Women, Children & Persons with Disabilities: Minister's Budget Speech

Address by Honourable Ms. Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya Minister for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities to the National Assembly
24 June 2009

Honourable President and Deputy President
Honourable Speaker and members of this House
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a great honour for me to participate in this budget debate this afternoon.

We measure the development of any society by its ability to respond to the needs of targeted groups. To achieve this we have to prioritise groups requiring targeting with special programmes

This government has taken this step and has been commended for establishing a Ministry focused on addressing issues of women, children and persons with disabilities. We must now ensure that adequate resources are allocated to promote the interests of these targeted groups.

Since 1994, the government has endeavored to build an inclusive and socially cohesive, democratic society through a process of socio-economic and political transformation. Our Ministry will be building on the progress made over the past 15 years. We will ensure that our country honours all the regional and international commitments and protocols such as the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against women, Convention on the Rights of the Child and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The strategic thrust of the Ministry is to advance policy and achieve measurable milestones on mainstreaming gender, children’s rights, and disability considerations into the programmes of government and other sectors of society in line with international and regional commitments made in these areas.

We aim to establish effective institutional mechanisms for social and economic empowerment, equalization of opportunities and access to resources for women, children and persons with disabilities. We are going to work with other departments, provincial and local government, private sector, labour and civil society, in mainstreaming issues relating to these three targeted groups.
We will ensure that the social security net is tighter and poverty alleviation programmes benefit primarily the many women, children and persons with disabilities who continue to live in conditions of abject poverty.

Honourable Speaker, women and children constitute the majority of the population in rural areas. They are at the receiving end of the challenges posed by underdevelopment in these areas. They are the ones who fetch water from the streams, collect wood for cooking and toil the land to support families through subsistence farming. It is therefore logical that they should be the primary beneficiaries of government programmes on rural development, agricultural support and land reform. Our goal is to ensure that women are liberated from the constraints of many centuries of land deprivation. 

Our programme on women will also focus on strengthening and broadening the National Machinery for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality through the establishment of effective and efficient advisory units in all structures of government at the national, provincial and local levels.

While we continue with the process of consultation with stakeholders on finalizing the strategic priorities for the new Ministry, the following issues should be at the top of our agenda:
Responding to the challenge of feminization of poverty,
Creation of decent jobs and economic empowerment of women,
Increasing the representation of women in positions of decision-making and in management levels towards 50% parity, and
Eradication of violence against women,

The immediate deliverable of the Department is going be the establishment of a fund for women’s empowerment. This fund will enable women to start and develop their own businesses. It will also assist NGOs and civil society in undertaking women-empowerment programmes. We will consult with stakeholders on the issue within the next month and pilot the fund to reality during this financial year.

We will use research findings to identify blockages limiting progress towards attaining the 50% equity target for women in Senior Management positions in the public sector. We will take all the necessary measures to ensure that gender parity targets are achieved.

On children, Honourable Speaker, we began the week with disturbing media reports that more than 500 000 needy South Africans, mostly children, could be plunged into further desperation because charity organizations are struggling to raise funding in the current economic environment.

I would like to appeal to the business sector, in particular, to ensure that expenditure on social responsibility does not become the first and easiest budget item to cut when adapting to the current economic difficulties.

Corporate social responsibility is no longer just a gesture of goodwill viable only during good economic times. It is a necessary investment in the socio-economic sustainability of the country. The Codes on Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment requires that companies spend a minimum of 1% of net profit after tax on corporate social investment initiatives. In addition, this expenditure comes with tax and significant public relations benefits.



While there is pressure on profit margins currently, there is a need to adopt a long-term view of where each company and its community would like to be in 5 to 10 years time. A company operating in a socially sustainable environment with a diverse workforce in terms of gender and race will have a competitive advantage when our economy recovers.

As government, we are playing our part to ensure the welfare of children. We have completed a review that provided a situational analysis on the status of children in the country. This information should guide us in further interventions and collaborative efforts with other Departments, particularly the Departments of Health Social Development.

We will be supporting efforts to improve the quality of life of children including stepping up the Early Childhood Development programme. As our President committed us to do, we have to ensure universal access to Grade R and double the number of 0 to 4 year old children attending early childhood centres by 2014.

We will strengthen relations with the Children’s Advisory Council and other stakeholders. We are going to build on the progress made to increase participation of Municipalities in National Children’s Rights processes and conduct further training on mainstreaming and co-ordination of children’s issues at this level.

Just last weekend we convened a children’s lekgotla in Limpopo to mark the Day of the African Child with the theme - “Africa Fit for Children- A Call for accelerated Action towards Child Survival”. Children representing all provinces of South Africa, and some from neighbouring countries and refugee children, participated.

It was an extremely informed discussion on a number of issues arising from the African Union Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. They went on to provide recommendations on how some of the issues affecting children should be addressed. Most critical were issues of:
Access to education for all including refugees and children with disabilities,
Stopping all forms of discrimination,
Prevention and protection against abuse,
Prevention of drug and alcohol abuse.

Recommendations made in these areas will certainly be considered in the finalization of our programme for this term of office.

Some of the recommendations on children emphasize the need for further implementation of the campaign on 16 Days and 365 Days of No Violence against Women and Children which is one of the main campaigns and advocacy programmes that our Department will be undertaking during this financial year. 

On persons with disabilities, Honourable Speaker, there are clear targets already available including an employment equity target of 2% and 4% for skills development.

The challenge is to move both the public and private sectors towards meeting these targets. Our Department is determined to take on this challenge and ensure that every sector moves with necessary speed to meet disability targets. Our activities will include co-ordination of the JOBACCESS Strategy where we work together with Department of Public Service and Administration to achieve the employment target for persons with disabilities by 2010. 

Failure to achieve these targets is not an option if we are to remain true to our vision of an inclusive South African society.
During this financial year, we will finalize the Draft National Disability Policy and develop an implementation plan as well. We will also prioritize issues of access by ensuring that public buildings and facilities are fully accessible to persons with various forms of disabilities.

Generally, we will also be responding to various practices that undermine the interests of any of the three targeted groups. We want to ensure that all cultural practices are consistent with the Constitution and legislative framework existing in our country.
 
Honourable Speaker, our programme is diverse and challenging. It will require the intensive mobilization of a multitude of stakeholders for it to succeed. It also requires a commitment of adequate resources to support the organizational structure necessary to advance the interests of women, children and persons with disabilities.

It is therefore important that this House should support this budget vote as a step towards establishing a fully functional institution that stands for the rights and promote the interests of women, children and persons with disabilities.

Thank you