Closing statement by Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the ECA

This ADF has reminded us that over the past three decades, leaders on the continent have made commitments, declarations and plans on gender equality. We have reviewed the progress that has been made on the continent in promoting gender equality, women's empowerment and ending violence against women. I am glad that you recognized that there have been some major accomplishments particularly in terms of improved participation of women in high-level decision making positions; and improved gender parity in education, just to mention a few. In this Forum we have observed that there is still a lot more to be done towards realizing the rights of women and girls in Africa and in achieving gender equality and addressing violence against women. We noted that words have not been followed by action.