Editorial.

The African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET)'s programming conference and general assembly, which took place in August 6-8 in Nairobi, was "a wake up call for African women to constructively examine what the women's movement has gained so far" said Kenyan Member of Parliament, Honourable Njoki Ndungu during the keynote address. "African women have made advances, no doubt." This, she added, is a testament of the determination of African feminists and gender activists to keep the movement growing with the times, The three-day conference was attended by delegates from 19 countries in Africa. They examined the gains, losses and the gaps within the African women's movement.

FEMNET evolved during the United Nations (UN) decade for women (1976-1985) to provide an interface between civil society organisations working on women's advancement and decision-makers in governments and international agencies. FEMNET choose communication and networking as toots to liaise with key stakeholders. Since its inception in 1988, FEMNET has played a leadership role for African women's NGOs at regional and international decision-making and policy fora. FEMNET was the focal point from 1993-95 during African women's NGOs preparations for participation in the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. It has continued to collaborate with African women's NGOs on follow-up activities to the Beijing NGO Forum, the parallel intergovernmental conference and the Beijing Plus Five review process through engaging with the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

Other gains for the network include advocacy activities which seek to make policy-making and policy-enforcement mechanisms gender-responsive in terms of improving women's representation and engendering both their content and their processes. Most notable within the region has been its lobbying to mainstream gender in all structures of the African Union (AU). As a result, the Assembly of Heads of State of the AU ensured that there is 50 percent representation of women in its commission and also approved the creation of a Gender Promotion Directorate in the Office of the Chairperson to coordinate all activities and programmes of the Commission. The AU further agreed that the recruitment of senior administrative, professional and technical staff of the Commission must uphold the principle of gender equality. In 2003 five women were elected to the AU's Commission, and adopted the...