We, African Girls & Young Women shall Speak for Ourselves about our issues!

A COMMUNIQUE TO: The African Union On this important Day of the African Child 2022,

We African girls and young women from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Sierra Leone, and Uganda have gathered here in Accra, Ghana to reclaim our rights, and most importantly, our VOICE!

From the 14th to the 16th of June 2022, we have enhanced collective action and activism hosted by The African Women Development & Communications Network, FEMNET, in partnership with her members and development partners.

We met as daughters of Africa in all our diversities from different backgrounds but with similar challenges. Our discussions enabled us to realize that inequalities, exclusion, and injustice against girls and young women of Africa are cross-cutting. Our collective voices as African girls and young women have enabled us to increase and sustain influence in the transformation of gender norms in formal and informal institutions.

We appreciate the critical opportunity to convene, deliberate, and strategize toward the Africa we want.

We, therefore, through this historic communique present our urgent demands to the African Union representing all of Africa’s Heads of State and on this day of the African Child 2022 to have our key issues prioritized. We Demand: –

1. Accessible and affordable Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights (SRHR) information and services for girls and young women in all their diversities.
2. African governments Recognize, Prioritize and Safeguard the unique needs and voices of sexual minority girls and young women living with HIV, disability, affected by displacement, and the plight of the LBTIQ community.
3. Enactment and implementation of the revised Maputo plan of action, Agenda 2063 and the 2030 SDGs, Beijing platform for action, Gender Equality Bills for example the Affirmative Action Bill in Ghana, the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment Bill in Sierra Leone, The two-thirds Affirmative Action Bill of Gender in Kenya, Equal Opportunity Bill in Nigeria, The East Africa Sexual Reproductive health bill,
4. Strict enforcement of laws that are punitive to sexual and gender-based violence including harmful traditional practices such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and early child marriage.
5. Formulation, review, and implementation of laws and policies that safeguard and protect the dignity of girls and young women living with a
6. Meaningful engagement of girls and young women in leadership and national peace-building

Intentional gender responsive budgeting and financing in health, education, and entrepreneurship to enhance the lives and quality of lives of the girls and women of Africa. We the undersigned African girls and young women will no longer remain silent as decisions are made for us, about us but without us, we shall SPEAK FOR OURSELVES!!!!!!