South Africa: Gender mainstreaming work must continue

Johannesburg, 24 June: The 2015 South African Gender Protocol@Work Summit kicked off yesterday at the Kopanong Hotel and Conference Centre. Under the theme Now and Post 2015, Yes we Must, the summit- hosted by Gender Links (GL) in partnership with South African Women in Dialogue (SAWID) and South African Local Government Association (SALGA)- the summit aims to reward gender champions for driving gender equality in their organisations and communities.

At the opening ceremony, Mariatu Fonnah, Governance and Economic Justice Manager at Gender Links called the South Africa Board member and Deputy Chairperson of the Commission of Gender Equality, Thoko Mpumlwana to give the opening remarks. Mpumlwana welcomed GL's partners, Miriam Lehlokoa Executive director of SALGA, Euphodia Tlabanyane from SAWID, Suzan Chimanki of UN women and Fazia Abrahams-Smith of the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism

"It is a piece of paper, but it embraces our values as South Africans," she said holding a copy of SA's Constitution, Mpumlwana said adding that the constitution upholds human dignity, equality and non-sexism as supreme law. "We have local government elections in South Africa next year, we don't want to relax, we must work very hard for women to be in those lists in political parties", she said.

Nomthandazo Mankanaza, South Africa Alliance Coordinator at GL, presented the statics of women in government from the Gender in SA 2014 Elections report. The findings show that during the 2014 National Elections, 66% of the voters were women, yet there was a 3% drop in women's representation in Parliament, from 43% in 2009, to 40% in 2014. The proportion of women in the upper house - the Provincial Council of Provinces - has dropped from 41% in 2004, to 30% in 2009 and 28% in 2014. Women's representation in the Provincial Legislature declined from 41% to 37%.

Mankanaza echoed Mpumlwana's call to intensify the 5050 campaign to ensure women's representation increase after the 2016 Local Government elections, since there are currently only 38% women in local structures. She said that gender mainstreaming efforts must continue to ensure we achieve gender equality.

UN Women's Suzan Kimati who also spoke at the opening ceremony recognised the good work GL is going in SA and the SADC region. "I would like to appreciate Gender Links for the innovative work that they do and the partnerships they bring together to do this kind of work."

The summit not only recognises the gender mainstreaming efforts of government councils and media, but also the work people and organisations are doing to empower women and curb gender violence. During the comments and discussion session, a participant from Western Cape, who was presenting in the emerging entrepreneurship category, said she had been in an abusive relationship for ten years. She hopes to take what she learns from the summit back to her community and create awareness about gender violence.
First time judge in the media category, Refilwe Chabeli who is a freelance production manager said being a judge at the summit provides an opportunity for networking, learning and individual growth. "Judging here is a great opportunity because I get to interact with a lot of people within the gender sector and get to understand people's organisations and what they stand for," explained Chabeli.

After the opening ceremony, participants presented their work to the judges in categories, including 5050; Government; Media; Economic Justice; Climate Change; Sexual Reproductive Health Rights; HIV and AIDS; Emerging Entrepreneurs; and Gender Violence.

The presentations and judging continues today, and GL will be awarding the winners for their gender mainstreaming efforts at the closing ceremony and gala dinner this evening.

In the count down to the 2015 deadline for the 28 targets of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, the 2015 Summits present an opportunity to take stock of the progress made in attaining gender equality. The Regional Protocol@Work Summit will be held in Gaborone, Botswana, ahead of the SADC Heads of State Summit in August 2015.

This article is part of the Gender Links News Service special coverage of the SADC Gender Protocol Summits underway across the region, offering fresh views on everyday news.