What: High Level Panel on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (HPL on GEWE)

When: Thursday 29th to Saturday 1st July 2017, 0900 a.m.   

Where: African Union Commission

Theme: The 4th HLP will be aligned to the 2017 AU Theme of “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in the Youth”, with special emphasis on “empowering young women and girls”.

Who: The African Union Commission (AUC)’s Women, Gender and Development Directorate (WGDD) in collaboration with the Department for Human Resource, Science and Technology (HRST), the Department of Social Affairs (DSA), the Office of the Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security (OSE), and in partnership with United Nations and Civil Society Partners, will convene the 4th HLP on GEWE to be held on the margins of the 29th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly.

Objectives and Expected Outcomes: 

The overall objective of the 4th HLP on GEWE is to define concrete actions to empower young women and girls to scale up implementation of policy priorities and decisions in the four pillars of the AU Demographic Dividends Agenda that will translate into more tangible investments in young women and girls to harness the demographic dividends in Africa.

The specific objectives are to:        •    Identify key strategies and recommendations for action to scale up implementation of decisions and policies on the demographic dividend agenda. •    Provide space for young people to influence policy. •    Build strategic partnerships to carry forward the DD agenda

The Outcomes of the 4th HLP are: •         A report with strategies and recommendations for action.  •         Decisions on possible policy gaps. 

Background:  The HLP on GEWE is a multi-stakeholder event convened on the margins of the AU’s mid-year (June/July) Summits. It has now become an established tradition as a mechanism for sustaining visibility of women’s rights and empowerment issues very high on the policy agenda of the AU, within the framework of its annual theme. The meetings are defined as high level to capture the essence of representation: expected individuals with policy making responsibility or authority or so designated; established scholars/ researchers and academics in the area of GEWE; leaders of civil society, especially Women’s Rights Organisations (WRO), as well as the high-level approach to the issues under discussion. The HLP on GEWE seeks to go beyond policy-making, which takes place at the AU’s January Gender Pre-Summit, and focuses more on guidance on policy implementation in terms of defining strategies and recommendations for action. The HLP also identifies any other policy gaps on GEWE and on the theme of the year, which may not be part of the decisions of the January pre-summit which are included in the Declaration of the AU Heads of State and Government.  

Media personnel are invited to attend and cover this event. Date and breakdown of different events are below: 

1.    29 - 30 June 2017- 4th HLP on GEWE. 2.    30 June 2017- Briefing meeting on “Girls’ and Women’s Education” co-hosted with AU/CIEFFA.  3.    30 June, 2017- Cocktail and Launch of two booklets developed by the Office of the Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security in partnership with UN Women:  a.    African women in mediation and Elections observers; b.    Handbook for Reporters on WPS in Africa.

Distributed by APO on behalf of African Union Commission (AUC).