Women wait for the start of a gathering on women's rights in Bamako, Mali. The U.N. voiced fears over women's rights. | Photo: AFP

Statement From The Women Of Mali, Niger And Senegal On The Current Situation In Mali

Source: WLUML | AWID

We, the women of Mali, Senegal and Niger, gathered here together at a workshop on the involvement of women in processes of crisis management in Bamako, Mali, between the 16th and 18th of October 2012, demand of our representatives from the African Union, ECOWAS, the United Nations, the European Union, countries of the sub-region and countries friendly to Mali:

- To take into account the gender dimension in the management of the current crisis; and

- To involve women at every level of negotiations – local, national, regional and international.

We further demand the implementation and enforcement of agreements and instruments at the national, regional and international levels, in particular the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on the effective involvement of women at every level, including Malian women in crisis management; taking into account the role of Malian civil society organizations in negotiations as stipulated in regional instruments to which Mali is a signatory, in particular the ECOWAS Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Conflict Resolution, Peace-keeping and Security (1999).

We deplore the situation that prevails in North Mali and demand the unconditional re-conquest of occupied zones. Faced with open violence against women and children, we urge a return to the rule of law and protection of the physical integrity of persons and their property.

We deplore the recruitment of our children by armed groups and the disenfranchisement of women in their speech, their everyday life, their health and their economic activities.

We deplore the limited welcome and assistance to displaced and refugee women and demand appropriate measures suited to their needs, which grow greater day by day. We deplore the effects of the crisis on certain displaced young students, who cannot continue to pursue their schooling and training.

Fear grows as Mali extremists compile list of unmarried mothers

Women Primary Victims Of Violence In Northern Mali, Says UN Rights Official

Mali: Conflict, hunger, cholera and locusts

We call for greater attention to the population directly and indirectly affected by the crisis, and in particular to those areas that now host a large number of displaced persons and refugees.

We deplore the massive exodus of international NGOs from Mali, which directly and brutally affects the entire Malian population.

We, the representatives of female members of Malian civil society organizations, will mobilize to face these challenges and take our place as actors in our own right in the management of this crisis.

We invite our brothers, our husbands, our children, and our fathers to join hands and to overcome their divisions to find anew the unity and integrity of Mali, and to together rebuild a strong and unified nation.

We invite our sisters and brothers of the sub-region and the world to put pressure on their States to support negotiations in order to end this crisis.

AFLP, AFIP, WANEP, RESFECO, WILDAF Mali, ASAPSE, CAFO, Representatives of the Women Displaced from Timbuktu, Kidal Women Leaders, CAFO Bourem, Camp Women's Association, Malian Lawyers Association, AMERJF, APDF, Youth Police Association of Mali, AMDH, Association of Catholic Women, REPDEPP, USOFORAL (Casamance / Senegal), the Association of Women from Niger Against War (Niger), REFEPA (Niger)"

• Donate to Safeworld.