Report back on the 2008 CSW and the African Women's Caucus/Rapport de la CSF 2008 et du Caucus des Femmes Africaines.

Engaging with the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is of increasing importance to African women. However, advocacy at the CSW by African women's organisations has in the past been greatly challenged by the lack of a sustainable coordination mechanism/ process for African women's NGOs to prepare for the CSW before, during and even after so as to follow up on the commitments/actions made.

Over the past years, efforts have been made by FEMNET together with other regional African women's organizations to create a space for joint advocacy, by facilitating meetings of an African Women's Caucus during the CSW. The African Women's Caucus is important, as it is the sole forum in which African women present at the CSW may exchange experiences on the deliberations of the governments in session. It is also the only forum in which African women debate and develop common positions on issues under discussion and strategise on how to get those positions into the deliberations of the governments in session.

Notably, the need for preparatory activities prior to the CSW has been recognised as imperative to the participation of African women in the CSW. With this in mind, FEMNET collaborated with other regional women's organisations, to organize a number of preparatory activities, so as to build capacity for organisations that would send representatives to the 52nd session of the CSW, or in other ways contribute to the CSW process. These activities included arranging a series of dialogues on the theme of this years' CSW: Financing for Gender Equality end the Empowerment of Women. The dialogues enabled participating organisations to contribute to national and continental discourses on Aid Effectiveness, and explore women's human rights organisations' role in Aid Effectiveness, as a means of effectively engaging in the CSW.

In December 2007, a Regional Consultation Forum held in Nairobi-Kenya was organised by FEMNET, in partnership with WOMEN DIRECT, bringing together regional women's rights organisation in preparation for the 2008 CSW and particularly the African Women's Caucus. During this regional forum, it was noted that most participants from Kenya were unaware of key processes relating to Aid Effectiveness, such as the Paris Declaration, and the New Aid Modalities, and were therefore oblivious of the negative impacts these have on gender relations. In order to increase awareness on the topic, FEMNET therefore organised a roundtable for Kenyan organisations, on Financing for Development and the Empowerment of Women and Girls, in February 18, 2008. This meeting served to debrief participants on the outcomes of the regional forum held in December 2007, as well as to extrapolate the situation of Kenyan women's organisations on Aid Effectiveness, and to contribute Kenyan perspectives on the position of African women in the 2008 CSW. The roundtable resulted among other things in the developing of a Kenyan position on Financing for Development and Empowerment of Women and Girls, which helped to catalyze a cohesive regional response by African women in civil society around the outcomes of the CSW process.

From these preparatory and debriefing meetings held prior to the CSW 2008, several women's rights organizations had the opportunity to understand the CSW processes as something which not only concerns the UN but also themselves as African women. Majority of women's organizations in Africa have in the past been unable to see how the CSW relates to them and them to it, but after these meetings, the connection was perceived to be clearer. Additionally, the assigning of responsibilities to the meeting participants further enabled every one to contribute to the process rather than just being passive attendants. For example, follow-up activities in the course and after the CSW were agreed upon, including:

* Lobbying the different government representatives present at the CSW to influence the outcome documents, particularly the final agreed conclusions.

* Engaging with African groups and other continental caucuses and significant Leaders of women human rights organizations.