The
parliamentary delegation of the Canadian Section of the Assemblée
parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) that participated in the seminar,
“Taking Legislative Action to End Violence against Women and Girls,” organized
jointly by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the National Assembly of Burkina
Faso, and held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from March 30 to April 1, 2011,
has the honour to present its report.
Composed of
the Hon. Rose-Marie Losier-Cool, Senator and Chair of the APF’s Women’s
Parliamentary Network, the delegation was accompanied by François Michaud,
Executive Secretary of the Canadian Branch.
Representatives
from the parliaments of Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone
and Togo, as well as representatives of governmental institutions and civil society
organizations, attended the regional seminar.
Welcome
remarks were made by Zénabou Drabo Ouedraogo, Member (Burkina Faso),
followed by a speech by Martin Chungong, Director of the Division of the
Promotion of Democracy of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which was delivered by
his representative. The opening speech by Roch Marc Christian Kaboré,
President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso, was read by Mariam Marie
Gisèle Guigma Diasso, Second Vice-President of the National Assembly of
Burkina Faso and Chair of the steering committee for the seminar. The opening
session concluded with a message from Chantal Compaoré, spouse of the
Head of State, who, among other things, pleaded for a worldwide ban on female
genital mutilation (FGM).
The first
session was on “Violence against Women and Girls: Forms, Causes, Consequences
and the Difficulty of Ending It.” It was chaired by Marie
Mukantabana, Vice-President of the Senate (Rwanda);
panellists were Marie Pierre Raky Chaupin, Trust Fund and Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW) Campaign
Coordinator, UN Women; Épiphanie Meteteiton Houmey Eklu-Koevanu, Jurist,
Programme Officer, Think Tank on Women, Democracy and Development (GF2D), Togo;
Wendyam Zare Kaboré, Magistrate, General Director of Legal and Juridical
Affairs, Ministry of Justice (Burkina Faso); and Achille Tapsoba, Member
(Burkina Faso), Member of the Committee on General, Institutional and Human
Rights Affairs.
The second
session was on “Regional and International Legal Instruments to Address the Problem
of Violence against Women and Girls.” The chair of the session was Célestin
Koussoube, President of the Committee on Employment, Social Affairs and
Culture (Burkina Faso), and panellists were Victoria Popescu,
Vice-President of the UN Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women; Fatimata Djourte, Attorney-at-Law, former President of
the Association of Women Lawyers of Mali; and Karin Grimm, Project
Coordinator, “Gender and SSR” - Special Programmes, DCAF.
The third
session was on “Elements of a Comprehensive and Multisectoral Response to
Violence against Women and Girls.” The chair of the session was Sophie
Moulengui-Mouele, Senator (Gabon), and the panellists were Marie Pierre
Raky Chaupin and Korotoumou Ouedraogo, on behalf of Marie Rose
Sawadogo, Permanent Secretary of the National Committee against Excision,
Burkina Faso.
The fourth
session was on “Taking Legislative Action to End Violence against Women: The
Components of Legislation” and chaired by Jacob Ouedraogo, Member,
President of the Committee on General, Institutional and Human Rights Affairs
(Burkina Faso). Panellists were Rosalyn Park, Research Director, The
Advocates for Human Rights; Günther Lanier, Programme for the Juridical
and Socio-economic Protection of Children and Women, UNICEF, Burkina Faso, and Athanasie
Gahondogo, Member (Rwanda).
The fifth
session was on “Taking Legislative Action to End Violence against Women and
Girls: Parliamentary Strategies.” This session was chaired by the Hon. Rose-Marie
Losier-Cool, Senator (Canada), President of the Network of Women
Parliamentarians of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF), who
happily noted the strong participation of men in that session as well as the
vigorous and frank discussion on a sensible issue. Panellists were Athanasie
Gahondogo, Member (Rwanda); Aliou Aya, Member (Mali), President of
the Network of Mali MPs against Violence against Women and Children, and Bila
Dipama, Member (Burkina Faso), member of the General, Institutional and
Human Rights Affairs Committee.
The sixth
session consisted of working groups.
The seventh
session was on “Creating an Environment Conducive to Enforcing Legislation on
Violence against Women and Girls” and chaired by Nassara Djobo Ouro-Bang’na,
Second Vice-President of the National Assembly of Togo. Panellists were Kelvin
Hazangwi, National Director of Padare/Enkundleni/Men’s Forum on Gender and
member of the Zimbabwe Anti-Domestic Violence Council; Franceline Toe Bouda,
Lawyer, President of the Coalition for the Implementation of CEDEW (Burkina
Faso); Nestorine Sangare Compaore, Senior Programme Manager, NDI, and Oumar
Ndoye, Member (Senegal), President of the Committee on Health, Population,
Social Affairs and National Solidarity.
After a
summary session, the closing address was given by Roch Marc Christian Kaboré,
President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso.
The Canadian
delegation wishes to thank Jules Savaria, Canada’s Ambassador to Burkina Faso,
for his invaluable support throughout the seminar, his availability and sharing
his extensive knowledge of the country and the region.
The Canadian
Branch of the APF wishes to recognize the financial support of the Assemblée
parlementaire de la Francophonie in this important mission.
Respectfully submitted,
Hon. Rose-Marie Losier-Cool,
Senator
Member of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la
Francophonie (APF)