As the Alliance of Sahel States (ASS) continues to preoccupy not only the Economic Community of West African States, but Africa as a whole, and as we analyze its political and economic futures, it is important about what is happening to 50% of its population.
Where are the women in the ASS countries and what is happening to equality, equity and justice for women within these transitions? Little information for analysis currently available.
The following key questions can serve to collect data, interact with key stakeholders in the ASS countries and perhaps shape activities, projects and programs for women’s rights.
1. Presence in decision-making.
Are women a part of the bodies making decisions about the transitions?
In all three ASS countries, women are part of the “Conseil National de la Transition” which are serving as transition parliaments. Depending on the country, this representation has remained the same or slightly improved after the coups d’Etat. However, no CNT has a forefront woman leader. Public communication by the state in all ASS countries is both symbolically and substantially male. Burkina and Niger have eliminated their Ministries of Women’s Affairs and do not seem to have replaced them with a specific body at national decision-making level. In Mali, this ministry remains active. However, it is unclear to what extent it influences national decision-making.
Given that all these transition governments describe themselves as “revolutionary and Pan-Africanist”, there is opportunity to engage them on the need for women to be integrated into national decision-making and to be seen and heard as part of the state, so the transitions reflect the people in whose service they are supposed to be.
This is a possible point to be raised in ministerial and presidential level discussions.
2. Women in the military.
How are women positioned within the ASS armies and what power do they wield?
In all ASS countries, the army is in power. In the immediate term, they are the most important actor determining the future of the nation. While women are present in all the ASS country armies, none appears in the ruling junta that are currently taking all major decisions about the countries. The decision to leave ECOWAS, for example seems to have had no input from the approximately 35 million women living in ASS countries.
Women within the military may be an entry point for discussion on inclusiveness, especially if they can increase their agency and lead the discussion on inclusiveness as a whole during these transitions.
3. Women within the conflict.
What is the situation of women within the current context of insecurity and how are the issues specific
to them being dealt with?
All ASS countries have defined security as their priority objective. There is consensus on the need for these countries to secure their national territory and bring an end to armed groups. However, there is also consensus on the fact that in situations of violence and conflict, women are particularly vulnerable. Human rights violations and gender-based violence have been reported in all ASS countries, perpetrated by non-state armed groups, but also by national armed forces.
All the military governments have denied wrongdoing and rights violations by their armies. This not only compounds the injustice for women victims, but it leaves perpetrators free to continue committing crimes and increases insecurity for women.
Working on sexual and gender-based violence among internally displaced people and engaging the army on this issue may be an entry point for work on rights violations by regular armed forces.
4. Women on the Transition Agenda.
How is equality, equity and justice for women being addressed in transition reforms?
All ASS countries are in transition and are reforming laws, institutions and systems. Given that there are very few avenues for women’s voices to be heard and few channels for consultation or concertation, it is unclear how specific issues concerning women are being addressed in the ongoing transition reforms.
In Burkina and Niger where the ministries of women no longer exist, it is unclear which mechanisms transition governments are using to obtain the expertise on gender and women’s rights that is needed to provide input into these reforms.
This area may be one of the more accessible channels to engage with the juntas on women’s rights. This is a technical area that does not enter into the political sphere of day-to-day decisions or into rights violations. The main stakeholders here will be the parliaments (Conseil National de la Transition) and line ministries rather than the presidency. Changes made here will not address immediate violations happening, but could have sustainable impact on the laws, institutions, policies and practices that will determine the country’s future.
5. Safety of women.
What measures are being taken to ensure women’s safety in non-conflict zones and provide services
for victims of domestic violence?
In peacetime, women are subject to domestic and societal violence. In situations of tension and conflict, even in non-conflict zones, violence against women increases exponentially.
Before the coups d’Etat, few services were provided in the ASS countries for victims of domestic and societal violence. In the transition context, even the few civil society organizations that were providing these services have restricted room for maneuver and have reduced the services they are providing.
Engaging with ASS countries to reinforce civil society organizations that provide basic services to women survivors, may be a path to provided much needed protection for women in these countries and begin engaging the transition governments on their rights.
6. Women’s Rights Associations.
What is the situation of women’s rights and feminist associations within the transitions?
All civil society organizations are particularly vulnerable and under threat in the ASS countries. All three countries are showing low tolerance for dissenting voices, watchdogs on government activity and opposition to their decisions. Civil society leaders have been threatened, arrested and conscripted in recent months. Civil society organizations are suspected of being agents of western agendas.
It is important to ensure short-term support to civil society organizations as a whole and women’s rights/feminist organizations in particular. It is urgent to put into place protection mechanisms for women’s rights defenders and to increase vigilance for them.
It is not only an entry point, but an absolute necessity in this moment to put into place funding mechanisms in concertation with them, using means that ensure their safety and enable them to continue working. Providing the means for them to network with other African organizations doing similar work and perhaps facing similar challenges is also important. Defending and promoting fundamental human rights, notably women’s rights, is an essential building block for the future of the ASS countries.
