N Nkonyeni: Woman in Partnership against AIDS Summit

7 August 2007

We are meeting here again today to look deeply on issues that pertain to the
welfare and survival of women of our country.

We are doing this at the most appropriate time knowing that in two days
time, on National Women's Day, we will be joining the entire nation in paying
tribute to the women of the 1950s who played a pivotal role in our struggle for
equality, freedom and peace.

Before we are engulfed and buried in tears and sorrows about the plight of
the womenfolk, I want us to recognise and pay tribute to the leadership of this
country for placing women development and empowerment issues top on the agenda.
We also have to recognise and appreciate that our country is the only one in
the whole world that has designated a holiday and the whole month just to
address women's issues.

I am highlighting this because we have a duty to jealously guard and protect
the progress already made and also to ensure that there are no reversals.

Yes, in two days time we will be meeting to recall the heroic and courageous
actions that women took on 9 August 1956, and I think it will be an opportune
time for all of us to assess the strides and progress that has been made in the
quest to realise women emancipation.

We have to agree that many important gains have been made to empower women.
A wide range of programmes pay special attention to the needs of women and
priority continues to be given to promoting women's access to economic
opportunities.

It is unfortunate that whenever we refer to the legacy of the past a lot of
people think that we do so because we like whining but the reality is that too
many women, particularly black women, still live in poverty and suffer the
consequences of underdevelopment and deprivation. Worse, too many women are
still victims of violence and abuse.

That violence, abuse and denigration are the reasons why we are today
converged to mobilise one another and strengthened Women in Partnership against
HIV and AIDS.

Our operational plan, which is in line with the national one, seeks among
other things to see to the:

* improvement of the social and economic status of women
* elimination of violence against women in conjunction with men in partnership
against HIV and AIDS.
� partnerships that ensure the involvement of all sectors including people with
disabilities, traditional leaders, faith based organisations, labour and big
business.

Fellow participants, I would like this gathering to deliberate and pronounce
on some of the things we normally take for granted on:

Disabled women

Let us face it; women with disabilities are at much greater risk of domestic
violence and abuse than their peers without disabilities. While the risk
factors are generally the same as those experienced by all women, they are
heightened by the presence of a disability. Like all victims of violence, women
with disabilities are often isolated from their families or communities. Let us
highlight their plight.

2. Women trafficking

It is crucial for everyone to understand that it is a fundamental human
right to be free of sexual exploitation in all its forms. That women and girls
have the right to sexual integrity and autonomy.

The injuries that prostituted and trafficked women suffer are same as those
experienced by any other woman: posttraumatic stress disorder, severe
depression, damage to reproductive systems, damage from sexual assault and
beatings, and sexually transmitted diseases.

What is worse is about women in this category is the isolation of the
victims; their dependence on their abusers; their difficulty in accessing
criminal justice and social service systems; and their fear of exposure to the
authorities. Let us find ways to accommodate them.

Let us also look at ways on how to help an abused woman:

* Believe her story.
* Listen and give her non-blaming advice.
* Let her know that hers is not the only relationship in which violence occurs.
At least one out of every five women in this country will experience partner
abuse.
* Let her know that she is not to blame or responsible for his behaviour. He
chose to abuse her.
* Let her know that the assault is a crime, the same as if a stranger assaults
her.
* Help her to realise that domestic violence can harm her children, fellow
compatriots, we need to continue building partnerships with big business;
government alone cannot succeed in the fight against women and child abuse as
well as in its efforts to fight against the spread of HIV and AIDS.

Last week Friday, at the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital, we accepted a generous
gift of an expanded Thuthuzela Crises Care Centre building, worth R1,2 million
from the Sibaya Casino barons. These are facilities that are intended to:

* restore dignity and ensure justice for victims of sexual violence
* help victims of sexual violence to become survivors
* provide care for the youngest victims of rape.

We all know that it is never easy for the victims to cope. Most victims as
you may understand are abused by people they are close to and as such are
imbued with fear, shame and self-loathing.

In order for us to move forward we need to accept that AIDS is not just a
health problem. It is a welfare, economic, spiritual, societal, communal,
family, and individual problem.

In this regard we are therefore correct when we use this platform as an
opportunity to report back and take stock of how far we have come. We are using
it is an opportunity to monitor each other's work, to give feedback and
evaluate what we have done as well as to plan ahead and identify what further
steps need to be taken to advance the position of women in our province.

I for one, as an MEC for Health in this province, I am now reporting on
progress on programmes that are targeting our women folk:

First and foremost we have to acknowledge that our province is the most
ravaged in terms of HIV and AIDS, TB and other debilitating diseases.

We have realised that the provision of preventive and curative health care
cannot achieve the optimal health status of our people if these are not
complemented and supplemented by other interventions, which address the issues
of poverty and poor living conditions.

I have to point out that our provincial Department of Health has adopted the
theme: "Investing in women and children secures a healthy nation" for 2007/08
and in this regard it has come up with many innovative projects that target
women especially those in the rural areas.

Fellow compatriots, please do understand that we are now unashamedly using
broad based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) as one of the key mechanisms we
have adopted to address the exclusion of black people from the mainstream
economy.

We are inviting the participants of this important gathering to make use of
the opportunities available. I have to mention that we have simplified things
and that people with no formal learning have been encouraged to use their
natural talents and have benefited from this process.

Our Department of Health is now considered the frontrunner with regard to
Targeted Enterprise Development in the province.

For the 2005/06, 147 contracts were awarded to cooperatives amounting to
R11,5 million, of which the majority were awarded to women owned
enterprises.

Some of the supplies and services that we have ring fenced for our people
are the supply and installation of curtains, supply of pyjamas, uniforms and
protective wear, body bags.

We have also made it our policy to engage local communities to be the only
ones that render the following services for us: gardening, cleaning services,
construction work, minor repairs and maintenance, amongst others. For the sake
of sustainability, we are giving out three-year contracts.

In 2006/07 the department saw a huge improvement in the awarding to
contracts to Co-operatives with an amount of R94 million covering such
contracts. The beneficiaries of the majority of these contracts were women.

For the 2007/08 financial year, projects/contracts to the value of
R51,233,896,92 have been awarded for a range to supplies and services, to
women-owned enterprises. We still have more in the pipeline.

As you deliberate, please come up with a schedule in which you would like us
to come to you areas to expatiate more on these opportunities.

Our department is serious about fighting disease, fighting poverty and
giving hope.

Phambili ngamadoda anakekela omama nobantwana!

Issued by: Department of Health, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
7 August 2007
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government (http://www.kwazulunatal.gov.za)