effort to end violence against women and children
2 May 2006
The 365 Days of Action to End Gender Violence South Africans from all walks
of life will join forces at a watershed conference from 3 to 5 May, to sign a
declaration and develop a framework towards a national action plan to end
gender violence and child directed violence.
This conference emanates from an identified national need to make the 16
Days of Activism Campaign a year long initiative and will be hosted under the
theme of â365 Days of Action to End Gender Violence.â The main aim of the
conference, which will be officially opened by Deputy President Phumzile-Mlambo
Ngcuka, is to adopt and develop a comprehensive, multi sector strategy
framework towards a national plan for ending violence against women and
children.
The conference is being organised by the recently appointed convenor of the
of the 16 Days campaign in government, Deputy Minister for Provincial and Local
Government, Ms Nomatyala Hangana, leading a joint government and civil society
planning committee. The conference has also been supported by several United
Nations (UN) agencies.
A follow up to the 16 Days of Activism campaign that runs from 25 November
to 10 December, the conference, however, is being held under the banner: 365
Days of Action to End Gender Violence. Despite a progressive constitution and
laws, incidents levels of gender and child directed violence remain
unacceptably high are not declining quickly enough. Best practice from around
the world suggests that what is required to accelerate the decrease of gender
and child directed violence is a concerted, multi sector action plan with
concrete targets and measurable outputs.
The first such attempt in South Africa and in the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) region, the National Action Plan framework towards
this plan, will harness the momentum generated by a number of significant
commemorations in 2006 in this landmark year of anniversaries in which we
commemorate the 16th anniversary of the 16 Days campaign; the 10th anniversary
of the Constitution and the 15th anniversary of the march by women to the Union
Buildings on 9 August.
Making use of the âchecklist for changeâ that emerged from the 2005 16 Days
of Activism campaign, that included nation wide cyber dialogues in three
languages organised by the Government Communication and Information System
(GCIS) and Gender Links, the conference will agree on actions to be taken, time
frames, roles and responsibilities in 10 thematic areas. This road map will
enhance the annual 16 Days of Activism campaigns by showing how the commitments
will be sustained and acted upon the whole year around.
With approximately 200 participants from all spheres including national,
provincial and local government, constitutional bodies like the commission on
gender equality, civil society, the private sector, traditional authorities and
labour organisations will work on a draft national action plan to end violence
against women and children.
This will include a symbolic recommitment to the clauses in the Constitution
that affirm gender equality and the right to bodily integrity under the banner,
â10 years later: Making the Constitution work for Women and Children.â
The main work of the conference will be in the form of working groups
throughout the day on 4 May in such areas as legislation and policy; the
criminal justice system; gender violence and the work place; public education
and awareness; the media; specialised services; comprehensive treatment and
care; infrastructure and places of safety. Working groups will include panels
of experts, decision makers and practitioners chaired by senior political
representatives.
The conference is open to the media. A comprehensive programme and list of
participants, which is being updated daily for the three-day conference, can be
found at http://www.info.gov.za.
The conference details are as follows:
Venue: Kopanong Hotel & Conference Centre in Benoni
Time: 19h00
Date: 3 - 5 May 2006
For more information contact:
Bheki Nkonyane
Department of Provincial and Local Government
Cell: 082 453 8363
Janine Moolman
Gender Links
Cell: 083 324 5024
Thoko Majokweni
National Prosecuting Authority
Cell: 083 305 9639
Issued by: Ministry of Provincial and Local Government
2 May 2006
