President Cyril Ramaphosa will this afternoon lead South Africa’s participation at the Generation Equality Forum (GEF) in Paris to highlight the country’s commitment to gender equality.
The GEF is a global gathering to accelerate gender equality actions and marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
Held from 30 June - 02 July 2021, the hybrid forum will be convened by United Nations (UN) Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France, in partnership with co-leaders from the Global South and Global North, civil society and the private sector.
The Generation Equality Forum kicked off in Mexico City in March and will culminate in the Paris meeting which is expected to be attended by Heads of State, as well as high-level representatives from every sector in society to showcase commitment announcements for gender equality with concrete, tangible action from governments, corporations and civil society.
President Ramaphosa will deliver a pre-recorded message on rebuilding an equal economy during the opening ceremony of the GEF Forum on Wednesday.
“On 1 July 2021, South Africa, led by the President, will also participate at the virtual session of the Generation Equality Forum: Economic Justice and Rights (EJR) Action Coalition to discuss global commitments and actions to be taken by stakeholders to promote economic justice and rights for women,” the Presidency said in a statement.
United Nations (UN) Aids Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, will moderate the engagement and the Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, will open the meeting.
Other dignitaries joining the event include Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez, President of Liberia George Weah, Vice President of Tanzania Philip Mpango, International Labour Organisation (ILO) Director-General Guy Ryder, and American philanthropist Melinda Gates.
The Presidency said South Africa will leverage the momentum of the Paris meeting to highlight the country’s commitments to gender equality and amplify its domestic priorities at the global level.
The country will also use the opportunity to recognise the importance of intersectional youth leadership and provide feedback on the work of the multi-stakeholder forum.
“South Africa is a co-leader of Generation Equality Forum’s Action Coalition on Economic Justice and Rights (EJR), and the President will use the engagement to articulate strong support for the jointly developed global acceleration plan, which has a catalogue of commitments to support women in the care economy, ensure decent work for women, create access to and control of productive resources including financial inclusion, and promote gender-responsive inclusive economies,” the Presidency said.
The country has participated actively in the negotiations for the Global Acceleration Plan (GAP) of the Economic Justice and Rights Action Coalition, which presents a clear action plan of commitments and actions that stakeholders must take to advance economic justice and rights.
Economic Justice and Rights Global Acceleration Plan
During the engagement, EJR Action Coalition members will also launch the Economic Justice and Rights Global Acceleration Plan, to give leaders of the action coalition an opportunity to state their commitments reflecting clear actions to be implemented over the next five years.
“The set of innovative and multi-stakeholder Action Coalitions (ACs) includes gender based violence (GBV); economic justice and rights; bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR); feminist action for climate justice; technology and innovation for gender equality; feminist movements and leadership,” the Presidency said.
The Action Coalitions also work hand-in-hand with a global Compact on Women, Peace, Security and Humanitarian Action.
“The GEF in Paris will also present the final Global Acceleration Plan for Gender Equality, including the six Action Coalition Blueprints, and drive all stakeholders towards identifying, defining and laying the roadmap for implementing bold, game-changing commitments,” the Presidency said. – SAnews.gov.za
