Award Selection

On 29 January 2009 in Addis Ababa, on the margins of the 12th African Union Summit, the Selection Committee of the African Gender Award, chaired by Ms. Bineta Diop in the absence of Hon. Ambassador Gertrude Mongella, President of Pan African Parliament, elected His Excellency President Armando Guebuza of the Republic of Mozambique to receive the 2009 African Gender Award.
To follow the previous recipients of the African Gender Award, President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa (2005), President Paul Kagame of Rwanda (2007), President Guebuza’s election was guided by specific criteria and indicators designed to monitor the implementation of the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA) adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Third Ordinary Session of the African Union in Addis Ababa in July 2004.

Main Achievement in gender mainstreaming

President Guebuza’s desire to integrate women into national policies has been appreciated.
Mozambique is one the eight African countries that has achieved 30% representation of women in the national parliament.
This is a reflection and outcome of the changes in the 2004 Constitution of the Republic which encourage and preserve the equal rights of women and men as well as the involvement of women in all areas of political, economical, social and cultural life of the country. Furthermore, Mozambique has acceded to the optional protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict and has ratified the CEDAW convention which is directly applicable under the Mozambican law and remains one of the few African countries who did not relapse into post–conflict crisis or aggression.
Mozambique has witnessed an increase in the participation of female labour in non- agricultural programmes and has also adopted a law which seeks to eradicate discriminatory practices in family relations as it relates to woman’s rights in land use and equal rights in the workplace.
The Republic of Mozambique has been very supportive of the implementation of the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA) being one of the 18 countries living up to its commitments under the Declaration which require Member States to submit a gender report to the summit of Heads of State of the African Union.

Award Recognitions

Along with the award granted to the President of Mozambique, two recognitions will be awarded to the civil society and to the Private sector actors of Mozambique for their commitments to promote gender. Contrary to the Award’s recipient who was chosen by the Selection Committee, the recipients for the Recognitions are selected through an internal process where the decision is held by members of the Civil Society and the Private Sector in Mozambique.
Presently they are laying down the indicators for electing the recipients for the African Gender Recognitions.