Interview: UN to support women empowerment programs in Africa: official

The United Nations will support programs that accelerate the attainment of gender related millennium targets in Africa, a senior UN official said Saturday.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the Executive Director of UNWOMEN, said the global body will partner with African states to promote the empowerment of women and girls.

"We fully support the African Union's agenda 2063 vision that roots for women empowerment to accelerate transformation on the continent. The attainment of this vision will be possible through partnership and dedication at all levels of leadership," Mlambo- Ngcuka said.

She spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the AU heads of state summit in Addis Ababa.

The pan African bloc has declared 2015 the year of women empowerment in order to accelerate the achievement of the continent's agenda 2063 vision.

African leaders agreed on a raft of action plans to advance the welfare of women and girls.

Mlambo-Ngcuka said the international community will monitor the implementation of policy and legal tools to promote gender parity in Sub-Saharan Africa.

"African leaders and senior policy makers have identified priority areas like education, health, reforms in the judiciary and access to decent jobs in order to empower women, "Mlambo- Ngcuka said.

She emphasized that political goodwill and robust engagement among state and non-state actors was key to speed up the implementation of affirmative action in African countries.

"Governments should accelerate the implementation of recommendations contained in the Beijing Platform for Action to achieve gender parity in all fields, "said Mlambo-Ngcuka.

Mlambo-Ngucka noted that progress towards achievement of gender related millennium targets in Africa has been uneven.

"Several African countries might achieve gender related millennium development goals while others are off-track. Notable progress has been in education though dropout rates among girls remain high," Mlambo-Ngcuka said.

She urged governments to invest in secondary education for girls and address obstacles that hinder them from enrolling in tertiary institutions.

The United Nations support policy reforms to ensure women are adequately represented in national leadership and the workplace.

Mlambo-Ngcuka urged African governments to engage women in design and execution of national development programs.

"Governments should make radical choices to ensure women occupy key positions in national institutions like parliament, judiciary and cabinet, " Mlambo-Ngcuka said.

The UN WOMEN will partner with African Union to promote the participation of women in peace and conflict resolutions.

Mlambo-Ngcuka noted that African women have borne the brunt of emerging security challenges on the continent including terrorism, Ebola and civil strife.

"Governments should harness women's resilience and soft skills to promote peace building and reconciliation," said Mlambo-Ngcuka. Endi