The month of March is deemed important for the promotion and development of Human rights and gender equality rights as it stands or appears in our national calendar. The 8th of March is recognised as the International Women’s Day; coincidentally March is also commemorated and recognised as Human Rights month in South Africa. As such, we all know that women’s rights are human rights too and thus it is important for us to put on the national agenda, the “gender equality agenda”.
The year 2015 marks the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women which was Convened by UN in Beijing in 1995. The year 2015 is the year within which the fifth Ninth session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will take place at the United Nations headquarters in New York from 9-20 March 2015. The focus of the session will be on the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPFA). This is 4th review session of Beijing platform for Action and will take place twenty years after the Beijing Conference of 1995, hence it is referred to as Beijing + 20. The session will also address opportunities and challenges for achieving gender equality and empowerment of women in the post 2015 development agenda. In terms of the South African scenario, the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) recently held their national gender summit which proved to be a resounding success. In the main the summit’s purpose was to interrogate the past, reflecting on the gains and challenges of gender equality over the past 20 years of democracy. This then serves as a review of the country’s state of gender equality and it is hoped that the summit declaration could spark further discussions on similar matters at Beijing +20 review.
To fulfill section 11(1)h of the Commission for Gender Equality Act which states that the CGE shall monitor the compliance with International Conventions, International Charters, acceded to or ratified by the Republic, relating to the object of the Commission, CGE has prepared and submitted reports to parliament pertaining to the following international Instruments :-
- The Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in South Africa and this report was tabled on 27 February 2015.
- The Report of the Commission for Gender Equality on measuring South Africa’s progress under Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW was tabled on 31 October 2014)
On 3 March 2015, the Portfolio Committee on Women in the Presidency invited CGE to brief the committee on the above mentioned reports (CEDAW and Implementation of Beijing). The reports highlight challenges and successes in implementing these international Instruments. The Portfolio Committee on Women in the Presidency received the presentations of the CGE in a positive light and embraced the work that the CGE continues to do in ensuring that the status of women in South Africa remains a priority with a developmental agenda.
On 4 March2015, CGE was called again by the diverse Parliamentary Multi Party Women’s Caucus to present on whether South Africa is on cause to meet SADC Protocol on Gender and Development targets.
CGE would like to share the findings of these reports with South Africa’s public through various media platforms throughout Human Rights Month.
Enquiries:
Javu Baloyi
Cell: 083 579 3306
