One of the core objectives of Pan-African Women’s Day is to celebrate and acknowledge the Foremothers of Africa who gallantly fought for the liberation and development of the African continent; acknowledging women as the backbone of Africa’s economies as farmers, entrepreneurs traders, scientists and leaders in many other sectors.
This begs the question: how many Africans are aware of this day and what efforts have been made to amplify it? Women’s contributions continue to be either obscured or erased, as they battle with every day challenges of a patriarchal system in which they are expected to function while days of this nature are not amplified as they should nor leveraged as an one of the avenues to address gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Concluding Thoughts
Pan-African Women’s Day has a nice ring to it. In theory, any focus on African women in historical studies is crucial; but what purpose do these days serve if they are not leveraged to address and challenge the status quo? This is a missed opportunity to address women’s issues and most importantly, for women to press their demands and draw attention to their realities and improve their overall well-being.
National versions of this day should be prioritised and amplified just like International Women’s Day. Prioritising the African version should be one of the ways of preserving defining moments of women’s history. Hence, part of the policy implementation on addressing gender parity should be using different mediums to highlight this day. Celebrating international women’s day is great, because African women are part of the global collective, they do not exist in a vacuum, however, Pan-African Women’s Day should be prioritised too. Charity begins at home; the African context of women is as critical.
It would be interesting to see the impact indicators of such days.
Reference & Photo Credit: African Union
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