The Women in Parliaments Global Forum (WIP) and the African Development Bank will host the first meeting of the WIP Council on Economic Empowerment in Kenya, on 20 December.
WIP and the ADB will convene female Parliamentarians from 12 African countries in Nairobi, Kenya. This meeting, hosted by WIP and the African Development Bank at the Intercontinental Hotel, will focus on strategies for female MPs to promote legal reforms which ensure that women’s property rights are included in all African legal frameworks. The meeting will address the current African property rights landscape with special attention given to the role of MPs in advancing property and inheritance laws for women across Africa.
Geraldine Fraser Moleketi, Special Envoy on Gender and Vice-President of the African Development Bank, Zita Gurmai, WIP Founding Member and gender advisor to the EU Commissioner on international development and cooperation, and Margaret Zziwa, first female Speaker of EALA (2012-2014), will chair the different sessions during the meeting.
The Members of Parliaments participating in the WIP Council meeting are the following:
- Hon. Georziane Aboui, Cameroon
- Hon. Madeleine Haoua, Cameroon
- Hon. Florence Mutua, Kenya
- Hon. Zipporah Kittony, Kenya
- Hon. Alice Chae, Kenya
- Hon. Lydia Aimée Rahantasoa, Madagascar
- Hon. Jessie Kabwila, Malawi
- Hon. Marie Selvon, Mauritius
- Hon. Petrina Haingura, Namibia
- Hon. Rita Odichi Orji, Nigeria
- Hon. Awa Gueye Diop, Senegal
- Hon. Ayawavi Djigbodi Dagban Zonvide, Togo
- Hon. Aida Ibrahima, Togo
- Hon. Odette Nyiramirimo, Rwanda
- Hon. Jacqueline Amongin, Uganda
- Hon. Margret Nantongo-Zziwa, Uganda
- Hon. Fungayi Jessie Majome, Zimbabwe
- Hon. Jenifer Mhlanga, Zimbabwe
This will be the first meeting of the WIP Council on Economic Empowerment. The WIP Council, in partnership with the African Development Bank, convene active female Parliamentarians from the WIP network in Africa, supported by academia and other research institutions, government officials, business leaders and members of CSOs to discuss and provide innovative solutions to the challenges related to women’s property rights, in order to achieve women’s economic development. The purpose of the WIP Council is to address issues (legal and institutional), share best practices, stimulate dialogue, shape agendas, advocate and drive legislative reforms at the national and regional level. Council Members will meet annually at WIP Summits, targeted African Development Bank Annual Meetings as well as during targeted regional meetings.
The outcome of the meeting in Nairobi will lead up to the discussion during the WIP Global Summit 2017. Members of the WIP Council on Economic Empowerment from all regions of the world are expected to attend this high-level Summit.
