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George Maponga in Midrand, South Africa

The Pan African Parliament(PAP) is working on a model Gender Equality Law that seeks to consolidate gains made in empowering women and the girl child across Africa especially in the sphere of education with the continental legislative Members of Parliament also called for affirmative action on the boy child.

PAP President Chief Fortune Charumbira and the continental legislative body’s MPs unanimously agreed on the need to push African governments to implement African Union resolutions made in Dakar, Senegal which called for the domestication of #AfricaEducatesHer Campaign which calls for the empowerment of women and the girl child via education.

The #AfricaEducatesHer campaign which falls under the gamut of the Dakar Declaration made last year, calls for sustained affirmative action to empower women and the girl child in the area of education especially in the wake of regression in that sphere caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking during an African Union CIEFFA workshop with PAP MPs at the continental legislative body’s seat in Midrand, South Africa today, running under the theme,” Contribution of Pan African Parliamentarians for National Implementation of the #AfricaEducatesHer Campaign: Legislation to Ensure Learning Opportunities Post Covid-19 for Girls,” Chief Charumbira announced plans to birth a model law in Gender Equality will encompass measures to rebuild momentum to empower women and the girl child.

Chief Charumbira said the Covid-19 pandemic had negated advances made in women and the girl child empowerment especially in education.

”We want to come up with a Gender Equality Model Law that captures and addresses some targets and objectives highlighted in the #AfricaEducatesHer campaign. This conference is an opportunity to unpack the #AfricaEducatesHer campaign and MPs will have takeaways to their national parliaments so that proper policy frameworks are created to address the issue of women and girls’ education especially after the Covid-19 pandemic,”said Chief Charumbira.

”I think on the issue of women and girls education there had been progress prior to the Covid-19 pandemic which negated gains that were made before that. The pandemic not only affected women and the girl child by restricting them from going to school but also curtailed the capacity of their parents or guardians to generate income to finance their education due to regulations that compelled people to stay indoors.”

First Vice Chairperson of the PAP Youth Caucus and Proportional Representation MP in the Zimbabwe National Assembly Tatenda Anastancia Mavetera also weighed in saying African governments need to do a lot to atone for the negative effects of Covid-19 in women and girls’ education.

She noted that in Zimbabwe the issue of women and girls’ reintegration in the post-Covid-19 dispensation requires urgent attention.

”In Zimbabwe, we are looking at the reintegration of girls who were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and got pregnant but now need to go back to school to continue with their education. We need to come up with ways to reintegrate those girls so that they can continue with their education. I am happy that today’s #AfricaEducatesHer campaign has further opened our minds on measures and strategies needed to reintegrate the girl child,” said Honourable Mavetera.

The legislator says there is also a need to improve access for women and girls to digital technology to equip them with alternative means to continue with their education even when they are physically limited.

”I also think we need to start moving away from allowing the girl child to preponderate over the girl child. There is also a need to give due regard to the boy child because at the moment there seems to be too much emphasis on the girl child to the detriment of the boys.”

PAP has been crafting model laws that seek to jolt national governments to enact laws and come up with policies that engender sustainable socio-economic development across the continent.