The month of August is Women’s Month. South Africans will celebrate the role that women played in the attainment of democracy 20 years ago, which lead to the recognition and guaranteeing of a wide range of human rights, including gender rights, adopting a plethora of policies, legislations and programmes as well as ratifying numerous global instruments on the rights of women to gender equality.
A number of historic marches, most famously the 1956 march against apartheid dom-pas laws, bear sufficient testimony to the role women played in carrying the burden of liberating this country. Yet the struggle continues for women’s emancipation and empowerment even in the post-apartheid era due to persistent structural impediments in the way of gender equality.
Once again the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) invites South Africans from all walks of life to join hands and celebrate our country’s achievements and commitment to gender equality, while remaining vigilant of the challenges that remain intractable.
Therefore for the month of August the Commission will embark on a range of public activities to highlight issues of concern for women’s welfare, particularly around access to reproductive health services, and to focus public attention on these issues and raise awareness on the plight of women and girls in general.
The Commission will conduct a number of public activities including legal clinics to raise awareness among women and girls regarding reproductive health rights and related areas of concern. While acknowledging the work the Department of Health does to increase access to health care services, the Commission is fully aware that for the majority of women and girls in South Africa access to healthcare remains elusive.
According to the CGE Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Report of 2014 the Mortality rate among women giving birth remains unacceptably high, due to poor dissemination of vital information on family planning, nutrition, sanitation, access to contraceptives, antenatal and prenatal healthcare services. This is often compounded by limited knowledge of the health care services freely available in the public service.
The objective for the Commission is therefore to see improvements in women’s maternal healthcare services seeking behaviours and an increase in attendance to clinics for deliveries by expectant mothers, particularly adolescent first time expectant mothers at a higher risk of pregnancy complications and HIV/AIDs. The Commission is keen to addresses issues such as girl child education (i.e. enrolment, retention and completion) to delay first pregnancy and empower women to claim their right to make decisions regarding reproductive health.
CGE Women’s Month Events Calendar [pdf]
Enquiries:
Javu Baloyi
Cell: 083 579 3306
