AWLN member Prudence Mabele celebrates yet another achievement as she is nominated to serve on UN women’s Civil Society Advisory Group. Ms. Mabele is one of South Africa’s most vocal advocates for people living with HIV/AIDS. She joined AWLN to further her goals to improve reproductive health and family planning for African women; a mission she has been pursuing as since 1992 when she became the first black woman to reveal her HIV-positive status in South Africa.
UN Women was created five years ago to be the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The roles of UN women include:
- To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms.
- To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society.
- To lead and coordinate the UN system’s work on gender equality as well as promote accountability, including through regular monitoring of system-wide progress.
- Meeting the Needs of the World’s Women
UN Women recognizes the important role that the civil society plays, and considers it one of the “most important constituencies,” because of its unique role of sourcing for ideas, policy perspectives, partnerships and support. Prudence will now contribute to fulfilling a vital role of UN women; accelerating the organization’s goals on gender equality and the empowerment of women. She will use her vast experience to help steer and consolidate efforts for promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights among women.
AWLN congratulates Prudence for this appointment; a dynamic and strong champion for women and girls, providing them with a powerful voice at the global, regional and local levels. This will indeed be a great platform to continue advocating for the reproductive health and family planning needs of women in South Africa and the continent at large.
This story was originally posted on the African Women Leaders Network for Reproductive Health and Family Planning (AWLN)
