African first ladies' summit adopts Marrakesh declaration; girls development
Regional, Culture, 4/23/2001

The summit of African First ladies, held in Marrakesh April 20-22 under the topic "the little Girl, a Global Movement for Africa's Development" wound up proceedings Sunday with the adoption of the Marrakesh Declaration.

The African First Ladies pledged to uphold the promotion, protection and consecration of the African little girl, part of a global movement for the development of the continent and stressed the need, to fulfil this goal, to sensitize political decision-makers, governmental officials and all activists operating in children-related fields.

They called for the eradication of all forms of gender-based discrimination and for a general mobilization to promote schooling and struggle against illiteracy which is still highly affecting little girls in the continent. They also called for guaranteeing access to medical care, promoting reproductive health and fostering awareness to the danger of AIDS.

The Declaration appeals to more efforts and moves on the legislative, educational, social, cultural and information scales to eradicate sexual abuses and traditional practices harming the physical and moral integrity of little girls, particularly genital mutilations.

The text equally calls for struggle against family violence that mainly affects women and girls and points out that the consecration of girls' rights also requires struggle against girls labor, trafficking and enrollment in armies and promotion of women-oriented economic and social development projects to free the little girl from the labor that hampers her schooling.

The African First Ladies stressed the need to involve the media in promoting girls' rights, to promote partnership with ngos, all components of the civil society and the private sector as well as national, regional and international financial institutions to promote strategies guaranteeing children's rights and children-oriented social programs.

They also pleaded for eradicating poverty and establishing peace and for further efforts to promote human rights throughout the continent and pledged to follow up the Marrakesh Declaration adopted by the Marrakesh Summit that they described as historic event.

The closing session of the summit, held under the aegis of King Mohammed VI and the effective chairmanship of Princess Lalla Meriem, Sister to the sovereign and chairwoman of the national observatory for children's rights, also released a general report that included a set of recommendations, such as the setting up of a comprehensive development strategy, targeting a sustained human development and granting priority to women and girls.

It also recommended the consolidation of democratic institutions and the promotion of human rights, the preservation of peace through the peaceful settlement of conflicts and the promotion of the culture of coexistence, tolerance, dialogue and peace.

The African first ladies called to reactivate and implement the proposal made by the late King Hassan II to adopt a Marshall Plan for Africa, to ensure the continent's development and to militate for swapping up the continent's debt into investments in social sectors.

The Marrakesh summit was held in preparation of the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children, to bring together next September government leaders and Heads of State, NGOs, children's advocates and young people themselves. The session will review the progress made for children in the decade since the 1990 World Summit for Children when the World Declaration on Survival, Protection and Development of Children and a plan of action were adopted.

On the sidelines of the summit, Princess Lalla Meriem conferred with several African First Ladies and visited a number of development projects in Marrakesh.

Previous Stories:
  African first ladies hold summit in Marrakesh   (4/17/2001)
  Forced marriage and international human rights norms   (3/12/2001)
  Organizations launch war on female circumcision   (2/2/2001)
  UN special session on women 2000 opens in New York   (6/6/2000)

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