Promoting women's rights

Togolese traditional chiefs, religious leaders and health specialists have been trained to promote women's rights at a seminar organised by a non-governmental organisation, Women in Law and Development in Africa. Organisers told IRIN the four-day seminar that ended on Friday, introduced the participants, among other things, to international and national laws that protect and promote women's rights and to strategies to promote the rights of women in their environments. The health specialists learnt ways to deal with women who have suffered abuse, including battered women. Traditional chiefs and religious leaders were included in the seminar, organisers said, because they are often involved in the resolution of conflicts at the local level. Kafui Adjamagbo Johnson, Regional Coordinator of the NGO said their ultimate aim was to ensure that participants apply what they learnt in the theoretical teachings to their daily duties. "Practical application would be the best way to reconcile tradition and modernity in the advancement of women's rights," Johnson said. The next workshop, to target lawyers, judges and law enforcement agents, is slated for September. The seminar, held from 5-9 August in the capital, Lome, was part of the organisation's plan to strengthen and promote women's rights in several West African countries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal.