MILESTONES
The Entebbe Declaration
By Venugopalan N (icsf@icsf.net), Programme Manager, ICSF
On 8 March 2017, more than 60 women fishmongers and fish processors from the artisanal sector, representing organizations from Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Djibouti, Uganda, Mali, Togo, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, the Republic of Guinea, Chad and Morocco, and other African states, gathered in Entebbe, Uganda, under the auspices of the African Confederation of the Professional Artisanal Fishing Organizations (CAOPA), to observe International Women’s Day. On this occasion, a document titled The Entebbe Declaration’ was released.
Acknowledging that artisanal fisheries employs about 90 per cent of the total numbers in capture fisheries, and recognizing women’s crucial contributions at every stage of the artisanal value chain, the Entebbe Declaration asserts that women in African artisanal fisheries must claim full participation and equal representation and leading positions within the artisanal fisheries professional organisations, as well as equal participation in decision making processes for policies that affect … their communities’, livelihoods.
In view of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines), the Entebbe Declaration calls upon African states, in preparation for the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture in 2022, to develop, in a participatory, transparent and gender-sensitive manner, a National, and where appropriate, Regional Plan of Action for the implementation of the Guidelines.
To view the full text of the Declaration, visit www.caopa-africa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017 /03/statement-entebbe-WFD-2017.pdf.
