Pretoria - The Department for Women is to host national and provincial dialogues in order to understand the causes and impact of the continued triple challenge of poverty, unemployment and inequalities, including violence against women and children.
Minister in the Presidency for Women, Susan Shabangu, made the announcement during a debate on 16 Days of Activism for no Violence Against Women and Children in Parliament on Friday.
Minister Shabangu explained that the dialogues will also facilitate the identification of gaps in the implementation of laws and programmes, to make policy recommendations and to partner with other government departments in order to strengthen their services.
“The dialogue will also facilitate the understanding of economic and social challenges faced by women and children in rural areas and to be able to respond appropriately to their needs.
“Further, the dialogues will also lead to the development of the research agenda to address challenges and gaps in the implementation of laws and programmes aimed at violence against women and children.
“Current strategies mean nothing if they cannot give meaningful expression to the victims they must impact on positively,” Minister Shabangu said.
The dialogues will also talk to the National Strategic Plan on Violence Against Women and Children, which will outline clearly the country’s policy on addressing gender based violence and inform how to take the campaign forward
The country will from 25 November to 10 December 2014 commemorate the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children.
This year’s campaign will be commemorated under the theme “Count me in, Together moving a non-violent South Africa”.
The campaign aims to provide a platform to engage all stakeholders across race, gender, age and other divides to commit to collectively fight this scourge in society and to relook at the available strategies on the eradication of violence against women and children.
Minister Shabangu will launch the 16 Days Campaign at Reiger Park, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality on Tuesday. – SAnews.gov.za
