The Debut of the Boys’ Assembly leads to the first National Men’s Parliament to take place in the Western Cape in November
South Africa’s first National Men’s Parliament will take place in November this year as a result of a number of Government programmes including the first official Boys’ Assembly.
Hosted by the Department of Social Development in partnership with the South African National Aids Council (SANAC) and the Men’s Sector under the Takuwani Riime campaign, the Boys Assembly took place in Gauteng on 20 October, 2018.
The Assembly, which was launched as a result of sentiments shared by young boys at the Men’s Summit held as part of the Men Championing Change Campaign in August, served as a build up to the first National Men’s Parliament which will happen over two days from 18 November 2018.
On 18 October, the Limpopo Provincial Government in partnership with Takuwani Riime hosted the Limpopo Men’s Parliament at the Lebowakgomo Legislature.
The Deputy Minister of the Department of Social Development, Mrs Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, announced that she would also propose that the Boys Assembly forms part of the Annual Social Development Month Calendar. “The boys have told us their concerns and their challenges. They are telling us what they need in order to be better men and we need to listen. Today marked the launch of a new Boys’ Programme. For us to win the fight over gender-based violence, HIV infections and teenage pregnancies, we need you boys to lead the course,” said Deputy Minister Bogopane-Zulu.
Social Development Month is observed in October each year and comprises officials taking the Department’s programmes and services to the people.
The National Strategic Plan of 2017 mandated the Department of Social Development to lead on Goal 4 which seeks to address social and structural drivers of HIV, TB and Sexually Transmitted Infections.
In order to achieve this, the Department developed social and behavioural change programmes to promote positive behavioural outcomes that are critical to altering the course of the epidemic.
The Boys Assembly aims to mobilise boys to be part of the solution to transform existing gender imbalances and to put an end to gender-based violence and inequalities that lead to HIV infections.
Addressing the Assembly, SANAC’s National Secretary General, Reverend Mbulelo Dyasi, disclosed his HIV status and pleaded with the boys to refrain from contracting HIV. “As I stand here, I am living with HIV and in order for me to live, the government has to invest a lot of money. Stay away from HIV,” he said.
As part of the day’s programme, 500 boys from the provinces of Gauteng, Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga engaged in dialogues during which some expressed their frustrations. Issues of drug and alcohol abuse, teenage fatherhood with a lack of guidance or support, longstanding social ills and the need for regular platforms such as the Assembly formed part of the robust debates.
As a result, Deputy Minister Bogopane-Zulu vowed to ensure that community boys’ dialogues take place provincially before the next Boys’ Assembly. “We have been focusing on the girl child and as a result, the boy child has been left behind. We need to engage with boy children in order to have exemplarily men,” she concluded.
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