To share solutions for common problems
Twenty three women participated in the meeting at Brazzaville. From Madagascar, Togo, Angola or Sao Tomé and Principe, they came from ten different countries across the continent. Isabelle Dos Reis, co-ordinator of the Vía Campesina Africa participated in this meeting. According to her, “this meeting was an opportunity for these women from different countries to share experiences, to discuss problems that rural women may confront and to define together an efficient action plan to consider solutions.” A large part of the 3 day exchange and reflection program was orientated towards the witnessing and sharing of experiences.
Each participant had the opportunity to present the conditions of rural women in their country and the problems that they may face in their everyday lives. Through “mysticas”, cultural sketches which open the work sessions for Vía Campesina, the participants were able to share their experiences. Indeed, the situation is unstable and similar everywhere: husbands who are often brutal and do not help out with work, illiteracy, premature marriages, limited access to health care and education, obstacles to acquiring resources and means of production (land, water, equipemnt, credits and markets), all problems that slow down women’s contributions to development. The second day was dedicated to a visit to a farming region, in partnership with the National meeting of farmers’ organisations and agricultural producers of Congo-Brazzaville [2], the hosts of this event. It was a festive and friendly moment that brought the women closer together. As a result, they felt united in their daily struggle, and contemplated common actions for the future.
Training and mobilising women to become agents of development
The final day was devoted to synthesising all the problems identified by reflection sessions in different workshops and then to establishing an action plan together. The women proposed numerous and varied solutions. For example, Alphonsine from DRC suggested launching an African women’s protest action: “A month without husbands in bed”. They also largely questioned the customs and traditions that marginalize their rights. Among the concrete resolutions of this meeting at Brazzaville, these women decided to acquire training in international commerce so as to master questions on market access and globalization. They are aware that a lack of technical knowledge remains a critical barrier to the economic development of rural African women and they have to arm themselves with tools and demands of the modern economic world. Isabelle Dos Reis said: “this first meeting of the women of Vía Campesina Africa has been a real source of hope for them as they realised that they are not alone and that together they can fight to improve their condition.”
Also read: Resonances Africa N°20 - January 2008
