Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa We, the Heads of State and Government of Member States of the African Union, meeting in the Third Ordinary Session of our Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 6-8 July 2004: Reaffirming our commitment to the principle of gender equality as enshrined in Article 4 (I) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, as well as other existing commitments, principles, goals and actions set out in the various regional, continental and international instruments on human and women's rights, including the African Platform for Action (1994), the Beijing Platform for Action (1995), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW - 1979), the African Plan of Action to Accelerate the I mplementation of the Dakar and Beijing Platforms for Action for the Advancement of Women (1999); the Outcome Document of the Twenty-third Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (2000); and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003); Standing by our decision on gender equality taken at the Inaugural Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government in July 2002 in Durban, South Africa; Re-affirming our commitment to continue, expand and accelerate efforts to promote gender equality; Commending the progress that we have made so far in addressing issues of concern to the women of Africa, while also recognizing that major challenges and obstacles to gender equality still remain; Deeply concerned about the negative impact on women and on the development of our countries of issues such as HIV/AIDS, conflict, poverty, violence against women, women's exclusion from politics and decision-making, and illiteracy; Expressing grave concern regarding the high incidence of HIV/AIDS among girls and women, and the disproportionate burden on women to care for and support those infected and affected by the disease, and re-affirming the need to systematically address all these issues at all levels of society; Aware that AIDS orphans and older people, especially grandmothers, shoulder excessive responsibility for providing care for those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, most times without support of any sort either from the society or from the State; Re-committing to the goals and strategies set out in the Abuja Declaration on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Other Related Infectious Diseases which we adopted in April 2001 during our Summit which was kindly hosted by the President, Government and People of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nigeria; Conscious that, while women bear the brunt of conflicts and internal displacement, including rapes and killings, they are largely excluded from conflict prevention, peace-negotiation, and peace-building processes; Taking cognizance of the adverse impact of gender inequality on the economic growth of Africa and the fact that African women bear a disproportionate burden of poverty; Recognizing that extreme poverty cannot be addressed without concerted efforts to improve women's access to resources and that access to resources increases the level of spending, especially on food and children's education;