On 5-8 November, grassroots African women campaigners from, Malawi The Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Angola, Rwanda and Nigeria travelled to London to share their stories.  They shared stories of struggle, justice and injustice, but above all, stories about human survival. 

While the African women were together, they drafted a declaration that highlights their key concerns.  On 28 April 2009, WILPF presented this declaration to the Prime Minister of the UK, the UK Department for International Development, African embassies and other stakeholders.

View the petition here

The seminar series focussed on the impact of NGO policies, as well as national and international politics on Africa’s past, present and future.  The women identified what alliances exist and what needs to be put in place to safeguard Africa’s independence, growth and desire for peace.  The seminars were about listening to the voices of African women and learning how we can work with them to improve the future of Africa.

Parliamentary Forum
On Wednesday 5 November, the African women addressed a full committee room in the House of Commons.  The women discussed various issues from land use to development to conflict.  Follwing on from the forum, members of parliament who attended cited examples provided b the women in other parliamentary meetings.

Round Table Meeting
On Friday 7 November a round table meeting was held at Chatham House.  With questions posed by academics and policy makers, the African women gave more detail of the issues they were working on and started a discussion on what can be done on the issues affecting them.

Seminar
To close the series, a full day seminar was held at the Amnesty International office on Saturday 8 November.  The seminar focussed on conflict issues, peace building, development and governance in a discussive ‘question-time’ format.

A full report of the seminar series will be available shortly.

While the African women were together, they drafted a declaration that highlights their key concerns.  On 28 April 2009, WILPF will be presenting this declaration to the Prime Minister of the UK, the UK Department for International Development, African embassies and other stakeholders.