South Africa’s participation at the 59 Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York 9-20 March 2015
Acting Director-General for the Department of Women, Ohara Diseko
Senior government officials
Civil Society Organisations
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good Afternoon. Thank you for joining us today for the media briefing on South Africa’s Participation at the 59th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW59) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 09 to 20 March 2015.
The year 2015 is significant in that it marks the 20th Anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and its plan of action and as such the 59th Session will see the 20 year review of progress countries have made in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action (Beijing +20) which was adopted at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995.
South Africa’s participation takes place in the backdrop of us having celebrated our 20 years of democracy and freedom in 2014 where we took stock of the road we have travelled as a country, the gains we have made and the challenges that still confront us.
2015 is also a year during which we observe the 60th Anniversary of the Freedom Charter and in line with this important milestone, President Jacob Zuma declared 2015 the Year of the Freedom Charter and Unity in Action to Advance Economic Freedom during the State of the Nation Address (SoNA).
Accordingly the 24th AU Summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, earlier in the year, declared 2015 as the “Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063”
Fellow South Africans,
The CSW59 meeting has seen the global community fast tracking efforts towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the shaping of a post 2015 Development Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Following broader consultations we have compiled a Country Report informed by inputs from various stakeholders which reviews how far South Africa has come in advancing women issues in the last 20 years which we will be presenting at the CSW59. This report provides a comprehensive account of South Africa’s progress on critical outcomes adopted by the UN Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. It contributes to a better understanding of how gender equality and the empowerment of women can be strengthened in a Post-2015 Development Agenda. The review focuses on 12 thematic areas as enshrined in the Beijing Platform for Action, namely:
1. Women and Poverty
2. Education and Training for Women
3. Women and Health
4. Violence against Women
5. Women and Armed Conflict
6. Women and the Economy
7. Women in Power and Decision Making
8. Institutional Mechanism for the Advancement of Women
9. Human Rights of Women
10. Women and Media
11. Women and the Environment
12. The Girl-Child
The draft national report was submitted to Cabinet Committee to recommend to Cabinet to approve the report. The Cabinet Committee gave it thumbs-up. Cabinet will approve it on the 4th of March and I will table it in Parliament. For the first time after many years that we will have had a national report endorsed by Cabinet and Parliament.
The Country Report will be released in the coming week once formal depositing processes have been finalised. We will make it available on our website www.women.gov.za and various other government websites.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The CSW59 is a global policy two-week meeting that is attended by representatives of Member States, UN Entities and the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) accredited Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). The program for the meeting is divided into two distinct but interrelated sessions, namely; the high level Ministerial segment or formal CSW59 session and the NGO Forum which is in the main an informal session.
The high level Ministerial segment will dedicate time to identifying priorities for future action to realise gender equality, the empowerment of women and the human rights of women and girls. To this end, the South African delegation led by Ministers will participate in various panels where the following will be tackled:
- Making the economy work for women and girls;
- Investing in gender equality and empowerment of women;
- Transforming politics and public life to achieve gender equality;
- Accountability for realising de facto equality for women and girls; and
- Managing the transition from Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): lessons learned for gender equality from the MDGs and galvanising transformative change.
The first week (9 -13 March) of the CSW59th Session is the Official Opening and the formal session with the participation of Ministers in various panels. The second week (16 – 20 March) is mainly composed of consultation with the civil society and negotiations on possible agreed conclusions, adoption of resolutions and the Session’s political declaration.
The active participation of the Legislative sector (Parliament and Provincial Legislature), civil society and business is also a critical element of the work of the UN-CSW. These sectors have played a critical role in shaping the current global framework on women’s empowerment and gender equality: the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The South African delegation to the CSW59 is therefore composed as follows:
- The Executive
- Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women (Head of the delegation)
- Minister of Labour
- Minister of Social Development
- Minister of Small Business Development
- Minister of Science and Technology
- Minister of Environment
- Deputy Minister of Transport
- Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform
- Minister of Defence and Military Veterans
- Minister of Water and Sanitation
- Parliament (5 Members of Parliament representing both houses)
- Provinces (3 delegates each)
- Commission on Gender Equality (3 representatives)
- Civil Society Organisations and Business
- Department of Women
The arrival of Ministers and Deputy Ministers will be staggered to ensure effectiveness and efficiency of the delegation as a whole. This will also go a long way in ensuring that our participation at the UN CSW is time and cost-effective. For the first week of the CSW five (5) Ministers/Deputy Ministers plus the head of the delegation will attend and on the second week four (4) Ministers/Deputy Ministers plus the Head of the delegation will attend.
Members of the media,
Building up to the country’s participation at the CSW59 there are a number of key activities that will be taking place these are:
- On Thursday, March 5 the National Assembly will host a Parliamentary Debate on International Women’s Day which will be taking place on Sunday. This day is used globally to reflect on progress made and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.
- On Sunday, March 08 the national celebration of International Women’s Day will take place at Kwa-Langa township in the Western Cape. This will take place under the theme Women’s Rights are Human Rights: Together Moving a Non-Violent South Africa Forward. We will use this day to launch the #365Days of Activism National Dialogues. The dialogues will help us assess the real improvement in the everyday reality for the majority of women in South Africa. These will lead to the development of an annual Report on the Status of Women to be launched in August 2015.
In conclusion, it is important to emphasise that our participation at the CSW59 should not be viewed as an event but a culmination process of engagement. Our plan is to continue with the consultative processes post CSW59 to fast track the resolutions taken at the global gathering and to start preparations for the next reporting cycle. The National Dialogue will in this regard form a critical basis of further engagements with various stakeholders especially the women of this country.
I thank you.
Enquires:
Motalatale Modiba
Cell: 072 515 3022
E-mail: Motalatale.Modiba@women.gov.za
