Download Achievements - Parliamentary Monitoring Group

Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on
Women in the Presidency
OVERVIEW OF SOUTH AFRICA’S COMPLIANCE
WITH THE BEIJING DECLARATION AND
PLATFORM FOR ACTION
3 March 2015
1
Background
 The accountability process of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA)
developed and agreed upon in 1995 requires member States of the
United Nations to meet on a five-yearly basis to review their
implementation of the Platform for Action with a view to fine tuning,
remapping progress and reactivating commitment, taking into
account prevailing global and local conditions.
 These reviews take place at both global and regional levels.
 1999/2000 (Beijing +5)
 2004/2005 (Beijing +10
 2010 (Beijing+15)
Background
 The South Africa’s evaluation is based on responses by departments
wherein questionnaires prepared and administered by CGE were sent
to government department and private entities.
 The CGE sought qualitative and quantitative data from departments,
on key elements of the achievements expected under each of the
critical areas of concern.
12 Areas of Concern
1. Women and Poverty
2. Education and training for Women
3. Women and Health
4. Violence against women.
5. Women and armed conflict
6. Women and the Economy
7. Women, Power and Decision-making
8. Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women
9. Human rights of women
10. Women and media
11. Women and environment
12. The Girl Child
Persistent and increasing burden of poverty on
women
 19 years after the adoption of this Platform for Action, most South
African women still live in poor conditions with meagre salaries, with
few skills, poor sanitation and inadequate basic necessities.
Achievements
 South Africa places poverty reduction high on its agenda and
continue to heighten actions and policies to address it through a wide
range of strategies.
 There are programmes in place to assist women and children through
the social relief strategies that have been put in place.
Persistent and increasing burden of poverty on
women
Challenges
 Women in rural and remote areas who constitute the majority of
women in South Africa, which is characterized by poverty, still have
difficulties in accessing health and social services, and a lack of
participation in decision-making processes at the community level.
 Customs and traditional practices, prevalent in rural areas, prevent
women from inheriting or acquiring ownership of land and other
property.
 Women have high level of income poverty – high rate of
unemployment; low wages caused by low skill and education levels
and discrimination (gender wage gap still prevalent in SA); clustering
of women in low-paid jobs; and non-recognition of women’s time
spent on unpaid care work
B. Inequalities and inadequacies in unequal access to education
and training
 Education is a human right and an essential tool for achieving the
goals of equality, development and peace
Achievements
 Access to education represents one of the successes of Africa, largely
attributable to the institution of free and compulsory primary basic
education by the South African government.
 The South African government has attempted to eliminate barriers
that hinder boys’ and girls’ access to education and has had high
success rates towards parity, at the level of basic education.
 There are programmes in place that are aimed at empowering the girl
child especially in the field of science, mathematics and engineering.
Inequalities and inadequacies in unequal access to education
and training
Challenges
 It is observed that both males and females face obstacles in
enrolment and retention.
 The country reports indicate that gender disparities in enrolment and
literacy are narrowing but more remains to be done to guarantee
equality between the sexes in the sector.
 Teenage pregnancy is a concern for the country
Inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal access to
Healthcare and related service
 Women have the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable
standard of physical and mental health.
Achievements
 Health programmes have been designed to include sexual and
reproductive health care services and education for women and girls.
 Such programmes include sexual and reproductive health
components such as maternal health, safe motherhood, and pre- and
post-natal care.
 Measures have been put in place to reduce maternal morbidity and
mortality.
 Girls have continuing access to necessary health and nutrition
information and services, and addressing traditional practices which
impact negatively on the health of women and girls.
Inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal access to
Healthcare and related service
Achievements
 The country is also working on improving provision of infrastructure
such as health facilities.
 There are institutional, legal and policy frameworks to address
HIV/AIDS. A substantial number of programmes have been designed
in favour of vulnerable groups such as children and adults living with
HIV/AIDS.
 The introduction and piloting of the National Health Insurance (NHI) in
the country proved to be a positive initiative by the department of
health.
Inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal access
to Healthcare and related service
Challenges
 Despite commitments to improving women’s health and specific
targeted action on reproductive health, maternal mortality remains
the highest in the country.
 Some parts of the country have hospital and clinic staff members that
have negative attitudes to patients and this hinders access to
information and services related to sexual and reproductive health.
 The Commission for Gender Equality study, conducted in 2012
revealed that working with victims of sexual assault requires
specialised training, for example, training in forensic medicine and
forensic nursing
Violence Against women
 Gender-based violence and all forms of sexual harassment and
exploitation, including those resulting from cultural prejudice and
international trafficking, are incompatible with the dignity and worth
of the human person, and must be eliminated.
Achievements
 South Africa has enacted legislation to combat human trafficking.
 The country has furthermore, domesticated the provisions of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter
on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
 Penal legislations to address various forms of sexual offences are also
in place.
 The government has also created specialized institutions to ensure that
victims of abuse receive comprehensive services. It is acknowledged
that there is a concerted effort undertaken that involves men and
boys in efforts to combat domestic violence.
 The establishment of the National Council on Gender Based Violence
(NCGBV)
Violence Against women
 Challenges
 Attitudes of both men and women to the criminality of domestic
violence also tend to impede successful and timely prosecution of
such acts.
 There are no statistics on domestic violence because it is not
registered as a crime.
 Implementing institutions lack the requisite financial and human
resources to be able to execute their functions and programmes
effectively.
Armed Conflict :The effects of armed or other kinds of conflict on
women, including those living under foreign occupation
 International humanitarian law, prohibiting attacks on civilian
populations, is at times systematically ignored and human
rights are often violated in connection with situations of armed
conflict, affecting the civilian population, especially women,
children, the elderly and the disabled.
 Security Council Resolution 1325 indicates that the Security
Council has recognized the relevance of women’s
experiences of conflict to its peace and security mandate,
and it engages the Security Council in advancing women’s
rights in conflict resolution and peace processes.
 South Africa does not have an implementation plan for the UN
Resolution 1325
Inequalities in economic structures and policies, in all forms of
productive activities and access to resources
 Women are virtually absent from or are poorly represented in
economic decision-making, including the formulation of financial,
commercial and other economic policies and rules governing pay
Achievements
 The right to equal access to employment opportunities and social
protection benefits are guaranteed by the principle of equality
between women and men entrenched in the constitution and labour
laws.
 There are laws and policies in place to guarantee equal access to
employment opportunities and social protection benefits.
Inequalities in economic structures and policies, in all forms of
productive activities and access to resources
Challenges
 Data gaps in critical areas with respect to women’s contributions to
economic development affect effective planning, monitoring and
evaluation of the gendered impacts of economic and social policies.
 The persistence of customary views of the extent to which women are
accessing productive resources, particularly land, remains a barrier to
their access to land.
 Wage discrimination against women persists, with major constraints to
effective implementation identified as lack of financial and qualified
human resources and the nonexistence of national classification
systems of work categories.
Inequality between men and women in the sharing of power and
decision making
 Women's equal participation in decision-making is not only a demand
for simple justice or democracy but can also be seen as a necessary
condition for women's interests to be taken into account
Achievements
 Democratic and constitutional reforms have generated equal
opportunities for women and men to participate at all levels of
political process, including election to the highest office.
 South Africa continues to have recorded increasing numbers of
women elected to high political and administrative offices since 1994.
Inequality between men and women in the sharing of power and
decision making
Challenges
 There are indications that fewer women than men are presented for
electoral processes in situations where political parties do not have
gender-sensitive policies, especially in nominating candidates for
elections.
 Political parties continue to operate gender-biased appointment
policies and procedures which generally focus more on ethnic,
geographical and political leanings rather than gender.
Insufficient mechanisms at all levels to promote the
advancement of women
 National machineries for the advancement of women are
established to, inter alia, design, promote the implementation
of, execute, monitor, evaluate, advocate and mobilize support
for policies that promote the advancement of women
Achievements
 South Africa created an enabling environment and has
established a Women’s Ministry to coordinate the gender
machinery.
 The presence of national and provincial machineries and
gender focal points in almost all government departments is
an indication of commitment to sector-based gender
mainstreaming.
Insufficient mechanisms at all levels to promote the
advancement of women
Challenges
 The “ineffectiveness” of the gender machinery in the country
continues to pose a serious limitation and this is due to
limitations in the human and financial resources needed to
enable the implementation of its mandate.
 Persons who are appointed as gender focal persons tend to
play other routine functions and neglect their gender
mainstreaming tasks which they consider as secondary.
 Other challenges associated with implementation of this
indicator include the tendency to select personnel of lower
ranks, the lack of or inadequate systems of accountability and
reporting, a general lack of knowledge and understanding of
gender mainstreaming in most departments and across all
levels.
 The gender machinery continues to generally lack clear focus
and have broad mandates along with the low funding levels.
Lack of respect for inadequate promotion and protection of
human rights for women
 Human rights and fundamental freedoms are the birth-right of all
human beings; their protection and promotion is the first responsibility
of Governments
Achievements
 The South African Government has enacted a plethora of legislation
to give effect to the advancement and empowerment of women.
However, the primary challenge remains the implementation and
inadequate costing of such legislation.
Challenges
 Enforcement remains the most serious problem. In addition, the
persisting, negative attitudes and perceptions of society towards
gender equality and women’s empowerment.
 Insufficient public education and information on human rights.
 The use of culture in cases where this perpetuate gender inequality is
another challenge facing the human rights of women and girl
children. Practices like polygamy, “ukuthwala”, female genital
mutilation and virginity testing, to name a few.
Stereotyping of women and inequality in access to participation in
all communication systems, especially in media
 More women are involved in careers in the communications sector,
but few have attained positions at the decision-making level or serve
on governing boards and bodies that influence media policy
Achievements
 Efforts to engender media at policy and practice levels have been
put in place; as well as eradicating all forms of gender stereotyping in
the media.
 Women are accessing ICT for the promotion of their economic and
social activities.
Challenges
 Negative and degrading projection of women in media via
electronic, print, visual and audio means persists.
 Violent and degrading or pornographic media products are also
negatively affecting women and their participation in society.
Gender inequalities in management of natural resources and in
safeguarding the environment
 In both urban and rural areas, environmental degradation results in
negative effects on the health, well-being and quality of life of the
population at large, especially girls and women of all ages.
Achievements
 Measures have been put in place to integrate gender perspectives
into the design and implementation of environmental policies.
 Gender is mainstreamed into these programmes and important
dimensions such as new appropriate technologies are being
operationalized.
 Gender issues are taken into account in policies, plans, programmes
and projects related to the protection of the environment in South
Africa.
Gender inequalities in management of natural resources and in
safeguarding the environment
Challenges
 Women remain absent in policy formulation and decision-making in
natural resource and environmental management.
 Women are rarely trained as professional natural resource managers
with policy-making capacities, such as land-use planners,
agriculturalists, foresters and environmental lawyers.
 Women continue to be vulnerable and continue to be affected by
the negative impacts of climate change because they comprise the
majority of the poor.
Persistent Discrimination against and violation of the rights of the
Girl-Child
 The Beijing Platform for Action recognises that girls are often treated as
inferior and are socialized to put themselves last, thus undermining
their self-esteem.
Achievements
 South Africa has ratified the CRC and has integrated the treaty into
domestic law through legislative and constitutional reforms. All
legislative enactments contain clauses on non-discrimination, which
seek to enhance the well-being of the girl child.
 The country is also implementing sectoral plans, strategies and
programmes targeting children in education, health, etc. Government
and private sector work together in programmes aimed at
empowering the girl child.
Challenges
 Religious and cultural practices such as early marriage, trafficking of
girls and unfair distribution of property intestate continue to
perpetuate the violation of the rights of the girl-child.
 Teenage pregnancy , school drop out remains high in South Africa.
Recommendations on 12 areas of concern
Women and Poverty
 Recognize women’s non-market work and advocate for the
appreciation and valuing of this work by engendering national
accounts and budgets.
Education and Training for Women
 Put interventions in place to maximize retention and reverse high rate
of drop outs among both girls and boys.
Women and Health
 Develop strategies to address current high levels of maternal mortality
through improved equity in access and service delivery, especially
with respect to emergency obstetric care.
Recommendations on 12 areas of concern
Violence against Women
 Enhance the capacity of enforcement agencies responsible for the
protection of women and children by providing adequate training on
existing laws and policies, and the equipment and mechanisms for
effective record keeping. Classify domestic violence as a crime.
Women and the Economy
 Review existing legal frameworks protecting women’s access to land
with the view to removing discriminatory provisions, which work
against their interests.
Women in Power and Decision-making
 Give greater emphasis to supporting increased local-level
participation for women, given that the majority of women are
located in rural areas.
Recommendations on the 12 areas of concern
Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women
 Strengthen the existing national machinery, with clearly defined
mandates, for the advancement of women
Human Rights of Women
 Review and reform customary and religious laws and practices in
collaboration with stakeholders, such as traditional and religious
authorities, to ensure their progressive conformity and harmony with
national legislation and international treaties and ensure
implementation and enforcement.
Women and the Media
 Ensure equal representation of women in decision-making positions in
all media houses.
Recommendations on the 12 areas of concern
Women and the Environment
 Ensure women’s participation in climate change planning and
decision-making processes as well as in the formulation and
implementation of policies and programmes at , national, provincial
and local levels.
The Girl Child
 Strengthen programmes and projects that focus on education, health,
children’s rights and ending violence against women and girls.
Thank you for your time
HAVE A GENDER RELATED COMPLAINT ????
REPORT IT TO
0800 007 709
Twitter Handle @CGEinfo
30