Details of the meetings organised by FAS

June 2002

Durban, South Africa - 1st Consultative Meeting

( First Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly)

- The 1st Consultative Meeting was facilitated by the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) and FAS.
- At the meeting, the Durban Declaration was adopted by the women's networks, calling for gender parity within the AU.
- President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal put forward the recommendations of the consultation to the AU Assembly.
- President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa (chair of the session) supported President Wade's proposal.
- This led to the AU Assembly accepting gender parity in the AU Commission.
- The AU Women, Gender and Development Directorate (Gender Directorate) was created and is the vehicle through which the Chairperson of the AU Commission advances the principle of gender equality through gender mainstreaming.

April 2003

Dakar, Senegal - 2nd Consultative Meeting

The Dakar Strategic Meeting was held to:
- follow up on the ‘Durban Declaration';
- consolidate the network of women's organizations that had been created in Durban;
- devise strategies for advancing the goals of gender mainstreaming;
- a plan of action called the ‘Dakar Strategy' was adopted and then presented to President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal.

July 2003

Maputo, Mozambique - 3rd Consultative Meeting

 (Second Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly)
- The 3rd Consultative Meeting was organized by The Foundation for Community Development (FDC) in collaboration with FAS and under the leadership of Madame Graça Machel;
- The meeting lobbied for the election of five female AU Commissioners which would signify gender parity on the Commission;
- The ‘Maputo Declaration' was adopted at the conference:
- At the coinciding AU Summit, the principle of gender parity on the African Union Commission was adopted. It now has five women Commissioners out of a total of ten positions;
- The AU also adopted the ‘Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa'.

July 2004

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - 4th Consultative Meeting

 (Third Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly)
- The 4th Consultative Meeting was organized by the AU Gender Directorate;
- The AU adopted the ‘Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa';
- The Declaration also confirmed the transformation of the African Women's Committee on Peace and Development (AWCPD) into the African Union Women's Committee (AUWC).