African Women Major Group Urges African States to Accelerate SDG Commitments for Women and Girls

Kampala, Uganda — The African Women Major Group (AWMG), a key member of the Africa Regional Civil Society Engagement Mechanism (ARMMGOS), has called on African governments to adopt transformative, gender-responsive strategies to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly for women and girls across the continent.

The call was made during a workshop organized by Major Groups and Stakeholders ahead of the 11th session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD), currently underway in Kampala, Uganda.

According to Buky Williams, who leads Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights at AMWA, while there has been notable progress on some SDGs, recent global and regional crises—including natural disasters, climate emergencies, political instability, and debt burdens—have delayed or reversed progress, especially on SDG 3 (health), SDG 5 (gender equality), and SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy).

“An evident delay in progress, and even regression for some countries, is due to pervasive socio-cultural norms, restrictive laws, and policies that limit access to services such as Comprehensive Sexuality Education and contraception,” Williams stated during a press briefing at the forum.

Williams further criticized African governments for their inadequate response to the climate crisis and the growing suppression of civic space. She emphasized the need for free and open civic engagement to raise awareness, influence policy, and hold governments accountable.

The group expressed deep concern over the increasing influence of coordinated anti-rights movements, which they say threaten democracy, the rule of law, and gender equality.

“These movements, though claiming to uphold African values, promote discrimination and reinforce patriarchal and colonial legacies. Their actions are in direct contradiction to the African philosophy of ‘Ubuntu,’” Buky emphasized.

Referencing the Nairobi Manifesto of 1985 and the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, the group noted that despite historic commitments, women and girls continue to bear the brunt of global crises.

The AWMG highlighted those legal and structural barriers continue to impede access to healthcare across Africa. Laws that criminalize certain groups—such as people living with HIV, sexual and gender minorities, and young people—create significant obstacles to accessing critical health services.

Despite progress on maternal mortality, Sub-Saharan Africa still reports an alarming rate of 454 deaths per 100,000 live births, far above the SDG target of fewer than 70.

“The high number of unsafe abortions, particularly among adolescents, continues to contribute to maternal deaths. The continent also faces high rates of teenage pregnancies,” Buky noted, citing a 2022 WHO report which showed Sub-Saharan Africa had the world’s highest adolescent birth rate for girls aged 10–14 at 102 per 1,000.

AWMG criticized the failure of many African governments to meet the Abuja Declaration commitment to allocate at least 15% of national budgets to health. According to Wambui Kimani, Executive Director of the Zamara Foundation, even the limited funding allocated to women’s health is often misappropriated.

“Women and girls, who make up the majority of the poor, are forced to pay high out-of-pocket costs for basic health services,” said Wambui. “Despite making up half the population, women only hold 26% of political positions and 13% of corporate leadership roles.”

Women and girls continue to face systemic inequalities. Although African women comprise 62% of the workforce, they remain disproportionately represented in informal, unprotected jobs. Over 30% of African girls aged 15–24 were not in education, employment, or training as of 2021.

AWMG called for formal protections for women in the informal sector, including minimum wages, maternity leave, protection against harassment, and pension contributions.

Key Recommendations

To address these challenges, the African Women Major Group made the following key recommendations:

• Domestic Resource Mobilization: Reform the global financial architecture, eliminate harmful tax incentives, and increase progressive taxation to fund social services and gender equality programs.
• Gender-Responsive Budgeting: Build capacity and institutional frameworks to ensure that budgeting processes consider gender disparities at all levels.
• Universal Health Coverage (UHC): Integrate sexual and reproductive health and rights into UHC and repeal discriminatory laws limiting access to services.
• Recognition of Unpaid Care Work: Value and redistribute unpaid care work, predominantly undertaken by women, through public-sector support.
• Legal Protections in the Informal Sector: Enact laws to secure fair treatment and benefits for women working informally.
• Maputo Protocol: Expedite universal ratification and full domestication, lifting all reservations to ensure comprehensive protection of women’s rights.
• Strengthened Regional Cooperation: Promote collaboration among African countries to implement Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063 through gender-responsive strategies, including climate adaptation.
• Climate Finance and Property Rights: Increase support for gender-sensitive disaster risk reduction and secure women’s rights to land and natural resources.
• Gender-Disaggregated Data: Improve data collection and embrace citizen-generated data to guide effective, evidence-based policymaking.
• Digital Inclusion: Close the digital gender divide by making internet access affordable and safe for women and girls.

In a bold proposal, AWMG called on the African continent to lead the world in annually reviewing SDG 5—gender equality—similar to SDG 17. They emphasized that gender equality is a cross-cutting issue critical to the success of all other SDGs.