Beijing +5 Review:

A South African Civil Society Report

Prepared by
WNC
supported by
EUFHR February 2000

OUTLINE

Acronyms

1. Introduction
2. Partnerships
3. Budgeting for the Beijing PFA Implementation
4. Background
5. International Frameworks Matrix
6. Critical Areas:

1. Women and Poverty
2. Education & Training
3. Women & Health
4. Violence against Women
5. Women and Armed Conflict
6. Women and Economy
7. Women in Power and Decision Making
8. Institutional mechanisms for the Advancement of Women
9. Human rights of Women
10. Women and the Media
11. Women and the Environment
12. The Girl Child

 

ACRONYMS

ANC Antenatal Care

BCEA Basic Conditions of Employment Act

CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Discrimination against Women

CGE Commission on Gender Equality

CSW Commission on the Status of Women

CSO Community Service Organizations

CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child

CPR Convention on Civil and Political Rights

DG Director General

DRC Democratic Republic of Congo

EEA Employment Equity Act

EUFHR European Union Foundation for Human Rights

HR Human Resources

HRC Human Rights Commission

ICESCR International Convention on Economic Social & Cultural Rights

ICPD International Conference on Population Development

ILO International Labour Organization

IMPD Institute for Multiparty Democracy

KZN KwaZulu Natal

LRA Labour Relations Act

MEC Member of the Executive Council

NGOs Non Governmental Organizations

NCOP National Council of Provinces

N.C Northern Cape

OSW Office of the Status of Women

OSDP Office of the Status of Disable People

PFA Platform for Action

RDP Reconstruction & Development Programme

SADC Southern African Development Council

SA South Africa

SANGOCO South African NGO Coalition

UN United Nations

UNEPTSA United Nations Education and Training Programme

WCEE Womens Charter for Effective Equality

WDF Womens Development Foundation

WNC Womens National Coalition

WSSD World Social Summit for Development

 

PREFACE

The report is a South African Civil Society report. For information used we are grateful for the co-operation we obtained from provincial governments (Office of the Status of Women and Departmental gender persons) as well as from national government departments gender persons.

We also recognize the participation of the Commission on Gender Equality in this process and our ongoing discussion with the Office of the Status of Women on collaboration of our efforts.

The commitment of the government to gender equality by setting up of a diverse gender machinery frameworks as a vehicle for gender mainstreaming , attest to this commitment. The civil society structures have largely been involved in all these developments. This report, therefore, is not a critical NGO shadow report but once that highlights government achievements pointing out constraints and barriers and spelling out further government commitments that the civil society expects. These are not just a wish list but commitments that different government departments are committed to. Both government and civil society commitments offer an opportunity to monitor implementation over the next five years.

WNC will continue to work towards constructive collaboration, but at the same time continue playing its role of monitoring good governance and democracy, as well as promotion of gender equality

Thandi Marah

Convenor

Womens National Coalition

 

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The WNC would like to acknowledge the financial support of R500 000.00 from EUFHR for implementation of the project. This has enabled the WNC to undertake a comprehensive review of the Beijing PFA in all the provinces, as well as in national government departments.

However, the report would not have been ready in time without the cooperation of all OSWs in the provinces, as well as officers in KZN and WC, the latter two, have no OSW. The provincial GFPs or gender officers, the national GFPs or gender officers, provincial and national NGOs and the WNC staff are all acknowledged.

Furthermore, at a national workshop to comment on the draft, held in February 2000, participants present commented comprehensively on the draft report. These comments have enriched this document and made it a truly collaborative effort. Some of Government’s further commitments have been taken from the Government report.

WNC would like to register its gratitude to all

Nomtuse Mbere

Project Co-ordinator

1. INTRODUCTION

At this time of the Beijing +5 Review, it must be stated that the SA Government did produce a simplified version of the Beijing PFA as well as a document on different national departments commitments in 1996. However, during the same period it was engaged in the process of production of its first CEDAW report to the UN, setting up and consolidating gender machineries, the OSW and the CGE.

Its energies were also concentrated on transformation of racial relations as well as integrating the historically disadvantaged into the main stream.

Gender equality as a constitutional provision, has been highlighted both in the first five years of the new democracy and in the current five years. Indeed one of the recent achievements is the Promotion of Equality and Unfair Discrimination Bill, which aims to give expression to the clause in the constitution which outlaws discrimination and aims to promote equality (including gender equality). This bill will also redress the criticism of the First CEDAW Report by NGOs that CEDAW could not be monitored effectively when it was not anchored in the legislation of the country.

This report will therefore examine what activities or projects are perceived as Beijing PFA implementation by national and provincial government departments and NGOs.

It first refers to two major aspects of the Beijing Declaration i.e. Partnerships and Budget allocation, before analyzing the implementation.

One of the partnerships is the WNC Beijing+5 Review process itself, which has been made possible through funding by the EUFHR. The process entailed workshops at provincial levels for both government and NGOs. Indeed all were done except two provincial governments. Furthermore, all national departments were targeted but it will suffice to report on those interviewed, as they constitute more than 60%. This is a good sample.

The core part of the report follows the CSW guidelines as far as it is possible, except for the sections on Partnerships, budgeting and the background.

 

 

 

PARTNERSHIPS

The Beijing Declaration encourages partnerships between governments and civil society as well as with the private sector. The following is an extract from a paper prepared for the NGO Week (September '99). It analyses how the NGOs view the partnership with these sectors.

CHALLENGES FACING THE NGO SECTOR

Partnerships with other sectors

The goal of the development NGOs, in particular, is alleviation of poverty and any partnerships with other sectors should be centered on this goal. The debate on partnerships and the form it takes should be driven by strategic and tactical options towards achieving one's goals rather than whether one can or should work with a particular sector or organization. Partnerships between different sectors will obviously raise issues related to different approaches and understanding but the partnership could afford the opportunity for these to be debated and a common approach to be developed. The focus should be on strategic partnerships. The context should be understanding that the development needs of this country cannot be met by just one sector and that the form of partnerships will differ in relation to the objective and subjective conditions within which they emerge. Partnerships with other sectors offer the NGO sector a very real opportunity for advocating its development approach and strategic vision.

Partnerships with Government

Most of the sectors have already been working in partnership with government in the past five years. There has been both problems and success stories with these partnerships. It is clear that we need to assess what has worked and not worked. More importantly we need to prioritize developing a framework for partnerships with government. This framework should be adopted by government and be made applicable to all departments and all spheres of government.

Key elements in this framework should ensure:

 

Commitment to the same goal and objectives

 

 

The partnership begins at conceptual level through to implementation

 

 

A clear understanding of each partners contribution

 

 

Proper, regular feedback and communication mechanisms

 

 

Open and equal access to information relevant and necessary for the task

 

 

The independence of each of the partners

 

 

The notion of constructive engagement and "agreeing to disagree"

 

 

Reflective and evaluation mechanisms

 

Partnerships with the Private Sector

Caution remains the defining feature of CSO's relationships with the private sector. Rightly so, this is based on this sector's very slow shift in understanding of and fully committing in practice to the developmental needs of the poor in this country. This in itself is a challenge and reason for the sector to develop strong partnerships with the private sector. The partnership could for example allow the NGO sector to influence the developmental approach of CSI programmes. The Not-for-Profit Partnership (NPP) has already successfully negotiated some partnerships with the private sector, which focus on the issue of the financial sustainability of the NGO sector such as the Benefactor bank account. It is currently exploring the notion of investment companies. The work of the NPP should be fully supported, but partnerships with the private sector should be restricted to the activities of the NPP and should be based on an ethical framework.

Partnerships with other Civil Society Organizations

The historical partnerships with organized labour, religious groupings, and community-based organizations has laid a firm enough foundation for this to continue. However, as can be seen from the past five years, the assumption that this historical basis does not require to continuously work at and further strengthen the relationship is a grave mistake. Changing conditions, changes in direction, changing leadership, etc. requires concerted effort and a dedication to strengthening these partnerships. One of the challenges is to ensure that these partnerships go beyond the national level to the local level. There are already several success stories of local level partnerships that should be replicated throughout the country. The partnerships with mass-based memberships organizations are particularly important in facilitating and strengthening community participation and ownership in development projects.

Partnerships with Donors

There has obviously been a change in the partnerships with donors. The main issue has been the shift of donor funding from CSOs for effective delivery clearly indicates, a need for donors to rethink the shifting of funding bit not in a static "either we fund government or CSO's" manner. Partnerships offers the opportunity for the funding to be allocated holistically with support to the different partners recognizing each partner's role as being equally important. The sector needs to engage with donors on funding sectors within an integrated development approach and crosscutting themes.

 

 

 

 

BUDGETING FOR THE BEIJING PFA IMPLEMENTATION

Review of the Beijing PFA implementation and government commitment is difficult without a budget set-aside for such a purpose. Yet, gender mainstreaming implies that it should not be necessary to set aside budget for promotion of gender equality. An innovative initiative is that of Womens Budget Initiative. This project analyses the departmental budgets for their gender responsiveness.

The government could state that its budget benefits women, especially access of women to health and education. Furthermore, there are specific budget allocations for the gender machineries. An analysis of the budget of R71m of the Presidency (Mail and Guardian November 5 to 11 '99) shows that the OSW is allocated only R2.7m compared to O.S.D.P with R3.3m and Youth Commission at R8.6m. The Child Rights component only R667 000,00. Depending on how much the R8.6m for the Youth Commission benefits the Girl Child, it could be concluded that R667 000,00 is inadequate for promotion of gender equality at this level. The R2.7m allocated to OSW is a mere 3.8% of the R71m, which is the Presidency allocation.

The other gender machinery, CGE, was allocated R2.7m in it’s first year, this was increased to R10.6m by the Department of Justice in 1999 after some protest and lobbying. Most of its other resources are from donors. In contrast the Human Rights Commission was allocated R6m in its first year. The CGE commissioners earn less than the HR commissioners. In the review of CEDAW implementation, the omission of a budget for its implementation was noted by the NGOs as well. No budget was allocated for the implementation of the Beijing PFA

The government could argue that besides the allocation to gender machineries, national and provincial departments budgets benefit women. However, it has been difficult to measure this as most of these did not have gender desegregated data nor information on the gender impact of their projects.

It is stated in the section on partnerships that less funding is going to NGOs. It is then clear that budgeting for promotion of gender equality is falling in between the cracks.

Besides the budgeting benefiting women directly or indirectly, the Beijing Declaration calls on government to set aside a budget for implementation of the Country Beijing PFA Plans of Action. None of this has occurred. Even for CEDAW implementation, state parties are enjoined to set aside a budget for this, yet SA has up to now, not set aside a budget. The consequences of this is that civil society are unable to monitor how much financial resources are committed to promotion of gender equality.

BACKGROUND

The first five years of the Beijing PFA has coincided with the first five years of democratic governance in SA. This was characterized largely by policy and legislative focus and the creation of the institutional and legislative framework within which effective governance and delivery could take place. Partnership were created with bilateral donors, UN agencies, international donor agencies and or NGOs. The SA Civil Society played a critical role in developing some of the policies and legislation currently in place.

The second democratic election in June 1999 has confirmed the commitment of South Africans to the transformation of their country. Government has expressed focus on delivery over the next five years. The challenge is to test existing policies through implementation and delivery and to refine them as necessary.

The focus in the first five years was also for the government to commit itself to international frameworks, declarations and conventions. Indeed government has moved swiftly on this and continues to do so. The challenge in promotion of gender equality is how to mainstream these international commitments. The matrix below is an attempt to illustrate how a few of these, with particular relevance to the advancement of the position of the woman and girl child, can be used as a monitoring framework, and how their provisions, with reference to each critical area of concern can be used together. In other words, it would be easy to monitor all in respect to one area.

5. INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORKS MATRIX

BEIJING PFA	AFRICA PFA	CEDAW	ICCPR	CRC	ICESCR	CEDAW	RSA	OTHER
1.poverty	A, E, B, D	Articles 11, 13, 14, 16		Articles 26, 27	9,11		RDP WCEE 4,5	WSSD ICPD
2.Education and training		Article 10		Articles 6, 23, 28, 20	13,14		RDP WCEE	WSSD ICPD
3. health		Articles 11,12 rec:15, 16		Articles 6, 23, 24		3(f)	WCEE, Health Charter, RDP	WSSD ICPD
4.gender-based violence	G	Rec:12,14	7	Articles 19, 32, 34, 35, 37		2b 4 (g)	RDP WCEE 10	SADC declaration
5. women & conflict			13,20	Articles 3, 10, 11, 22
6. women & economy	A	Articles 4, 11, 13, 14	22	Article 32	6,8	3g	RDP WCEE 3	WSSD ICPD ILO conventions
7. women and decision making	A, F	Articles 7,8,15	16,25				RDP WCEE 7
8. institutional mechanism		Article 2
9.human rights	G	Articles 3 & 15	3,24	Article 2, 4, 13, 14, 15, 16, 37, 38	3	3e	RDP WCEE 2	WSSD ICPD
10. media	J	Article 5		Article 17			WCEE 12
11.environment		Article 14					RDP	Agenda 21 WSSD
12. girl child	K	Article 9,10,11,12,13	24	Article 1, 2, 7, 8, 28	13,14,28		Childrens charter

 

CRITICAL AREAS

A WOMEN AND POVERTY

Examples of successful policies, programmes, and projects indicating any targets met related to achievements	Examples of obstacles encountered or lessons learnt	Commitment to further action
GOVERNMENT Research undertaken which clearly demonstrates the rural and gender aspects of poverty The job summit and commitment of government to create jobs and the creation of a fund for this are an innovative approach	Negative effects of globalization and lack of employment together with low levels of education and health will continue to impede poverty reduction programmes	Intersectoral collaboration in government should be made a reality Partnership between NGOs and government should be encouraged Women structure to monitor use of funds allocated for poverty reduction in order to prevent misappropriation Change mindset amongst women who believe self employment is not employment "Devise Gender Sensitive indicators for the national poverty programme Conduct national service delivery campaigns" on the basis of Batho Pele "People First" Policy
Integrated rural approach is still not fully embraced by all government departments. Law and policies to alleviate poverty are in place	Departments still plan sectorally Lack of infrastructure still a problem for service provision
Decentralization to local authority will underpin poverty reduction programmes Schools nutrition programme	Lack of expertise and capacity to implement poverty reduction programmes at local government level
Several programmes/projects have been initiated poverty fund – Landbank, a useful initiative flagship programme by the Department of Welfare labour intensive programmes through the Department of Public works Partnership with UN Agencies and from some bilateral donors on projects on sustainable livelihoods	Not all officials know about it or how to access it Rural poor still depend on pensions and remittances The latter is lessening due to retrenchments Financial support is unknown to rural areas Delays in implementation of policies for poverty alleviation Land Bank not accessible to rural women
CIVIL SOCIETY HRC CGE and Sangoco, WNC facilitated rural poverty hearings which helped to put face to poverty Trade Unions committed their members to a days salary contributed to a special fund for employment creation as a commitment to the Job Summit recommendations WNC contributes to policy development at NEDLAC Development Chamber Trade Unions to use its strength to raise productivity Five SA civil society organizations won World Bank prizes for their poverty alleviation projects during the WSSD+5 Review in N.Y.	Follow up on these is crucial Civil society organization to summarize and simplify document and legislation Without technical expertise programmes collapse even to organizations that are funded.

 

 

B. EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Examples of successful policies, programmes, and projects indicating any targets met related to achievements	Examples of obstacles encountered or lessons learnt	Commitment to further action
GOVERNMENT Free Primary School Education within curriculum 2005 framework Policy and legal framework has been provided Government and UNETPSA partnership has ensured teaching of maths and science to secondary school pupils in rural areas tutoring biology, maths, physics to standard 9 - 10 adults are given opportunities to complete their senior secondary education Life skills training especially for HIV-AIDS and conflict resolution is taught together with CRC workshops in schools Specific professions are targeted e.g. training in mineral laws, mining rights training women in electrical engineering (refer women and the economy) Partnership with the Department of Arts, Science & Technology in declaring 1998 a Science & Technology Year arrange science camps for girls in service training for educators Gender equity is the stated policy for the Department of Education Some provinces are beginning to apply this policy in ensuring that they obtain gender-responsive learning materials Partnership with UNICEF by some of the provinces has resulted in gender training of Department staff and educators development of gender responsive logical framework plans in Educare, Curriculum Development, Learning materials etc. development of a gender policy in NP gender training of educators in HIV-AIDS Policy on HIV-AIDS for educators and learners Sexual harassment programmes at schools DOE nine priority plans although not gender sensitive if implemented will benefit women also Culture of learning teaching and service (COLTS) is promoted Multi year implementation plans target 50% women in ABET programmes Government has enacted several acts which will transform education, but these are not necessarily gender sensitive. Amongst these are SASA (1996) National Education Act (1996) HEA (1997) FETA 1998 Gender Equity structures have been established as an outcome of the GETT Report Some provinces e.g. Northern Province have developed Gender policies	Inadequate infrastructure provision Majority of educators inadequately trained to cope with the transformed education approach Racism still exists in some schools Security in schools a problem for educators and learners - gender based violence (rape) and sexual harassment especially for girls and intimate femicide Traditional attitudes still persist for exclusion of pregnant girls from school Recruitment of educators has been decentralized to SGB's whose members are mostly men who find it difficult to recruit women as heads Less educators trained to teach science subjects Gender stereotyping in curriculum Gender stereotyping in career advice DOE Nine Point Plan is gender-blind Free education does not guarantee that girls and boys have access to education Early school drop out by girls can be due to poverty Educators are not yet transformed in relation to gender sensitivity Gender advocacy should be carried throughout the system Training on gender sensitivity and mainstreaming is essential for all management and non-management staff and for all educators	NINE POINT PLAN Reduce illiteracy amongst youth and adults in 5 years Turn schools into centres of community life End conditions of physical degradation in schools Develop the professional quality of the teaching force Implementation of OBE Creation of a vibrant further education and training system to equip youth and adults to meet the social and economic needs of the 21st century Implementation of a rational seamless higher education system that grabs the intellectual and professional challenges facing SA in the 21st century Ensuring that provincial systems work by making co-operative government work Prioritize policy development for school sports which include both curricular and extra curricular codes for girls and adolescents Establish norms and standards for Teacher Education Provide child-care facilities at work Develop a school-based programme on sex-based and gender-based harassment and violence against girls and women

 

 

C. WOMEN AND HEALTH

Examples of successful policies, programmes, and projects indicating any targets met related to achievements	Examples of obstacles encountered or lessons learnt	Commitment to further action
SA constitution enshrines reproductive rights, consider sexual and reproductive health as human rights to which both women and men are entitled Policy has been developed to put into effect the constitutional provision that "everyone has a right to bodily and psychological integrity"; "everyone has the right to have access to health care services including reproductive health, sufficient food and water, social security" Policy proposals articulated in these areas are anchored with the PHC framework and the District Health System Free health for pregnant women and children under 6 years Sexual and reproductive rights are promoted Reproductive health education programmes These government policies are further complemented by international instruments e.g. CEDAW, Beijing PFA, Cairo PFA Community service for doctors and pharmacies Partnerships are ongoing with UN agencies, Kellog Kaiser Foundation USAID and other bilateral donors LEGAL VIEW Legislation has been reviewed or formulated to benefit women. Some examples are Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act 1997 Notification of maternal mortality Free prescreening for cervical cancer for women 40+ years Sterilization Act in 1998 for anyone over 18years without requiring partners consent Schools Health Promotion Programme department helps disabled people to access wheel chairs Governance Act HIV-AIDS It is estimated that as much as 20% of economically active may be HIV-AIDS positive by 2000, and currently about 45% of miners are infected The government has embarked on numerous HIV-AIDS awareness strategies These target youth, traditional healers, rural communities, business, religious groups etc. Specific programmes are in place Presidential lead projects. HIV-AIDS National HIV-AIDS council Life skills training in schools An HIV-AIDS Directorate in the Department of Health, Research on vaccines and drugs including AZT Regulation of Traditional Leaders CIVIL SOCIETY HIV-AIDS Several NGOs have lobbied, and have advocacy and awareness projects. Amongst the successes are NACOSA Plan 1994 Partnership Against Aids Recognition of voluntary disclosure and People Living with HIV-AIDS Some rape victims do get AZT now The AZT controversy has challenged government and research institutions to finalize the strategy of whether pregnant women will get AZT or not	Gender inequality affects the ability of women to participate equally in sexual relations to have equal say in contraceptive use or non use, in making decisions about the timing of pregnancy and births and in enjoying sexual relations, without fear of infection There is still inadequate public education Health services not youth friendly Domestic violence is not yet acknowledged as a public health issue There is inadequate pre and post counseling services for termination of pregnancy Conscientious objection to undertaking the procedure for termination of pregnancy by health workers limit access for rural women. This is being obviated by training of midwives to do the procedure Pregnant women are still the target for HIV-AIDS prevalence testing. Considering that, in general women, are victimized, testing of them alone and not their partners can be considered as secondary victimization Policies are good, concerns are around delays in implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the impact of the policies Getting men to be involved is difficult Negative attitudes towards HIV-AIDS prevention e.g. use of condoms Access to distribution centres in rural areas       Partnership against HIV-AIDS was not consultative enough Government is defensive on the HIV-AIDS issue While AZT may be given during ANC what happens post-natally has not been considered Inadequate facilities for Termination of pregnancy which still drives women to back street abortion Inadequate services to counsel women Civil society constraints include High competition between NGO and private sector Poor representation of HIV-AIDS NGO in the HIV-AIDS council	Gender within the curriculum of health professionals Commit to youth friendly facilities "Clean out administrative bottle necks to increase output" Advocacy for acceleration of clinic building programme Allocate more healthcare staff in rural areas Address behaviour of health personnel and launch patient’s charter Establish AIDS training and information centres ATIC in rural areas’

 

 

D. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Examples of successful policies, programmes, and projects indicating any targets met related to achievements	Examples of obstacles encountered or lessons learnt	Commitment to further action
SA has the highest incidence of gender-based violence, specifically rape. This has fostered partnerships between government and civil society Legal reform underpins the strategies for prevention of violence against women. The Department of Justice and Welfare are lead agents A national network on violence against women was established with government and NGOs in this sector. This has been on the forefront of one stop centres at police stations information centres campaigns during Womens Day and 16 days of activism by all government departments, provinces, NGOs etc advocacy to demonstrate unhappiness with administration of Justice, inadequate sentences, censorship of adverts The establishment of Victim Empowerment Programmes even in schools Legal Literacy on Domestic Violence Act, Sexual Offences Act Training of police and magistrates on family violence Recent partnership with some males and some perpetrator programmes are innovative projects spearheaded by NGOs Partnership with CGE and WNC in advocacy e.g. at the Commonwealth Summit in October 1999 Inter-departmental committee on domestic violence involvement of National Crime Prevention Strategy SA Government was instrumental in having a SADC workshop on violence against women which led to the SADC Declaration on Violence against Women Media has highlighted the problem and Soul City Multimedia programme is an innovative approach There are innovative programmes involving men who are trained by NGOs like,ADAPT and Ilitha Labantu Some men have come up in men’s marches or TV against VAW	Lack of desegregated statistics e.g. domestic violence still classified as crime and femicide as murder Laws are made without inadequate beneficiary contribution. This leads to secondary victimization Laws are made without providing facilities or rules and regulations Government has not done enough to curb witch burning (in some provinces). This practice targets mostly women There is no budget for prevention of Family Violence Inadequate provision of shelter Lack of focussed implementation of Vienna PFA CEDAW CRC Beijing PFA While there has been advocacy by many structures, there has been less advocacy by HRC in terms of connecting the high incidence of violence against women as a Women's Human Rights Issue The controversy on AZT requires thorough research so that those raped can access AZT immediately The controversy on the accuracy of rape statistics should not be allowed to cloud the high and unacceptable rape statistics The rate of rape should be an indicator of gender equality Those who rape and kill their partners should receive severe sentences as ridiculously low sentences make a mockery of the law No follow up on commitments No sustainability of NGOs No rehabilitation of offenders Women lack access to legal aid on VAW Lack of government funded resources in rural areas	"Assist SADC Gender Unit to ensure successful implementation of the addendum Use accountability framework and annual review meetings to facilitate sustainable integrated strategies aimed at ending gender violence Enact and implement new sexual offences legislation to effectively deal with rape and related offences Enact and implement Juvenile Justice legislation also covering violation of he girl child by the boy child"

E. WOMEN AND ARMED CONFLICT

Examples of successful policies, programmes, and projects indicating any targets met related to achievements	Examples of obstacles encountered or lessons learnt	Commitment to further action
GOVERNMENT Attempts by Government to deepen democracy through fair elections at national and local government levels by Strengthening of community policing and encouragement of women to be active, arm caches in KZN were exposed Support given by SA Defence, Free State provincial government to lessen effects of Lesotho conflict especially on women Commitment to peace promotion in KZN by both ANC and IFP to prevent violent political conflict which leaves women bereaved through death of husband and or sons mostly, but specifically to women and children Involvement of SA Defence Force in peace keeping in DRC and the Lake Regions as well as within SADC The Justice Act has been reformed to recognize unions The Defence Department played a part in influencing Kenya to allow married women into the military Department has conducted surveys in attitudes on employment equity. Women in combat and abuse of women CIVIL SOCIETY Some NGOs IIMSA and IMPD continue to mediate in conflict resolutions ANC and IFP Peace Agreement will result in tolerance and peace in communities Umtapo Centre KZN has played an active role in promoting peace education the UN of Youth Foundation Conference was attended by a SA female youth it has initiated national youth clubs in schools peace education, and youth peace centres Community Peace Education has provincial focus and 6 provinces have been covered Lulthuli – Tutu Peace Awards had their first recipients in 1998 for grades 11 – 12 and 9 – 10 It promotes the UNESCO Manifesto 2000 for culture of peace and non-violence Peace keeping committees exist Involved in Africa 2000 youth conference	Peace should be developed within an environment of poverty reduction, of an investment climate that benefits households and is gender responsive Media reporting portrays women as victims Illiteracy of women is a barrier	A clear definition of peace in terms of culture, social and economic experiences Restorative justice will enhance the peace process

 

 

F. WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY

Examples of successful policies, programmes, and projects indicating any targets met related to achievements	Examples of obstacles encountered or lessons learnt	Commitment to further action
GOVERNMENT Legal Reform has improved the conditions of employment of workers particularly women. Amongst the progressive laws are the LRA, BCSEA, AA and EEA. This means that women can advance into senior management and enjoy fair labour practices The Small Business Act has enabled access to credit, accelerating these with many schemes e.g. Ntsika, Khula and others The National Empowerment Fund Ventures Trust is a leg of the National Economic Forum which is a drive to widen and deepen the process of empowerment of historically disadvantaged (including women). This process is anchored in the National Empowerment Act of 1999. The Ventures Trust provides seed capital and start up funding to promote the previously disadvantaged into main stream economy. Training in business skills and technology does take place In 1999 Eskom has put aside R5m to train female engineers. The target is 1000 females It facilitates a technology enhancement programme Has a leadership development programme for 300 middle level managers Has established a work life programme for women managers to be more career self-reliant. Of 1000 targeted for this programme 50% are to be women Trasnet has a training project for female pilots DTI, DACST and CSIR have a TWIB project with a subproject focusing on the girl child call Technogirl. These will ensure that women are able to access the technology/business field Globalization has opened up some opportunities for women Social security grants have been made accessible to all those previously excluded Government programmes on Best Female Farmer (held annually) encourage female entrepreneurship Within the provinces, for example the Mpumalanga Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) had about R2.5 billion committed to 15 projects and about 3,000 jobs created but a small number of this were accessed by women Unpaid labour is factored into the national accounts Research on time use currently being conducted by SSA and CASE Development of the Elective Learning areas (agriculture, tourism and agrotechnology) CIVIL SOCIETY The main programmes are The Womens Budget Initiative, initiated by IDASA, which analyses the gender-responsiveness of government budget this has become so popular that a number of SADC countries and some Asians have requested training and are being trained by it Advocacy for cancellation of apartheid debt. This is led by the Anglican Archbishop of SA and some NGOs As part of the international debt forgiveness campaign USA, some European countries and the UK have written off previous debt as a response Advocacy continues for minimum wage for domestic workers.(These have progressive labour conditions now) and farm workers The SABC Lebone "Women on the move" programme role models successful women, most of who are in business Women in mining, women in construction, women in jewellery making, women in investment schemes e.g. Whiphold, Nozala Several NGOs target support for SMMES eg. WDB, NAWBO Small businesses have gone online now. SMMEs and small offices, home office users (SOHOs) can access internet. Postnet partnered by Standard Bank offers a comprehensive service "Bizznet" and Internet Kiosks in Postnet outlets will allow unconnected SMMEs access to their email and browse the Internet, thereby creating a local SMME hub that features advice, news and searchable company listing. Free workshops to introduce SMMEs to online trading Some Women Empowerment groups have mushroomed, one Whiphold has even listed on the Stock Exchange	Information is still inadequately disseminated The attitudes of finance institution officers still reflect patriarchy   Education institutions have not changed with the times. There is still a lot of stereotyping of females into so called traditional roles   Poor involvement of women in budgetary process including economic processes Issue of unpaid labour has not been addressed   The negative side is that the Textile industry which is heavily populated by women is the one affected negatively by globalization. Globalization, can however, not be wished away. The challenge is to transform it to be people centered and sustainable by ensuring that it has three components, environment, economic and social sustainability and to understand it’s main aspects i.e. Trade, Investment, Finance and Technology GEAR has failed women dismally in addressing the social component there is more emphasis on global Economic illiteracy of women has not been addressed Poor understanding of economic processes at global and national level Shortage of financial schemes for women at both global and national levels. Criteria set to access these still male biased Economic agenda still being perceived and pursued as a male issue Challenges include Commitment of more economic resources to gender issues Engage global financial institutions to further commit to gender equality Commitment to stringent practical implementation of policy related to domestic workers, to improve their lot Establish economic monitoring and evaluation structure for gender issues Engender Nedlac’s agenda   Training on computers and internet is still for a privileged few, and thus while online service is a great advance, women SMMEs especially from previously excluded groups will lag behind for sometime   Some women groups who were part of minority share holders may be disadvantaged when the major empowerment groups begin to un-bundle are likely to suffer	"Desegregate benefits according to race and gender for annual reporting developing unit standards for accreditation of training and recognition of prior learning investigate social security requirements for people with disabilities"   Civil Society committed itself to Form an economic cluster Engage with the Trade agenda Engender Nedlac’s agenda

 

 

G. WOMEN IN POWER AND DECISION MAKING

Examples of successful policies, programmes, and projects indicating any targets met related to achievements	Examples of obstacles encountered or lessons learnt	Commitment to further action
GOVERNMENT quota system promulgated by ANC 30% of women in parliament in the 1999 election 29.8% of parliamentarians are women women make an impressive 38.9% of ministers and deputy ministers 14 ministers (53.8%) have women in one of the top two positions both speaker and deputy in parliament are women speaker in NCOP is also a women deputy governor of the Reserve Bank is a woman DOE increased from 11% to 34% of women in broad management positions	the quota system has not been translated to such gains at provincial level even though ANC controls 7 of the 9 provinces there are very few female MEC's the representivity is worse at local government level the increased number of women as ministers has not necessarily transferred itself to challenging power relations or commitment to transforming inequitable gender relations there is still one women Premier of the nine provincial Premiers	50% quota representation of women in the local government election in 2000 promised by ANC "to reach the government target of 30% of women in all areas of education"
partnerships have been created between donors and NGOs for training of women to be in decision making eg. role of WDF, GAP and Basimanyane
The CGE continues to monitor this and has commissioned innovative research. Analysis of female representivity in private sector companies	Disadvantages experienced by women in the education systems i.e. stereotyping them has continued to ensure that there is an inadequate pool to promote from	The EEA will ensure that representivity is reached
CIVIL SOCIETY Several civil society structures and gender activists have trained civil servants at national, provincial, and local spheres as well as private and parastatal sectors, trade Unions and NGOs in various aspects of gender mainstreaming Male Gender training has also been offered

H. INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN

NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 1. An under resourced OSW placed at the Presidency exists 2. Few government departments have designated gender officers, or units, others have gender focal points. Gender work is an added on 3. DOE developing a handbook on mainstreaming	the gender policy has not been released as yet. This restricts department and provinces most are at lower levels, Deputy Directors Location of most of the units is inappropriate as it is not at DG level - therefore they lack influence Some have gender policies
PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT With the exception of 2, all have OSW's. Two have MEC's at Premiers level with executive responsibility for gender Most provincial departments have no gender officers or units. Some have gender focal points whilst others have no gender visibility at all	With proper location gender issues have moved e.g. N.C Political commitment is very important as gender can be mainstreamed even without an OSW. KZN has demonstrated this Lack of human and financial resources is the main obstacle Lack of gender competency for some Lack of gender policies
LOCAL GOVERNMENT The SALGA has its own gender unit It trains women councillors in gender sensitivity	Intervention on gender issues with traditional authorities poses interesting challenges
PARLIAMENT Women MP's at both national and provincial levels a committee on monitoring the quality of life of women exists and is very active in monitoring promotion of gender equality EXTRA PARLIAMENTARY CGE This is a body with wide ranging powers to promote and monitor gender equality and is independent of government CIVIL SOCIETY SANGOCO Has a women sector WNC Has 102 NGO affiliates and interacts in partnership with OSW and CGE in some matters. Represents women’s interest in NEDLAC	Its independence can be perceived to be compromised by its budget being from the Department of Justice   Lack of effective participation by women means gender equality issues are not vigorously promoted Lack of finance and HR capacity means it has constraints in its co-ordination role
COSATU Has a gender unit and even some of the other Trade Unions have	Women are still not represented adequately at the decision making level

 

I. HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN

Examples of successful policies, programmes, and projects indicating any targets met related to achievements	Examples of obstacles encountered or lessons learnt	Commitment to further action
GOVERNMENT Human rights for all citizens are entrenched in the constitution. These are further complimented by the governments ratification of International Human Rights instruments The Bill of Rights specifies that there will be no discrimination based on gender and other attributes In order to put effect to this, the Human Rights Commission was set up to monitor human rights infringements while the CGE is for promotion of gender equality An anti-discrimination Bill has been presented to parliament. This will ensure that CEDAW has a legislature anchor in SA The HRC has had successes with reversal of discrimination on schools based on race, retention of pregnant girls, human rights of immigrants and prisoners The constitutional court upholds citizens constitutional rights Within government the Department of Justice is responsible for formulation of HR legislation or for reform of such, as well as implementing some of the Human Rights programmes Chapter 9 institutions TRC Constitutional and Human Rights education are incorporated with curriculum 2005	Operationalization of human rights provision is a problem No interaction between political leaders in parliament and grassroots The HR commission has limited budget which it obtains from the Department of Justice The unacceptable high incidence of gender-based violence, however, means that the majority of women in SA have had their human rights transgressed The high rate of poverty amongst in particular rural women and female headed households also means that the human rights under the SECR are not protected Aspects of customary law and negative traditional practices also have an impact on Women’s Human Rights Inadequate reparation of apartheid atrocity victims

 

CIVIL SOCIETY There are several NGOs working within the Human Rights sector. These include University Human Rights Centres, Legal Resource Centres, Legal Resource Boards and Advice Centres throughout the provinces Most donors support human rights activities usually under the sector of Good Governance and Democracy NGOs have been active in formulating public education programmes on CEDAW CRC, while also ensuring government ratifies others like SECR, CPR and ILO Conventions They are the barometer on measuring the advancement of human rights advocacy, lobbying or monitoring especially on sexual and reproductive rights, violence against women and human rights of people with disabilities Human Rights of people with HIV-AIDS are protected through several legislative pieces e.g. LRA, BCEA EEA, Occupational Health and Safety. Rights to confidentiality, pre-employment HIV-AIDS Test is no longer a requirement.

J.WOMEN AND THE MEDIA

Examples of successful policies, programmes, and projects indicating any targets met related to achievements	Examples of obstacles encountered or lessons learnt	Commitment to further action
GOVERNMENT The government has recently set up its own communication agency, the Broadcast complaints commission and Press ombuds person Department have communication Directorates. Some have been given to profile women but there is inadequate analysis of where departments are in promotion of gender equality DOE officer trained by UNESCO in media and technology The Department of Information and Broadcasting does not monitor gender stereotyping in broadcasting or in the media Statutory Bodies Both the HRC and CGE have been active in ensuring that media promotes equality. In particular, HRC, has had a research done on these issues CIVIL SOCIETY There are media watch organizations with varying successes. These were successful, together with CGE in overturning the ban on an anti rape advertisement SABC Gender desk being set up – objective is internal transformation Womensnet ensuring access to gender information Media monitoring project – monitors position of gender in media Community radio being used as a vehicle to raise gender issues Soul City an initiative in bringing gender issues through drama, TV, radio and newspaper sensitizing journalists and the population on VAW Training programme for journalists in reporting of gender-based violence Mainstream media is improving in quality content and nature of coverage of VAW	Initiatives of women and media during the Beijing process has not been sustainable, however, it is still unclear how gender sensitive these are likely to be, or whether gender activists can freely access these Women’s fear of technology Media still male dominated Lack of awareness of the power of media for effective communication Lack of monitoring of media content Women’s position in the media still not being advanced Women’s voices and opinions still regarded as "soft" news

 

 

K. WOMEN AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Examples of successful policies, programmes, and projects indicating any targets met related to achievements	Examples of obstacles encountered or lessons learnt	Commitment to further action
GOVERNMENT The lead department is that of Water Affairs and Forestry Annual Tree Planting ceremonies in 1999 opposite Regina Mundi Catholic Church, Soweto epitomizing the struggle against apartheid SA signatory to the convention on Promotion of the use, Stokpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti Personnel mines and their destruction Destruction of stockpile - witnessed by media and civil society Working for water – empowerment of people specifically targeting women to improve quality of the water by removing invasive vegetation from the country's river networks using labour intensive methods Rehabilitation of degraded land with strong emphasis on Land Care by the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs secures sustainable productivity of land The SA Energy policy promotes implementation of efficient measures through the sustainable Energy & Development Programme Some conventions have been ratified by the department Population policy is in place Encourage Eco-Tourism CIVIL SOCIETY Partnership with civil society by government has had a positive spin off SA campaign to ban on landmines has been so successful that it has been reconstituted as Mines Action Southern Africa to encourage regional partnerships Advocacy for countries affected by large dams with landless farm workers losing their livelihoods, particularly women. Partnership with World Commission on Dams. The SA former Minister of Water Affairs is Chairperson Working for water project Benefits rural poor, especially women Water security is increased The conservation of bio-diversity and integrity and reduction in frequency and intensity of fires and floods benefits rural women who depend on wood for energy Government has gone into partnership with NGOs aligned with RDP to provide childcare for workers. Toys are made from cleared alien wood. Encourage and strengthen partnership between traditional and Western medicine	SA is one of the top 20 polluters as it emits green house gas. It should take greater cognizance of global impact High demand for water both in urban and rural areas Monitor use of traditional sources materials for Crafts There is inadequate research and marketing of appropriate energy saving devices/equipment People are unaware of these conventions Not effective as population is still growing Communities are still not benefiting sufficiently from Eco-Tourism                           Encourage recognition of traditional medicine and discourage misuse	Plans for a Forest of Remembrance in Soweto Implementation of agenda 21 prevention activities

 

L. THE GIRL CHILD

Examples of successful policies, programmes, and projects indicating any targets met related to achievements	Examples of obstacles encountered or lessons learnt	Commitment to further action
EDUCATION The gender equity policy implies non discrimination of girls due to pregnancy Encouraging them to take maths and science subjects Obtaining gender sensitive learning materials OTHER GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS Continued implementation of NPA, CRC	Attitude of educators and male learners have not changed in terms of stereotyping girls - retention still a problem Schools unsafe in particular for girls due to distance traveled, rape by educators and male learners, sexual harassment and intimate femicide	Encourage participation of girls in SGB’s Department of Education committed to gender equity DACST promotes maths and science and will continue to do so in partnership with civil society Gender sensitive career guidance in ECD and Primary School
HEALTH Girl children benefit from the free ante-natal care Life skills training on HIV-AIDS Reproductive rights health policy includes legal reform	More vulnerable to HIV-AIDS infection which is growing FGM in some provinces Adolescent health still lagging behind No concerted school health education focus	Training of Health workers on issues of teenage pregnancy and contraception Less glamourization of HIV-AIDS. This should be a continual campaign Research on FGM
TRADITIONAL PRACTICES Contralesa is training on gender issues	FGM in some provinces and an increase in Virginity testing Early marriages Incest Rape by relatives, educators and male learners Work overload, and continued deputizing for mothers	Contralesa to undertake gender-training and human rights training
CIVIL SOCIETY Post Beijing 2 national workshops in partnerships with UNICEF were done a girl child compared to the boy child situation analysis in 3 provinces was done WNC has a project supported by UNICEF on National Girl Child Alliance SADC Girl Child Alliance Development of Gender responsive curriculum with universities Training of educators in CRC and CEDAW with particular reference to girls	No funding to maintain the momentum Implicit rejection on the focus on the girl child alone Legal exclusion of girl children and disabled girls from their democratic right on voting	Documentation will be developed for it to inform both a national and SADC strategy Continued Partnership with UNICEF, DACST, DTI, DEM, CSIR and SADC Gender Desk
ECONOMY Some girl children are being prepared by the JET and Youth Commission for entrepreneurship and for apprenticeship The DACST together with DTI and CSIR are promoting the concept of "Technogirl" this prepares girl children to access technology studies, experiment and be involved in income activities derived from science and technology Child labour still practiced Child prostitution	Lack of access to science and technology in rural areas Some are still overworked to access these opportunities Some continue to be employed in farms even though there are laws against child labour Still exploited as sex commercial workers and sex slaves	Promotion of Technogirl both in and out of school Department of Justice SANPS, NCRC and Department of Welfare to eradicate child labour Above departments to monitor child prostitution
DECISION MAKING Several provincial legislative have facilitated mini parliamentary debates, where girl children voiced their concern and what they would do to improve the situation
SPORTS AND RECREATION Government encourages girls to participate in non traditional sports Youth Commission Its policies are not necessarily gender-responsive GIRL CHILD AND MEDIA	Some are beginning to take part in cricket and soccer but there is still a long way to go Girls in tourism in NW Weak communication of Girl Child issues nationally in the media	Junior sports and recreation policy Ensure inclusion of girls sport in sporting codes   Monitor stereotyping of the Girl Child Improve communication