Uniting the Women of Africa: African Women Leaders Network at the UN CSW

The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a UN body ‘exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. Every year the CSW hosts an annual event during International Women’s Month in March, to celebrate the progress the world has made in the fight for gender equality while discussing room for progress and next steps to reach the mandate.

CSW 63 was hosted in New York, during February 15th, and amongst many empowering events that were hosted, I had the privilege to represent Baobab Consulting as an attendee to a side event that was hosted by the African Women’s Leadership Network (AWLN), at the African Union Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations. AWLN aims to harness the wealth of African women’s experiences of leadership, and build on other existing and emerging networks of women leaders. AWLN’s members include UN Women Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka; Former President of Malawi, H.E Dr Joyce Banda; Former President of Liberia H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Baobab Consulting’s very own Co-Founding Managing Director, Liz Grossman and our Head of Strategy and Operations, Pumla Maswanganyi.

AWLN’s event brought together some of Africa's most powerful and influential women and young aspiring leaders under the theme of Social Protection System and the Agenda 2063. Speakers included the newly appointed AU Youth Envoy, Aya Chebbi;,UN SDG’s Young Leader Joannie Bewa; Moreau Fellow & Founder if Teen Lead Botswana, Lorato Modongo; and Rozaria Memorial Trust Young Woman Leader, Ruvimbo Chimutsa

These women have been positively impacting the societies they live in, through their work as entrepreneurs, activists and advocates for Africa.

The panel discussion composed of mostly young leaders, and served as a platform for young women making strides in their particular fields, to share their perspectives.

The event started with opening remarks by Ms. Ruvimbo Chimutsa, AWLN & Rozaria Memorial Trust Young Woman Leader. She said “... for me the greatest tragedy on the African continent is that I had privileges that got me here but there are girls there that probably deserve to be here [who] were not able to access those opportunities and the reasons are lack of access to education.” She also spoke on the fact that young girls do not go to school because they do not  have access to proper hygiene feminine products, so they miss a week of school every month, for a year. Ms. Chimutsa’s sentiments were echoed by Dr. Joannie Bewa, AWLN and United Nations SDGs Young Leader from Benin. She spoke about her work within Benin’s government and in the medical field, and highlighted the importance of access to healthcare and medical information for all women. Her most memorable quote of the event was: “We want gender equality now! We don’t want to wait 187 years for health rights for women!” A notable statement and one that resonated with all who attended.

Having the opportunity to attend this event taught me that you’re never too young to impact your country from the national level. One thing that will stay with me after this conference and was repeated multiple times by the senior women was, we should involve men in these matters. The senior women suggested that we learn from their mistakes and make sure that men are involved so they can use their privileges to act in support of women leaders.

I would like to extend my gratitude to AWLN for creating the space for dialogue amongst African Women. We at Baobab Consulting are dedicated to being a part of the network’s growth and prosperity.