Hon Chair, the Pan-African Parliament held a continental women's conference, known as Women's Platform for Action in Africa. The conference was held from 29 to 30 September 2011 at Gallagher Estate in Johannesburg. The theme of the conference was "Women, Peace and Security in Africa".
The women representatives of the Pan-African Parliament developed and adopted a number of strategies in order to ensure lasting peace on the continent, which inter alia included the following: firstly, establishing a campaign of no war on the African continent; secondly, harmonising and co- ordinating women's associations and networks for peace at various levels of society, in rural and urban communities, and among professionals - for example, women in politics, former Ministers and parliamentarians, former combatants, associations for victims of violence and rape, etc; thirdly, in order to eliminate feelings of inferiority and ignorance, developing the capacity of women in conflict zones through educational programmes, the implementation of self-defence programmes and effective access to justice.
Fourthly, the African Union should endeavour to set aside adequate funding for programmes on democracy, peace and security, and access to justice. Lastly, the African Union should build the capacity of women in the domain of peace-keeping, conflict management and political participation, and should establish an association of former women parliamentarians on peace, justice and security in Africa. [Time expired.] [Applause.]