The Gender Unit recently held the Due Diligence Project expert consultative meeting at the Centre for Human Rights from 3- 4 December 2012.  The Due Diligence Project is a multi-year project to develop due diligence standards and indicators on State responsibility to end violence against women.   It aims to add content to the international legal principle of “due diligence” in the context of State responsibility to address and end violence against women; and to instrumentalise the findings, indicators and good practices for practical application through manuals, tool kits and training modules. The Centre for Human Rights is an institutional partner of the Project, which is implemented by the International Human Rights Initiative based in Boston, USA.

The objective of regional consultative meetings was to invite experts and stakeholders from the region to participate in a focused discussion on systemic regional patterns and thematic issues of importance to the region with respect to VAW. This included identifying key issues that pose challenges in Africa, such as cultural perception and stereotyping as well as political priority placed on and budget allocated for ending violence against women. The Africa regional consultative meeting brought together 9 regional experts from Botswana, Mozambique, Kenya. Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Uganda and South Africa. The meeting focused on 5 identified areas where states are obligated to exercise due diligence to end violence against women, namely prevention of violence against women, protection of victims/survivors, prosecution and investigations of VAW cases, punishment of perpetrators and the provision of redress and reparation for victims/survivors of VAW.

It was a very informative meeting which provided a forum for these experts to discuss the issues, challenges, state actions and their implementation as well as good practices with regard to eliminating violence against women. The participants shared their experiences on key thematic concerns in Africa such as the role of culture and political will in the elimination of violence against women. The discussions from this meeting will be incorporated into the Africa regional report on State compliance with their due diligence obligations to end violence against women and will input into the development of indicators and standards on due diligence and State responsibility.

• For more information on the Due Dilligence Project follow the link below:
  www.duediligenceproject.org