FES Mozambique February 2017 FES Briefing Papers Feminism in Africa: Trends and Prospects Report of the International Workshop on Political Feminism in Africa Despite the advancement of women`s rights witnessed in the past few decades, we are currently experiencing a regional and international context in which not only are women's human rights disputed, but the historical achievements of the women ’ s movement are being undermined. The fragility of democratic institutions, a conservative backlash and an economic crisis exacerbate the precarious situation of women in Africa and worldwide and weaken the opportunities of feminist movements for self-expression in their struggle for human rights. Against this background, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, the World March of Women and the Mozambican Women's Forum(Forúm Mulher) organised in October 2016 an encounter that brought together activists, academics and representatives of feminist organisations across the continent in order to jointly analyse these new contexts, discuss the trends and coordinate the creation and/or strengthening of regional action platforms for joint actions. This document is intended to present the main findings of the debate. 1. Situation of the human rights of women in Africa Some data about the situation of women in Africa compiled from the African Human Development Report 2016(UNDP, 2016), with additional information from UNESCO (2010), are presented below. Education Progress can be seen in the access of women and girls to education. In primary education, for instance, gender parity has practically been achieved(while Central Africa is somewhat behind). Although these are positive trends, the average schooling period indicates that there are large gender gaps in different regions. 1