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The parliamentary delegation of the Canadian Section of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) that participated in the seminar, “Taking Legislative Action to End Violence against Women and Girls,” organized jointly by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the National Assembly of Burkina Faso, and held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from March 30 to April 1, 2011, has the honour to present its report. Composed of the Hon. Rose-Marie Losier-Cool, Senator and Chair of the APF’s Women’s Parliamentary Network, the delegation was accompanied by François Michaud, Executive Secretary of the Canadian Branch. Representatives from the parliaments of Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo, as well as representatives of governmental institutions and civil society organizations, attended the regional seminar. Welcome remarks were made by Zénabou Drabo Ouedraogo, Member (Burkina Faso), followed by a speech by Martin Chungong, Director of the Division of the Promotion of Democracy of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which was delivered by his representative. The opening speech by Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso, was read by Mariam Marie Gisèle Guigma Diasso, Second Vice-President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso and Chair of the steering committee for the seminar. The opening session concluded with a message from Chantal Compaoré, spouse of the Head of State, who, among other things, pleaded for a worldwide ban on female genital mutilation (FGM). The first session was on “Violence against Women and Girls: Forms, Causes, Consequences and the Difficulty of Ending It.” It was chaired by Marie Mukantabana, Vice-President of the Senate (Rwanda); panellists were Marie Pierre Raky Chaupin, Trust Fund and Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW) Campaign Coordinator, UN Women; Épiphanie Meteteiton Houmey Eklu-Koevanu, Jurist, Programme Officer, Think Tank on Women, Democracy and Development (GF2D), Togo; Wendyam Zare Kaboré, Magistrate, General Director of Legal and Juridical Affairs, Ministry of Justice (Burkina Faso); and Achille Tapsoba, Member (Burkina Faso), Member of the Committee on General, Institutional and Human Rights Affairs. The second session was on “Regional and International Legal Instruments to Address the Problem of Violence against Women and Girls.” The chair of the session was Célestin Koussoube, President of the Committee on Employment, Social Affairs and Culture (Burkina Faso), and panellists were Victoria Popescu, Vice-President of the UN Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; Fatimata Djourte, Attorney-at-Law, former President of the Association of Women Lawyers of Mali; and Karin Grimm, Project Coordinator, “Gender and SSR” - Special Programmes, DCAF. The third session was on “Elements of a Comprehensive and Multisectoral Response to Violence against Women and Girls.” The chair of the session was Sophie Moulengui-Mouele, Senator (Gabon), and the panellists were Marie Pierre Raky Chaupin and Korotoumou Ouedraogo, on behalf of Marie Rose Sawadogo, Permanent Secretary of the National Committee against Excision, Burkina Faso. The fourth session was on “Taking Legislative Action to End Violence against Women: The Components of Legislation” and chaired by Jacob Ouedraogo, Member, President of the Committee on General, Institutional and Human Rights Affairs (Burkina Faso). Panellists were Rosalyn Park, Research Director, The Advocates for Human Rights; Günther Lanier, Programme for the Juridical and Socio-economic Protection of Children and Women, UNICEF, Burkina Faso, and Athanasie Gahondogo, Member (Rwanda). The fifth session was on “Taking Legislative Action to End Violence against Women and Girls: Parliamentary Strategies.” This session was chaired by the Hon. Rose-Marie Losier-Cool, Senator (Canada), President of the Network of Women Parliamentarians of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF), who happily noted the strong participation of men in that session as well as the vigorous and frank discussion on a sensible issue. Panellists were Athanasie Gahondogo, Member (Rwanda); Aliou Aya, Member (Mali), President of the Network of Mali MPs against Violence against Women and Children, and Bila Dipama, Member (Burkina Faso), member of the General, Institutional and Human Rights Affairs Committee. The sixth session consisted of working groups. The seventh session was on “Creating an Environment Conducive to Enforcing Legislation on Violence against Women and Girls” and chaired by Nassara Djobo Ouro-Bang’na, Second Vice-President of the National Assembly of Togo. Panellists were Kelvin Hazangwi, National Director of Padare/Enkundleni/Men’s Forum on Gender and member of the Zimbabwe Anti-Domestic Violence Council; Franceline Toe Bouda, Lawyer, President of the Coalition for the Implementation of CEDEW (Burkina Faso); Nestorine Sangare Compaore, Senior Programme Manager, NDI, and Oumar Ndoye, Member (Senegal), President of the Committee on Health, Population, Social Affairs and National Solidarity. After a summary session, the closing address was given by Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso. The Canadian delegation wishes to thank Jules Savaria, Canada’s Ambassador to Burkina Faso, for his invaluable support throughout the seminar, his availability and sharing his extensive knowledge of the country and the region. The Canadian Branch of the APF wishes to recognize the financial support of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie in this important mission.
Respectfully submitted,
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