In July 2004, the African Union (AU) embarked on a new chapter of moving forward the gender equality agenda in Africa, representing another milestone for women’s effective participation: The AU adopted the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA) at its Summit meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
For the first time in history, a continental organization took ownership of gender mainstreaming at the highest level, calling for the continued implementation of gender parity in the AU and at national level, the ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, and the protection of women against violence and discrimination.
One year after the adoption of the SDGEA (in July 2005), after several consultations on how to best use the SDGEA to advance the African women’s agenda, the African women’s movement decided to create the campaign “Gender is my agenda” (GIMAC) during the 6th Women’s Pre-Summit Consultative meeting held in Tripoli (Libya) in order to collectively advocate, on one side, for the implementation of the SDGEA by the Heads of State, and on the other side, to inform and mobilize the civil society around the SDGEA.
In June 2006, the Campaign was officially launched at the 8th Women’s Pre-Summit held in Banjul, Gambia.
