A three-day conference to discuss key issues of the global financial crisis on Africa's economies and its impact on women in the respective sub-regions opened in Accra on Thursday. Speaking at the meeting on the theme 'Africa-wide Dialogue on Gender, Africa and the Global Financial Economic Crises,' Dr Yao Graham, Coordinator, Third World Network Africa said despite indications that some countries were showing signs of recovery from the financial crisis, African countries were still reeling under the weight of the crisis. He said the crisis was an indication of the failure of the free market system and the prescriptions of the International Financial Institutions and urged African countries to develop their own programmes towards development. He said the impact of the crisis on the African continent is being shown in the declining levels of Foreign Direct Investment, sharp falls in remittances with serious implications for household consumption and the drastic drop in commodity prices, which is the mainstay for African economies. He urged the participants to examine critically the impact of the crisis and the implications for women. Dr Sheila Bunwaree, a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Mauritius, said official development assistance was on decline despite commitments and pledges made by donor countries to scale up support. She said the crisis should open a chapter of negotiations of new forms of relationship and institutions, which could provide equal opportunities to both the developed and the developing countries. As a first step, Dr Bunwaree said, commitment was required from all, especially the developed countries to live by their pledges and accelerate the disbursement of financial aid. Besides, there must be changes in the global financial architecture by allowing African government to determine the policy choices opened to them. Dr Bunwaree expressed the hope that the three-day discussion would bring out the real impact of the crisis on women. Some of the topics lined up are Finance and Financing Women's Economic Activity, Government Revenue and Expenditure and Gender and Employment and Livelihoods: Issues for Social Protection and Policy. Source: GNA