African women carry the message. World Conference on Women.
The African Women's Network (AWN), organized by CEDPA alumnae at the Cairo population conference, has expanded its ranks and is bringing the Cairo consensus on women's empowerment to hundreds of NGOs throughout the continent. In November, AWN participants at the African NGO Regional Forum in Dakar helped to draft the Plan of Action for the World Conference on Women in Beijing, ensuring that key Cairo issues--including reproductive health care, sustainable development and poverty alleviation, the impact of AIDS on women, and gender equity--were addressed. With support from the UNFPA, the AWN and CEDPA organized a "Population Tent" at the forum, which highlighted family planning and reproductive health projects in Africa. AWN collaborated with the Senegal women's organization Yewwu Yewwi, the African Population Advisory Committee (APAC), and FEMNET, which is organizing African NGO participation for Beijing. Further expanding awareness of Cairo issues, CEDPA alumnae and staff members Khadijat L. Mojidi, Belkis Giorgis, and Andrea Okwesa conducted workshops on advocacy, gender and development, community-based family planning, and adolescent reproductive health programs.