SDGEA. The experts meeting is also expected to come up with a strategy for promotion of the Model for adoption and Utilization by AU, its member states