I welcome you to this media briefing on the outcomes of the first National Women's Conference to be convened by the Department for Women, Children and People with Disabilities.
We have had a very successful conference. We had forecast to have about 800 women but we ended up with more than a thousand delegates due to the enthusiasm of women to participate in the discussions here. We have had women from all sectors - from labour to business women, from rural women involved in agriculture to those in informal sector, young women and those living with HIV.
At least 15 Ministers and Deputy Ministers have been here to present on the programmes of their respective departments that relate to women. Delegates had an opportunity to engage with presenters and raised pertinent gender issues relevant to each of the sectors. This afternoon we will have Honourable Deputy President Kgalema Mothlanthe delivering a closing address to the conference here.
Women at this conference have emphasised that we should focus on the issue of women economic empowerment in line with the theme for Women’s Month this year which is: “Working together to enhance women’s opportunities to economic empowerment”
Women expressed full support for the development of the Gender Equality Bill to increase women participation in all sectors of society and enforce 50/50 gender parity in key decision making positions. They made inputs into scope that this bill has to cover in order for it to effectively advance the struggle for gender equality in the country.
The conference also received a presentation on the New Growth Path which acknowledged that women were most affected by unemployment, rising up to more than 50% amongst African women in particular. Even those women who work, they are mainly in the low-paying and unsecured sectors of employment like domestic work, retail and textile industries.
It was resolved that from now on, the New Growth Path will have clear gender goals and those will be monitored and measured in the process of creating 5 million jobs over the next 10 years. Also more exciting for women economic empowerment is the report to this conference that 50% of all new loans issued by Khula Enterprise will now be allocated to women.
Furthermore, specific economic sectors identified for growth will be targeted to absorb large numbers of women. These economic sectors include the green economy, light manufacturing, tourism and hospitality and cultural activities.
Women were also encouraged to pursue opportunities in sectors where they are still severely under represented like mining (12%) and energy generation. The need to encourage girls to enroll for courses in professions where women are still under-represented was emphasised. This includes programmes like Techno Girls which provides mentorship by placing girl-learners in various companies during school holidays to gain exposure to science, technology and engineering fields.
The conference raised sharply the issue of access to land for women to engage in development initiatives. While the Green Paper on Rural Development is still subject to consideration by Cabinet, the conference expressed the need for applying gender equity measures in the redistribution of land and implementation of agricultural support programmes. The conference expressed support for the establishment of the Land Management Commission which will verify land ownership in the country and have powers to validate or invalidate land ownership.
Women were encouraged to participate in the consultations to consolidate the position of women on climate change in preparation for COP 17 to be held in South Africa in November. The conference also received a presentation on United Nations (UN) Resolution 1325, urging member states to increase women’s representation at all decision-making levels for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict.
The conference also discussed the challenge of gender-based violence which remains the most serious scourge affecting women. The conference was briefed on the efforts by SAPS to address these challenges including the establishment of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units in all the 176 policing areas. These units conduct specialised investigations in the detection of all cases of sexual offences, domestic violence and child abuse.
The conference supported the need for establishment of an advisory council to coordinate the implementation of 365 Days National Plan of Action to End Violence against Women and Children. It affirmed the need for strengthening advocacy and community awareness on gender based violence including violence against lesbian women.
The conference had a special focus on women’s health during the launch of the South African Chapter of the Decade of African Women, 2010-2020 on Sunday. The focus for the decade this year is on women’s health, maternal mortality and HIV and AIDS. Delegates themselves were encouraged to undergo HIV and other health screening. Acknowledging HIV and AIDS as a major cause of maternal deaths, the conference supported the efforts to encourage HIV testing amongst pregnant women to improve their health and to achieve zero HIV infection from mother to child through enrolment in the Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme.
Women also committed to support efforts to increase blood donations to ensure that the country has sufficient blood stock that is essential in cases of severe bleeding during delivery – which is also a major cause of maternal mortality. A number of delegates demonstrated their commitment to this campaign by donating here on site.
The conference has been a great platform for engagement on key issues affecting women of South Africa. It has provided the Department for Women, Children and People with Disabilities in particular with substantive inputs from women of South Africa. These inputs are going to assist us in carrying our task of mainstreaming and monitoring the integration of gender in all programmes of government and the rest of the society.
Thank you.
