9 August 2020: National Women's Day in South Africa is a celebration of the strength and resilience of African women. On the other hand, this holiday serves as a grim reminder of the challenges that women still face today. Some of these challenges are domestic and other forms of gender-based violence, poor inclusion in decision-making bodies, sexual harassment in the workplace, unequal pay, unequal access to education, employment and resources, to mention but a few.

On 9 August 1956, more than 20,000 South African women marched to the seat of government in Pretoria to protest against the proposed amendments to the Urban Areas Act of 1950, commonly referred to as the ‘pass laws,’ which required black people to carry an internal passport to maintain the country’s population segregation. The courageous women would not have said it better when they sang, Wathint'Abafazi Wathint'imbokodo! (Now you have touched the women, you have struck a rock!). This epitome is still very much alive today – there is no country in Africa and indeed in the rest of the world, that can attain the highest form of greatness, while the rest of its population, especially women, continue to be marginalised.

Lilian Ngoyi once said, «I felt a lump in my throat when I looked at this large army of women: dignified women, courageous women. I felt so humbled to be part of such bravery.»

At the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD, we continue to redress the marginalisation of women both institutionally and in the implementation of our programmes. We do this by ensuring, for instance, that there is equal representation of women in all that we do, as enshrined in theAfrican Union strategy on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (2018-2028) as well as in Africa’s development blueprint, Agenda 2063.

Fellow Africans, we should not let our women down by carrying on as if all is, as it should be. We cannot continue to ignore the courageous acts and achievements of women like Lilian Ngoyi and many others, as recorded in history, as well as the women who continue to be strong despite the hardships that they face today in our societies. It is up to all of us to make this world a better place by ensuring that women are part and parcel of the progress being made and that no one is left behind.

Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki

CEO, AUDA-NEPAD