African Regional Preparatory Meeting on Beijing
+25 and the Second Indigenous Women Conference Yaoundé – Cameroon,
December 3th – 7th, 2019.
The African Indigenous Women’s Organization (AIWO), in collaboration with Indigenous Information Network (IIN), Suramama Women’s Organization and the International Indigenous Women’s Forum (FIMI) brought together representatives of indigenous women organizations for a conference in preparation of some key processes, which includes African Regional Preparatory Meeting on Beijing +25 and the Second World Conference on Indigenous Women in Yaoundé Cameroon from 3rd to 6th December, 2019. Seventeen (17) countries were represented at the Conference and they are as follows: Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Uganda.
The conference started with meetings within the different regions in Africa discussing issues that are of priority and challenges in their areas. The reason is that most of the indigenous women leaders in the region never get the opportunity to meet often and work together. They have to wait for a gathering or a meeting in the region or at the international level to meet. Meeting in Yaoundé in advance was a very important time for all those who attended. The aim of the conference was to draft a regional declaration that would reflect the situation of the rural Africa Indigenous women and give recommendations. The outcome of this conference would also contribute towards the position of Africa indigenous women and girls at the Commission on the Status of Women, Beijing+25 and the Second World Conference of Indigenous Women all set to take place in 2020. This would ensure that the voice of the African indigenous women was heard and included in the global voice of indigenous women.
During the conference, some of the issues discussed included participants expectations for the conference, what they hoped the results would achieve, regional achievements and challenges facing indigenous women since the Beijing conference in 1995 and recommendations they have. Some of their shared expectations for the conference were as follows:
Read More Here:AIWO Africa Regional Conference Report ENG FRN