Honourable Minister for Women and Child Development in the Republic of India, Ms Krishna Tirath;
Honourable Minister of State of the Secretariat of Policies for Women from the Republic of Brazil, Ms Iriny Lopes;
His Excellency Ambassador Irene Vida Gala of the Republic of Brazil;
Government officials from South African, India and Brazil present here today;
Representatives of the Civil Society;
I greet you all
I welcome you all to the 2011 India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Women’s Forum. It is our honour as the government of South Africa, to receive Hon. Ms Krishna Tirath, Minister for Women and Child Development in India, and Hon. Ms Iriny Lopes, Minister of State of the Secretariat of Policies for Women of the Presidency in the Republic of Brazil.
Our gathering here today, symbolises the partnership that we have enforced in fighting against different kind of oppression that women in our respective countries and regions are subjected to on a daily basis.
We are gathered here today to reaffirm our commitment and ensure the continuous implementation of the resolutions taken at the third IBSA Women’s Forum that convened in Brazil from the 14th to the 15th of April in 2010.
This Women’s Forum in Brazil, which took place on the occasion of the fourth IBSA Summit, sought to consider the effects of violence and the economic crisis on the populations of the IBSA nations in general, and women in particular. In particular, the women recommended that the benefits of welfare and developmental schemes to a household should be routed through women, as there is evidence that cash in the hands of a woman is always spent on the welfare of the family.
The resolutions further state that as the three nations, our common task is to share expertise, experience and progress made in fostering the economic empowerment of women and gender equality. Our second task is to join in research initiatives on inclusive economic indicators, to agree on the next steps for the dissemination of the Gender Inclusive Macroeconomic Report.
Lastly, we agreed to promote the inclusion of equity and gender empowerment indicators in the agreements and strategies of all IBSA Working Groups and Forums. Women from the three nations also recommended that we strengthen the implementation of all international commitments of each country including the Beijing Platform of Action, as well as the Convention for the Eradication of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
This Women’s Forum should be regarded as a major step towards realising our vision of women economic empowerment, protection of the rights of women, and protection of the rights of children in our respective societies. We should continue to build the capacities of state and social institutions towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, especially those focused on improving the status of women.
We were tasked to also develop national programmes to reiterate the need to respect Convention No 100 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) of 29th of June, 1951, which relates to the equality of remuneration between the male and female labour force. Without going deeper into the entire 2010 Women’s Forum resolutions, I would like to also bring to your attention, that the women also recommended that we elaborate public policies that are designed to promote the equality of opportunities and treatment at the workplace.
I would like to announce that the women of South African have so far made important efforts to help this country to begin the process of working towards these resolutions and recommendations by the women of IBSA nations.
In May this year, we hosted a successful summit on Rural Women in Economic Development in Limpopo province, in which women showcased their success in farming and agriculture. These are women have to deal with lack of access to funding, financial and other resources to sustain their businesses.
Ladies and gentlemen, South Africa also hosted the first National Women’s Conference in Johannesburg, which kick-started our Women’s Month in August. The theme for this women’s conference was “Working together to enhance women’s opportunities to economic empowerment”. This theme resonates very well with one of the acknowledgements passed by the women from IBSA countries that were part of the 2010 Women’s Forum in Brazil, when they said that in order to be effective, IBSA business initiatives should be more representative of women and civil society.
In South Africa we want to take it further and say that, not only should women be given roles in men-dominated businesses, they must also start their own business and be equal partners in the determination of the economic future of our country.
Honourable Ministers, the South African government is paying full attention to the need for women economic empowerment. Our department of Economic Development has developed a New Growth Path, which is a strategy for economic development of South Africa. In our National Women’s Conference, it was resolved that 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.
As government, we are also in the process of developing the Gender Equality Bill, which will seek to increase the participation of women in all sectors of society towards attainment of 50/50 gender parity.
On the 25th of November, our country will participate in the global campaign on 16 Days of Activism for no violence against women and children. The strengthening of this annual campaign has helped in mobilising communities and change degrading attitudes towards women and children. All these are a sign, which our government is at the fore front of the fight for the protection of rights and empowerment of women and children.
As part of our efforts in the IBSA partnership, we want to reaffirm the main conclusion and the declaration of the first India-Brazil-South Africa Roundtable on Women’s Development, which took place from the 15th to the 16th of October in 2007 in Johannesburg. The conclusion highlighted the intricate linkages between macro-economic policy, gender equality and poverty eradication, and advocated for coordinated responses to tackle poverty and inequality as well as address the needs of the most vulnerable. This recognition and conclusion is of profound significance, because it came out of the launch of the IBSA Women’s Forum.
As we prepare to deliberate on these important issues today and tomorrow, let us always be reminded of the huge task and responsibility that lie ahead of us. That is the task of attaining gender equality and empowerment of women.
I would like to urge all of us, to uphold the aims and objectives of the Memorandum of Understanding, which India, Brazil and South Africa signed and entered into, which amongst many things, emphasises the need for strong cooperation amongst the three countries. This Memorandum of Understanding desires to strengthen South-to-South co-operation amongst the three countries and promote trilateral co-operation in the field of women’s development through people-to-people contact, which builds on sharing and learning amongst ourselves.
I hereby take this opportunity, to wish the Forum success in its deliberations and trust that whatever outcomes that result from your important discussions, will be in favour of the objectives of IBSA, and will be bearing the interests of women at heart. Our journey is still long, and we are certain that India, Brazil and South Africa, as emerging successful countries, will set good examples when it comes to the efforts to attain gender equality and empowerment of women.
I thank you.
