END OF TRAINING ACTIVITIES FOR PARLIAMENTARIANS ON WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS

The First Deputy Speaker of the Senate, Honorable Dénise Ndadaye, proceeded, on Tuesday October 26, 2021, to the closing of the activities of two training seminars for parliamentarians, organized by the Association of Women Parliamentarians of Burundi (AFEPABU), in collaboration with the Parliamentary Assembly of “La Francophonie” (APF), from October 25 to 26 this year, at Royal Palace Hotel, in Bujumbura Town.

 The work of this training focused on the economic empowerment of rural women, and Parliament and human rights.

Honorable Dénise Ndadaye, in her closing speech, thanked the Parliament of Burundi for the support it continues to provide to AFEPABU as well as the Parliamentary Assembly of “La Francophonie” (APF) for its financial support, and hoped that partnership relations would go forward.

She indicated that the second training seminar was, once again, of great interest to the beneficiaries as the module on Parliament and human rights, policy development and implementation in this regard in sense that it plays a preponderant role in the defense of human rights, and that it precisely defines these fundamental rights, verifies to what extent the executive power enforces them, and finally, puts in place legal texts aimed at the promotion and protection of fundamental human rights.

A day before this second day of training, the First Deputy Speaker of the Upper House of Parliament, in her opening speech, underlined that Burundi, like other countries which have put their policy at the top of their respect for human rights as an orientation guide, is committed to combating all forms of discrimination, the source of inequalities.

According to the Honorable Dénise Ndadaye, the principle of development is the direct result of the contribution of all social components, men and women alike. This is how it should be pointed out that there are significant advances already made by the Government of Burundi.

She indicated that Burundi followed the global movement to eliminate discrimination imposed on women by ratifying international instruments intended to guarantee their full development, namely: the 1952 Convention on Political Rights of Women, the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the 1979 Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) as well as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted in 1995 during the Fourth World Conference on Women.

She also indicated that alongside these international texts ratified by Burundi, the Burundian Constitution promulgated on June 7, 2018 enshrines the equality of men and women, and guarantees a minimum of at least 30% of women in political posts. By way of illustration, she indicated that at the end of the 2020 elections, the representation of women exceeded 30% and the results led to a National Assembly made up of 38.2% of women and a Senate made up of 41, 02% of women. “The minimum of 30% was also respected in the Government, with five ministerial posts occupied by women out of fifteen ministerial posts, or 33.3%,” she added.

In addition, Honorable Dénise Ndadaye specified that Burundi has a National Development Plan 2018-2027 which takes into account the gender dimension and the National Gender Policy 2012-2025 whose objective is to fight against all forms of discrimination and gender-based social inequalities.

She further indicated that the Government of Burundi also adhered to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which enshrine gender equality through the fifth goal and took ownership of them through their official launch made by the President of the Republic since 2019. “This policy is supplemented by the action of the Women’s National Forum, which constitutes a consultative body in charge of promoting the hearing and expression of girls and women interests in all social strata of Burundi country”, she hammered.

The First Deputy Speaker of the Senate recalled that the Government created, in February 2021, the Bank for Investment and Development for Women (BIDF, in acronym) with a view to always support women in their actions. ‘‘Its main mission is to encourage women to have financial facilities in order to contribute effectively to the development of the country. Nevertheless, women should continue to advocate for a higher percentage”, she stressed.

As for her, Honorable Patricie Nduwimana, President of AFEPABU, also spoke in this direction, in her opening speech of the first training workshop.

During the first seminar, the participants followed the presentations relating to the theme of the day, presented by different facilitators, and each time, these presentations sparked a rich and productive debate of ideas relating to the strategies to be implemented to eradicate all forms of discrimination. Facilitators advised the participants to rather promote positive discrimination to encourage women economic, and these presentations notably focused on creation of an environment conducive to the women economic empowerment; inventory of the economic situation of rural women in Burundi; the promotion of gender-sensitive legislation, and the place of women in cross-border trade.

This same work methodology was followed during the second seminar, and the presentations focused in particular on human rights in Burundi and in the Francophonie.

The presenter explained the main fundamental rights guaranteed in Burundi and in French-speaking countries and specified the types of texts and the means by which these rights are protected. He also focused his presentation on the necessary role of parliament in the development and protection of human rights. In this regard, the participants were informed of the role of parliaments in the promotion of fundamental rights and freedoms, citing in particular Belgian examples and the means available to parliamentarians to guarantee the protection of human rights (discussion and vote of the law, government control…).

Another presentation given to participants focused on Parliament and national and international human rights institutions.

For this topic, parliamentarians were informed about the various organizations working for the protection of human rights in Burundi; and the prospects for possible collaboration between Parliament and these institutions.

Speaking about how parliament can strengthen human rights, parliamentarians were briefed on human rights abuses, ways in which parliament can respond to them and parliament’s contribution in consolidating the rights which are still insufficiently guaranteed.