Angola: United Nations recommends increased awareness of women’s rights

The Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women has recommended that Angolan authorities strengthen awareness among women, especially at the community level, considering that they remain unaware of their rights.

The guide to the recommendations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), presented on Thursday in Luanda, said that the body also recommends the translation of the instrument into local languages.

Angola ratified CEDAW in 1984 and the Optional Protocol in 2017. In February 2019, the country defended before the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women its seventh periodic report.

According to the document, distributed on Thursday in Luanda by the Angolan Ministry of Social Action, Family and Women’s Promotion, the Committee welcomed Angola’s efforts to improve the institutional and political framework.

“Aiming to accelerate the elimination of discrimination against women and promote gender equality,” said the brochure.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women is concerned that women, especially in rural areas of Angola, remain unaware of their rights and do not have the necessary information about procedures to claim them.

Regarding access to justice, the Committee expressed concern that women continue to face multiple barriers.

The limited availability of courts and extrajudicial dispute resolution centres, especially in rural areas and the lack of training programmes for members involved in traditional dispute mechanisms are the main obstacles, it said.

Regarding this, the Committee recommends accelerating the process of decentralising courts and establishing extrajudicial dispute resolution centres throughout the country, especially in rural areas.

Expediting the work in process on inconsistencies between customary law and the Angolan Constitution and ensure that all necessary safeguards are provided, are also among the recommendations.

In addition to praising the criminalisation of female genital mutilation in the new Angolan Penal Code, the Committee is concerned about the persistence of patriarchal norms that discriminate against women, limiting them to their reproductive role.

As for violence against women, the document stated that the Committee welcomes the law against domestic violence and is concerned about the total prohibition of all forms of violence against women and girls.

During the ceremony to present the brochure to civil society, the Secretary of State for the Family and Promotion of Angolan Women, Elsa Barber, said that the instrument aims to respond, in a dignified manner, to the challenges concerning the improvement of conditions for women and girls in the country.

Angola is expected to present its 8th Periodic Report to the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in March 2023.