Women and Lomé

An Investigation Into The Needs Of Women Post-Lomé

The Women and Development Unit of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently commissioned a project entitled "The Lomé Convention: Contribution and Participation by ACP Women in the Negociation Process," in the context of the ongoing public debate on a successor to the Lomé Convention, after February 2000.

The project was implemented by CAFRA, NG Development Agency (Zimbabwe) and Vrouwenberadd O.S. (the Netherlands), from January-September 1999, in rural communities. The aim was to identify the ways in which ACP women’s empowerment could best be supported.

With the expiration of the present Agreement betwenn the European Union (EU) and 71 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, discussion opened up on developments and opportunities that would come with a renewed EU-ACP Cooperation. The project investigated the needs, strengths and potential of women and their communities and the need to operationalise a set of strategic objectives for fulfillment of the women’s needs, both in the short term and for longer term policy change.

Findings

Overall, the women needed training in skills in the areas of organisation and management as well as specific business, technical and commercial skills. There was also a need for literacy courses on policies in general, and economic policy in particular.

Zimbabwe:

Here, the focus was the Women’s Committe of the Takawira village in Umpfurudzi settlement area. the women needed a better understanding of government’s policies on land re-distribution and ownership. Entitlement to the land is in the name of the husband on ly which leaves women in an insecure position in the event of widowhood or divorce. Naturally, this insecurity hampers the full development of the economic potential of the women.

Windward Island:

The project team connected with women’s groups in villages on four islands - St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada and Dominica. The issue here is the reorganisation of the EU banana regime, which favours ACP small-scale banana producers over the Latin American "dollar-banana". The women directly and indirectly affected by the new regime need to make use of aid programmes that are in place to promote economic diversification and/or improve the viability of the banana sector.

Apart form direct contact with women in the various communities, the project has also given rise to lobby and dialogue directed at the policy-making institutions. Finally, one of the definite project outcomes to date is the need for a follow-up project that woultd not "hand out" solutions to the women but actually involve them in the work. This would provide the on-the-job training that will increase the women’s own problem-solving capacity. Follow-up work would also involve an extension to other communities and the involvement of other ACP (sub) regions.