The role of women had front-row visibility when this year’s Africa Day, an observance marking the founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) May 25, 1963, was celebrated at the United Nations last Friday, during an event hosted by the African Renaissance and Diaspora Network (ARDN). A series of speakers focused on current and impending visions for the continent. Attendees reflected on the prospects for success for continental and diasporan African women.
“On a Friday afternoon before Memorial [Day] weekend in the United States, it’s amazing to see so many of you come and be present in this room today,” Djibril Diallo, president and CEO of the ARDN, told the crowd in opening greetings. “This is the United Nations headquarters. We have 690 participants in person…[for] this global commemoration of Africa at the United Nations. I wanted to make sure that we say a big ‘thank you,’ a warm ‘thank you,’ for your making the effort to come here.”
Among those delivering remarks were Diamane Diome, Senegal’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations; Saturnin Epie, United Nations Population Fund; U.N. Assistant Sec-General and Acting Executive Director of U.N.-Habitat Michal Mlynár; Xinhua News Agency journalist Martin Jiangang Wang; and photographer Chester Higgins Jr.
A youth panel of three young people were featured speakers, discussing African development issues and the importance of education, particularly as it relates to agriculture.
“Africa, according to Bloomberg, has the highest ratio of food importation to food consumption in the world,” ARDN board member Dr. Gordon Tapper noted in his introduction of the three young speakers. “They’re bringing in too much, importing too much food, and that is something that needs to be addressed: It is not sustainable; we can do better. …the African Union has established a theme for Africa Day 2024 as ‘Educating an Africa fit for the 21st century.’ [This means] educating an Africa for Africa––not [for someone who will] migrate to Canada, United Kingdom, France, or the United States. Africa for Africa.”
“Self-sufficiency in Africa is not a distant dream,” said Wantoe Wantoe, one of the youth panelists, representing Ethiopia. “It is a tangible goal that many of our nations are actively pursuing. We are striving to transition from dependency on foreign aid and to model a world where we are self-reliant, self-sufficient, and capable of feeding ourselves.”
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As the continent marches toward self-sufficiency, the youth advocated for members of African nations to be granted a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council.
Lyzianah Emakoua, who is originally from Cameroon, called “the African Union 2063 Vision agenda…a vision for a prosperous, peacefully integrated continent driven by citizens. However, climate change poses a significant threat to achieving this vision. While African countries have contributed only 2 to 3 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions, we are still at the front line of the crisis. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by climate change, yet they remain underrepresented in the climate and agricultural decision-making processes.”
Karen Juanita Carrillo photos
New York-born/Mali-raised Oumou Haidara said she believes colonialism remains the biggest act of terror ever imposed on the continent. Import trades, which keep African nations at the mercy of former colonial rulers who are now supposedly trading partners, are impoverishing local people, she said. “[We are importing] everything that Mali already makes. Why are we having those exported in? We don’t need those. We don’t need to be exporting anything that we can make ourselves,” she said.
Some of the elders in attendance at the U.N.’s Africa Day celebrations were political scientist professor Dr. Leonard Jeffries and his wife, art historian Dr. Rosalind Jeffries. He told the audience that it is vital to celebrate the individuals who helped establish the OAU and those who have worked to restore pride in the cultures and legacies of Africa: “I do want to call out that you cannot talk about Africa in any way without understanding the work of the great Cheikh Anta Diop. You have to understand—the legacy that we stand on is an enormous legacy. It’s not a game that we’re playing; it’s the reality. Without great African leadership, male and female, inspiring the youth, we cannot expect to make the moves that we need to make.”
Dr. Rosalind Jeffries added that working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art allowed her to witness a sign being placed that acknowledged the African origins of civilization. “[That] means that the public schools throughout the world have a right to talk about the African origin of civilization, and the work that the mothers, the grandmothers, the aunts [do] in raising your children, [and] how important that is for developing nationhood,” she said.
The ARDN’s Diallo framed the Africa Day celebration as an opportunity to “increase public awareness of the crucial role that women play in agriculture and [in] the economic and social dimensions of African countries and the African diaspora.” With women playing such a vital role, their limited access to land, water, seeds, fertilizers, markets, credit, and other financial services hurts people of African descent, Diallo said.Africa and its descendants won’t thrive in the 21st century nor will the continent reach its Sustainable Development Goals by the year 2030 or the African Union’s Agenda 2063 goals if African-descendant women are not adequately supported. One way Black women can be centered is by raising awareness of campaigns to end gender-based violence. The ARDN placed copies of its signature Red Card campaign pledge cards throughout the event meeting room, while Diallo led attendees in a pledge to have “zero tolerance for gender-based violence.”