Africa's influential NGO gender movement will present a report that castigates the slow pace of change in continental gender equality and an absence of political will. The report is also likely to raise serious concerns about the sidelining of "critical" NGOs, which have not been included in government delegations.

The Sixth African Regional Conference on Women taking place in Addis Ababa from 22-27 November is a sea change for the international women's movement. For the first time NGOs and governments will participate as delegates in the same conference on an equal footing. Previously, NGOs held a parallel forum. But some believe this is not a good idea. "Some NGOs are saying that having a combined delegation is not good. Governments are likely to hand pick Gongos (Government NGOs) which are not critical of them," said Sara Longwe, Chair of FEMNET and a member of the NGO/government task team that has been assisting the ECA with preparations for the conference. The make-up of national delegations was left to individual states.

FEMNET is one of eight regional NGOs invited to attend a weekend NGO consultation that replaced the traditional parallel forum where criticisms used to be levelled. Some women believe the Forum is a more powerful institution that is better placed to give NGOs an independent and collective voice from which to lobby governments.

At the same time, Longwe points out that a joint conference does have some merit. "It's the first time that we'll be dialoguing face to face, instead of in the corridors."

Chief of the African Centre for Women, Josephine Ouedraogo, said the arrangement was intended to enhance accountability by governments. "It is a learning experience, that has the potential to be enriching and frustrating for both sides," she noted. Ouedraogo added that she expected the greatest controversies in the conference to arise from differences in opinion between governments and NGOs on the progress made by governments since the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing five years ago.

The NGOs will release a preliminary shadow report on Friday that many believe will be "very strong in its criticism". On a continent where many democracies are still young, the NGO sector is often the only source of opposition to government.

"We're the groups which keep governments accountable, especially on this patriarchal continent," says Longwe. At its weekend confab, the NGO assessment of the five years since the Beijing conference found that there had been "some progress" and "considerable deterioration" for women. Armed conflict, globalisation and the absence of political will has meant that improvement in the quality of women's lives have been slow.

Poverty has increased, girl children are dropping out of school in higher numbers and unemployment has grown among women. The worst indictment has come in the NGO report card on violence on women. Instead of a steady decline, the incidence and nature of violence against women has grown more severe. The grim-reaper reads thus: "…increased femicide; acid attacks; ritual murders; gang rape; abduction; slavery; ritual rapes; sexual slavery…". The list goes on and on, backing up the NGO claim that progress has been very skewed.

Governments have scored well only conceptually, although some have also made strides in increasing the political representation of women. Three African nations- South Africa, Mozambique and Seychelles- are in the global top ten for women in parliament.

The majority of states have acceded to the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), many have platforms of action and most have their language right. "There has been peripheral success," concedes Longwe, adding that "it's not in the critical areas" like empowerment, ending violence and poverty.