Report of the "Mini" Consultative Meeting of the National Gender Machinery
Held on the 11th and 12th April 2002
Farm Inn - Pretoria
1.0 Background
The Office on the Status of Women (OSW) convened this meeting following a consultation with the Commission on Gender Equality (CGE) early in January 2002. One of the outcomes of the CGE/OSW consultation was a recommendation that a "mini' consultation of the components of the Gender Machinery should take place at the end of/or during the first quarter of the year, to enable components of the machinery to:
- Share information on each organisation's programme thrust and planned activities for 2002;
- Arrive at an agreement on dates, place, format for the 2003 consultation of the Gender Machinery;
- Consider in advance the theme for Women's Month and National Women's Day 2002; and
- Consider processes for highlighting gender mainstreaming in all national priorities/events, e.g., NEPAD, AU meeting and WSSD.
2.0 Programme
Day One: 11th April 2002
Welcome and Introductions
Chairperson: Commission on Gender Equality
Chairperson: Joint Monitoring Committee on
The Improvement of the Quality of Life and Status of Women Acting Chief Executive Officer: Office on the Status of Women
Presentations and Discussions Presentation on the Human Rights Commission at the Inaugural AU Meeting: July 2002, Pretoria: Mr Robert Eno: SA Human Fights Commission
Presentation on the World Summit on Sustainable Development: Ms June Josephs: Department of Foreign Affairs
Presentation on the New Partnership for Africa's Development: Ms Lindelwa Myakaza: NEPAD Steering Committee
Presentation on the Deputy President's Moral Regeneration Movement
Day Two: 12th April 2002
Presentation of Programmes and Project Priorities for 2002
Chairperson: Commission on Gender Equality
Chairperson: Joint Monitoring Committee on
The Improvement of the Quality of Life and Status of Women
Acting Chief Executive Officer: Office on the Status of Women
Responses to Programme Presentations
Way Forward Plenary for 2002 Consultation of the National Gender Machinery
Closure
3.0 Proceedings
3.1 Presentation of Programmes and Priorities for 2002: CGE
The CGE has four departments, namely:
- Public Education and Information
- Legal;
- Policy and Research; and
- Finance and Administration.
The department of Public Education and Information has planned workshops on the following:
- gender and tradition
- gender and masculinity;
- gender and religion;
- gender and HIV/AIDS;
- gender and poverty;
- Domestic Violence Act;
- Maintenance Act;
- Customary Marriage Act; and
- Equality Act.
The focus is on the popularisation and promotion of access to the various acts, especially the Customary Marriage Act. The Equality Act was supposed to have been passed in March 2002, but this has been postponed. The CGE is also in discussion with the Department of Health regarding access to Nivarapine for pregnant women who are HIV positive. This department will also hold Gender Dialogues with particular emphasis on:
- Sex work in terms of prostitution vs sodomy vs no charge for the clients of the sex workers;
- Virginity testing: in view of the belief that AIDS can be cured by sleeping with a virgin therefore exposing and endangering girls through this traditional practice.
The focus being on whether present laws are achieving their purpose. This department plans to make legal interventions as well as being "friends of the courts" particularly where the technical/legal aspects do not necessarily take into account a gender dimension. The department also plans to make various submissions to Parliament, this by working closely with the Joint Monitoring Committee on the Improvement of the Quality of Life and Status of Women (JMCIQLSW). The department will also launch gender guidelines for advertisement standards, due to the objectification of women in advertisements.
The focus is on spatial development and the department will do a study or the Maputo Corridor with regard to government tenders and gender there will also be a campaign to develop user-friendly financial institutions in partnership with the South African Communist Party.
The CGE has eight strategic objectives.
3.1.1 Questions and Comments Following the Presentation by the CGE
a. Departments are experiencing budget cuts, will the CGE's fund raising benefit the departments?
b. From the CGE annual report card, it appears that most complaints to the CGE regard child maintenance. Does the CGE have statistics or have investigations been done?
c. The CGE needs to take the lead vis a vis the Electoral Act. Most women loose out in a constituency-based system. Are women in political parties capacitated to so their work?
d. The CGE needs to look at international instruments such as the Hague Declaration with regard to violence against women. Is the system working to assist women whose children are being abducted by spouses?
e. Who are the beneficiaries for the workshops that the CGE conducts?
f. There was no mention of disability in the CGE strategic plan for the year.
g. The Commissioner in the Northern Cape does not reside in the province and therefore does not understand the socio-political issues of the province. This needs to be reviewed.
h. There is gross under-spending by departments due to the lack of capacity.
i. There is a lack of an integrated approach to access funding that is available. There needs to be sharing of information on available funding.
3.1.2 Response by the CGE
a. The CGE also faces financial constraints. The CGE modus operandi is to work in partnerships to add value to each oher's work and share workshops and funding. A suggestion is that components of the NGM do joint funding proposals.
b This is not a focal area at present. however the CGE works closely with the Human Rights Commission and both parties can put pressure on the state. Focus can be on making the available acts work properly
c. The CGE/Commissioner Meintjes will soon be releasing a book regarding this issue. The CGE position is that of not changing the electoral system and it is engaged with the different political parties regarding who gets put on the electoral list. The question of capacity for women politicians is one for the parties.
d. This is an issue that the CGE can take up. One of the mandates of the CGE is to evaluate South Africa's compliance with international instruments. There is however no capacity in the CGE to do this, the CGE can work in partnership with other organisations. The African Union have established African Courts and protocols which most African countries have signed. The issue of cross-border abduction will depend therefore on the bilaterals between countries.
e. The workshops benefit the target groups such as CBOs and NGOs. But how does one really measure success.
f. There in nothing on disability because it is cross-cutting issue. The CGE has a disabled Commissioner who keeps it on its toes.
g. The appointment of Commissioners is as follows:
- nominations form civil society
- shortlist by an adhoc committee in Parliament
- interviews by the adhoc committee
- eleven people are chosen and the list is submitted to Parliament
- the list is the submitted to the President to ratify or not.
Commissioners are not chosen on the basis of where they reside, the choice is not even based on diversity such as gender or race. It is based on expertise. The problem is that not all Commissioners are allocated provinces due to the pragmatic issue of relocating. The term for a Commissioner is five years.
3.2 Presentation of Programmes and Priorities for 2002: OSW
Please refer to attachment 3: OSW Year Planning Calendar 2002.
The OSW has six programme thrusts, namely:
- Policy
- Gender Mainstreaming
- Planning and co-ordination
- Advocacy
- Networking and Liaison
- Advice to the President
- Capacity Building
The OSW was established in 1996. In December 2002 South Africa's National Policy Framework for Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality was adopted by Cabinet. This set the stage for the development of a National Gender Action Plan (NGAP) and a co-ordination framework as outlined in chapter 5 of the gender policy framework. Presently, the OSW has reports of the four Gender Focal Point (GFP) clusters. These clusters mimic the Cabinet and FOSAD clusters and they are:
- Economic Cluster
- Social Cluster
- Governance Cluster
- International Relations, Justice, Peace and Security Cluster.
The OSW planned to have a draft implementation plan by April, this has not been possible. A plenary of GFPs, as well as the other components of the NGM, are to approve the draft once it is ready. The development of the NGAP is a thrust for the OSW for 2002. A nationally approved plan, with clear agreed upon indicators, is necessary in order to measure progress. The plan will form a benchmark. The NGAP can also not be developed in a vacuum, monitoring must also take into account UN indicators.
Another key OSW thrust is its reporting obligations. In November 2001 there were negotiations for the framework for the end-of-decade reports for the UN which is due in 2004. The African Centre for Gender and Development. as the secretariat for SADC Ministers Responsible for Gender/Women's Affairs has been mandated to develop an African framework for reporting. The OSW participated in this negotiation. South Africa has asked to collapse its second and third report to CEDAW, this means that the next report from SA to CEDAW is also due in 2004. The year 2004 coincidentally marks 10 years of freedom for South African women. the OSW also reports to the SADC Ministers responsible for Gender/Women's Affairs on the advancement of SADC countries on the SADC Declaration on Women, as well as on the addendum on violence against women to the declaration. These reports are due annually in April and November respectively.
The OSW is therefore approaching the writing of the above three reports in an integrated manner. The OSW has met with the Centre for Statistical Studies (CSS) in this regard. South Africa has already overshot race representation but not gender. Can the Minister of the Public Service and Administration increase the 30% target for women in management positions, the deadline for which was 2002 when the deadline was not met? The OSW is therefore looking at different levels of monitoring. For a holistic approach, all monitoring institutions must be called upon. Another level of monitoring is to investigate the agreed upon baseline. The 0SW has therefore started discussions with the Department of Social Development with the view to commission a study on gender and poverty.
The OSW also has a co-ordinating and gender mainstreaming mandate. It co-ordinates the capacity of provincial OSW Co-ordinators and National GFPs. Co-ordination is through thematic issues, e.g. the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Strategy, information sharing through the gender lecture series as well as through think-tanks for the development of concept papers which are a base from which information can be fed. The OSW therefore co-ordinates departments, programmes, national priorities as well as international participation.
The 0SW has a gender lecture series as well as a training programme with the UNDP for provincial OSW Co-ordinators and their Supervisors as part of its capacity building programme. The Supervisors were included because they are important brokers of the OSW because of the rank of the Co-ordinators.
South Africa also has SADC obligations. The year 2002 is an important one for SADC due to intense restructuring. All the sector Minister's meetings (e.g. gender) are being collapsed, in its place will be only on e Counsel meeting and a meeting of the Heads of State. SADC has declarations and addenda which are not laws and therefore might be lost in the restructuring. Reporting on women 5 empowerment is through the sector Ministers and that might also be lost. SADC Gender Ministers meet for the last time in May 2002 to assess the restructuring process and to try and reserve the gains made. SADC did a study in this regard for which a report was received from a consultant for South Africa. This report was shared with the CGE and they were invited to comment. Comments on the report by the OSW were sent to SADC.
The next sector Ministerial meeting for the Commonwealth is in 2003.
Since 1995 South Africa had only an observer status a the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW). In January 2002, South Africa enjoyed full membership. This meant that the country had voting status and could also be lobbied. The themes for the 46th Session of the UNCSW 2002 were:
- Eradicating poverty, including through the empowerment of women throughout their life cycle in a globalizing world;
- and Environmental management and mitigation of natural disasters: a gender perspective
At the session South Africa co-ordinated with Malawi to push the resolution on gender and HIV/AIDS. This resolution was adopted with a high consensus. South Africa also strengthened the text on gender and the environmental management, which will feed the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), and also strengthened the text on poverty eradication. The themes for the UNCSW feed into the UN world conferences such as WSSD for 2002. The OSW requested position papers from all departments for the 46th UNCSW. For the first time South Africa sent a delegation from the capital to a CSW meeting. The themes for the next CSW meeting are:
- ICT and Development; and
- Men and Violence against Women.
The OSW could not participate in the Symposium/African Development Forum in March 2002. This symposium was reviewing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The OSW is trying to find out at what level the parallel sessions are taking place at the first African Unity (AU) meeting. The proposal is to look at the upcoming CGE celebration and link with the rights in the African Charter. The OSW will also submit a paper to be read at a conference in Uganda.
3.2.1 Questions and Comments Following the Presentation by the OSW
a. Departments use quantitative data to get away with the minimum advancement of women.
b. Will the OSW still consult with the senior managers in departments on the national gender policy document? What is the outcome of these consultation with departments?
c. Did the OSW share documents on things such as NEPAD and WSSD? Where did OSW involvement in such things begin?
d. Ms Nkomo mentioned that she would be submitting a paper for the conference to be held in Uganda. is the paper being submitted by the National OSW or will Provincial OSW offices be involved as well for the sake of ownership?
e. The National OSW seems to be leaving provincial OSW offices behind especially on international processes.
f. Ms Nkomo has underscored the capacity of the OSW
g. When is The Presidency effecting the appointment of the new chief executive officer of the National OSW?
h. What is the budget of the National OSW? Especially in view of the fact that officers at certain levels cannot sign off certain amounts.
i. National 0SW gives short notices to provinces.
j. Does Ms Nkomo know of the President's report on youth, gender and people with disabilities? Was the National OSW given an opportunity to make inputs?
k. Does Ms Nkomo know of the consultations on transformation and the equity paper?
l. Did Masimanyane engage the National OSW on the study?
m. The Commonwealth sponsors study opportunities, is there a window for the provincial OSWs?
n. The concern is that of the capacity of the National OSW is not resolved, provinces will mimic this problem.
o. The constant complaints are tiring. Perhaps one meeting is required for a strategy In order to write a memorandum to Minister Pahad.
p. Is the National OSW calendar for the year final, will it have inputs from provinces at the upcoming strategic planning session?
q. Is there time for the provincial OSWs to input into the National Gender Action Plan?
3.2.2 Response by the Office on the Status of Women
b. The National OSW started a reach out programme to provinces and departments after the national gender policy document was adopted by Cabinet. The office receive approximately six invitation to make presentations. Some departments invited the office to their regular senior management meetings and then offered a few minutes for the presentation. Some national departments have gender policies but their senior managers are not aware of this.
c. There are different levels of sharing information, but this needs to be strengthened. The National OSW reports at the regular meetings that it convenes. The National OSW reports to Minister through reports. More text does need to be made available, the national OSW can make briefings to provinces.
f. There are always competitive needs for the National OSW. One would expect gender activists to be more supportive. The Beijing Declaration obligates states to create effective gender machineries.
g. The National OSW was assured that this process would be fast-tracked. There is a short-list.
h. The National OSW budget for 2002/2003 is 3,4 million. National OSW positions are not aligned to the public service, the Director can therefore sign off any amount.
i. Invitations from the National office are meant to afford people the opportunity to
attend.
j. Yes, I am aware of the requests to provinces and national departments. There is, however, the issue of the constitutional independence of the provinces.
k. There is a meeting right now with the Minister. The Minister said the OSW would be given an opportunity to enter the discussions.
I have heard about the study informally
m. The Commonwealth normally sponsors study opportunities for politicians.
o. Minister Pahad did ask for a submission by mid-June 2001 from the National Gender Focal Points and the Provincial OSWs. None was received.
p. The calendar is not cast in stone final and there are ongoing opportunities for input.
q. Yes.
3.3 Presentation on the Draft Additional Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa
African Regional instruments and the Principle of Gender equality Mr Poloert Eno: South African Human Rights Commission
It was after the UN General Assembly Conference in Mexico in 1975 that gender issues received attention. Prior to this Conference, women, even though were more educated, more active economically and more successful professionally than they were a few decades ago, continued to be seriously disadvantaged. In no major field of activity, be it economics, education, health or government have women attained equal status with men.
Social, political and economic structures in most countries, especially in Africa still relegate women to second class citizens. And although in the context of international human rights, the legal concept of gender equality is enshrined in the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and though in certain constitutions of many African states there are certain equal rights acknowledged to women, these countries still lack the political and economic commitment to enforce them.
Women have also culturally been conditioned to accept the world of politics as a male sphere. This orientation has tended to make men more active and interested in all spheres of life and women more passive and home oriented.
From the foregoing. it can be said that the rights of women, especially women in Africa have never been at the same level with those of men. To indicate that women are underrepresented in the socio-political and economic machinery in Africa is neither to say anything new nor to highlight a new problem. What I intend to examine here is the mechanisms available on the continent' to guarantee and ensure the promotion of the principle of gender equality.
The principal human rights instruments on the continent to promote gender equality include:
- the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights: and
- the Constitutive Act of the African Union,
The New Partnership for Africa's Development ( NEPAL)). Unlike the first two NEPAD is not a treaty but a framework aimed at promoting the well-being of the African peoples.
These instruments are to be monitored for implementation by major human rights mechanisms such as:
- the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights;
- the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights;
To start with the African Charter, the Charter makes references to women only twice. In terms of Article 18(3).
The state shall ensure the elimination of every discrimination against women and ensure the protection of the rights of women . as stipulated in international declarations and conventions"
The adoption of the protocol of the rights of women in Africa in itself is no guarantee that the situation of the rights of women in Africa would be improved. The effectiveness of any law or institution is not only dependent on the legal instrumentality and financial resources alone - but the expertise, commitment and political will of all those concerned are equally critical.
The protocol was initiated in Lome - Togo at the 17th Ordinary session of the African Commission and confirmed at the 31st Ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU. Since then, expert meetings have been held to draft the protocol and the next expert meeting will be held in May 2002 in Addis Ababa. The protocol shall then be submitted to a meeting of Ministers who will finalise the product and in turn submit it to the summit of African Union leaders in July for adoption. Once it is adopted, it shall immediately be opened for signature and ratification. The protocol requires fifteen ratifications for it to come into force.
The Constitutive Act of the African Union adopted at the 36th Ordinary session of the OAU Assembly in Lome in 2000 and that came into force on 26 of May 2001 is indeed a major improvement on the 1963 OAU Charter. It is particularly gratifying To note that among the objectives of the Union is the promotion of gender equality - Article 4(l).
To fully implement the objective of promoting gender equality there is need for the strengthening of existing mechanisms or establish another institution specifically dealing with gender issues. For instance, the establishment of the Pan African Parliament is a very important step. The process and criteria of selection and election of representatives is extremely important and will determine whether or not the Parliament is going to be truly the African peoples' parliament.
The process and criteria of selection must be democratic and all inclusive -embracing both governmental and non-governmental bodies as well as civil society. Ordinary citizens must be given the opportunity to popularly select from among their genuine representatives those who should be considered for the parliament.
The Parliament is one of the areas in which the African Union has an opportunity to ensure the engagement of African people, especially women to feel a sense of ownership of this body. The selection criteria must therefore exercise Affirmative Action or quota system to ensure a measure of proportional representation to enable certain critical but marginalized social categories especially women are not left out.
It is hoped that the African Parliament and other AU structures would take the lead and ensure that women are adequately represented and are empowered to contribute equally with men.
Alternatively, in implementing the objective of promoting gender equality, there may be a need for the establishment of a mechanism specifically dealing with gender issues. A gender Commission or Gender Advisory Committee can be established. The role of such a Commission would be primarily to ensure that the AU's objective of promoting gender equality is actually realised in both spirit and action. In this regard, the Commission or Committee should monitor, evaluate review and recommend gender mainstreaming in all organs arid activities of the Union. The Commission would monitor the application of Affirmative Action and should be headed by a competent and committed person, preferably a woman who should hold the rank of all other heads of the organs of the Union.
An important step in the enhancement of the concept of gender equality is the adoption of an additional protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa. By providing for such a protocol, specifically dealing with the rights of women, the blurred interpretation and reference to other human rights conventions and declarations have been eliminated.
In drafting and adopting the protocol, it might be necessary to create as an organ within the protocol a specific Committee to deal with the issues of gender equality. This might be a standing Committee within the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights.
The New Partnership for Africa's Development - NEPAD is another very important instrument that could be used to promote gender equality. unfortunately, this document initiated, propelled and led by Africans has once again revealed that African leaders have still not recognised the important contribution women have made and continue to make on the continent. African women have traditionally been the conduit for the promotion and development of various strategies and initiatives. Their role in the different struggles in Africa and its development to date cannot be over-emphasised.
Conceptually there is a major gender gap in NEPAD, as it does not give enough attention to gender related issues. Despite the gender-neutral nature of the document. its implementation will have significant effects on women's role in development as well as their involvement in political and economic governance and conflict resolution.
It is therefore a matter of great concern that no formal role has been reserved for women in the emerging implementation framework of NEPAD. If real progress is to be made in Africa, by Africans, there must be an all inclusive approach of all groups from the conceptual stage - and women in particular must and should be consulted and have a more actively role in shaping initiatives such as NEPAD.
The organs that will be responsible to ensure the AU's objective of promoting gender equality include the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. While the Commission is functioning, the Court is yet to be established.
The protocol establishing the court was adopted in 1998 and requires the ratification of 15 states for it to enter into force. As at May 2001 only about five states had ratified the protocol.
The African Commission unfortunately has not been seized with issues dealing specifically with gender. This might have given the Commission an opportunity to give an interpretation of Article 18(3) of the Charter. The Commission makes recommendations to the Assembly of Heads of State arid Government on its findings and implementation of these recommendations (which are usually not binding) is left to the state parties.
It is hoped that the establishment of the court will enhance and complement the functions of the Commission. The court will pass legally binding judgement and most of its hearings will be in open court.
It is necessary for these institutions to be strengthened so as to be able to look more deeply into gender issues. The appointment of more women into the organs of the AU might be necessary but this is not the solution. Members appointed or elected To AU organs must be familiarised with national, regional and international treaties and declarations dealing with gender equality.
3.3.1 Questions and Comments Following the Presentation by Mr Eno
a. There are two articles in the additional protocol that deal with women, how is this feasible?
b. Is There enough time to impact on the protocol before adoption?
c. How can the court improve the protocol?
d. African women scholars who have documented women's issues should input into The protocol. What were the mechanisms on consultation? The adoption of the protocol in Pretoria needs to be weighed against an informed protocol. The history of the Organisation for African Unity (OAU) and the African Union (AU) gives no surprises on the inclusion of women.
e. There is a need to debate institutional mechanisms that need to be put in place. There is also a need to get away from the gender-neutral language. The differences between the OAU and the Au is that the OAU is a brotherhood of leaders and the AU has provided a platform for civil society through ECOSOC. Creating a special committee may create marginalisation, a proposal is to have a strong caucus.
f. How broad were the consultations on the 1981 African (Banju) Charter? How many women were involved?
g. Mr Eno said boldly that there was little chance for women's rights in Africa why?
h. On the 26th of March 2002 the National OSW held a consultation on the draft additional protocol. The African Commission on Human Rights drafted the protocol as per instructions by the AU. The document was given to Foreign Affairs to disseminate. The South African Foreign Affairs office did not inform the OSW nor the National Gender Machinery. The OSW had to intervene and therefore became part of the drafting committee. The document represents negotiated text and will not necessarily look like the South African Constitution as some countries live under Shariya Law for example. The question is do we want the document adopted now so that it becomes the Pretoria document or are we bold enough to say no?
i. Should we sign something that we are not fully comfortable with? This cannot be unsigned. Africa is not a homogenous continent, South Africa finds itself aligning with European countries on gender issues. Is there a possibility of delaying this document?
j. Mr Eno made a document available to the OSW, has been disseminated to stakeholders and if not why not?
k. Why is there no follow up by the African Commission on recommendations?
3.3.2 Response by Mr Robert Eno
a. No, there are two articles in the African Charter that deal with women.
b. The drafting of the protocol started in 1995. I cannot say whether there has been enough consultation. African and international NGOs outside Africa were involved by supporting the special rapporteur on gender. I cannot respond on the participation of grass-roots women.
f. I do not know. The process was initiated in 1979 because of the massive human rights violations that were happening in Africa by for example Idi Amin and other dictators. This was not good for the OAU's image. as they could not condemn such human rights violations (e.g. apartheid) without such a charter. The participants drafting the charter were all men. When the charter was adopted in 1981, all heads of state were men.
g. This is because there is a difference between paper and reality. Political will is needed as well as commitment. Rwanda has one of the best constitutions yet there was the civil war there.
i. do not know. Perhaps the document can be delayed through lobbying. Maybe the protocol can not allow for reservations. a state either ratifies it or it does not.
The Charter does not allow for reservations because this leads to dilutions. Countries that have ratified CEDAW with reservations may have problems with this as it might be seen as trying to bring CEDAW in through the backdoor.
j. The report of the presentation by Mr Eno on the 26th of March 2002 will be written and disseminated.
k. There are eleven commissioners and one chair and they are all part - time. The Commission is understaffed and is supported by donor funds fully. There are 53 African countries and travel within Africa is not easy. The name and shame strategy on human rights violations does not work as some African countries and leaders are immune to it. The best is therefore for the Commissioners to meet leaders face - to - face, but there are no resources. For example, the Commission sent a letter to President Abaja, but Mr Saruwewa was still executed.
3.4 Presentation on the World Summit on Sustainable Development Ms June Josephs: Department of Foreign Affairs
The upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) is a review of Agenda 21 of Rio. There is a recognition of poverty when dealing with environmental management. The developed countries (north) focus on environmental protection whilst the countries in the south focus on development. As a host South Africa has the task of seeking consensus and advancing national interest at the same time.
In theory, poverty eradication is a central issue. NEPAD already has a programme for sustainable development in Africa. A dialogue for sustainable development must have the participation of civil society; Therefore consultations at national and regional level on the agenda for WSSD, that is, a bottom - up approach. Gender must also be mainstreamed in policy approaches. The reality is that there have been hitches in calling for the representation of civil society.
In the negotiation document. only two sentences refer to "vulnerable groups south Africa raised this at the last prep - comm. There is now a whole paragraph and a section, see page 4 of attachment 4. South Africa negotiates as part of the G77 block. Perhaps South African has not done enough to ensure a gender agenda at the WSSD. Line departments and the OSW were involved only from prep - comm three. South Africa has sought alliance with some of the more progressive countries such as Norway.
In the negotiation text there are a lot of policy statements and declarations and none on implementation. South Africa then circulated a non - paper at the last prep - comm to try and set initiate negotiations on a development agenda for the next 10 years to go with the declarations. By the end of the first week South Africa thought that everyone agreed to this and expected a new document on Monday with concrete actions. South Africa was stumped by the United States who had lobbied the chair because they did not want commitments at intergovernmental level The outcome therefore was a type two document. This document is voluntary. has no guidelines, countries can pick and choose countries they want to work with/advance/assist and therefore development aide will be redirected to type two documents.
South Africa spoke out against this as it was an agenda to maintain the status quo on global development. By Friday the G77 block had lobbied for disregard of the type two outcomes. The chair then agreed to set aside the declaration text and lift and list platforms for action from it. He would then set a programme to allow the next prep - comm to develop these further.
South Africa must then infuse the six themes/policy priorities that it has identified as "having a direct link to and significant impact on the goal of poverty eradication" These themes are:
- Water and Sanitation;
- Energy;
- Agriculture and Food Security;
- Technology
- Education; and
- Health.
The next Africa workshop to negotiate these themes and take them forward to the next prep - comm is in Bali on the 10th and 11th of May 2002. There is agreement that there needs to be much wider debate on the sic priorities.
3.4.1 Questions and Comments Following the Presentation on WSSD
a. Vie are happy with the interventions of the South African delegation at the prep comm.
b. The Department of Foreign Affairs went to push the agenda of women at the prep - comm on poverty eradication, where was the OSW? Why was the OSW involved only from the third prep - comm. How is the National Gender Machinery, at national and provincial level, going to be represented from now on?
c. South Africa has no holistic approach to poverty eradication what instruments are to be used for the WSSD for monitoring?
d. How exactly can one intervene in the committees, especially the NSC?
e. What role can Members of Parliament (MPs) in the six priority areas?
f. What about globalisation and Agenda 21?
3.4.2 Response by Ms Josephs
b. Initially. there was no clear political leadership of the programme between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Envirormental Affairs and Tourism. There is a National Substance Committee (NSC) comprised of provinces and national departments that meets every two weeks. The Multistakeholder Advisory Committee (MAC) was stunted by the dynamics of the civil society. There is also an Inter - Ministerial Committee that meets every two weeks. as a result the NSC meetings were being neglected. There is a realisation that there needs to be a provincial outreach programme and this is happening.
c. On a national level there are two briefs:
- to prepare a South African position paper on the summit
- the development of a sustainable national development strategy. Different strategies will be debated/incorporated here. There is a need for coherence between the World Bank and International Monetary Fund etc, as incoherence impacts negatively on developing countries. The process has been given a year since February 2002.
d. The NSC originally had national departments and provinces, representation from major groups would be welcome. The MAC has the major different groups and these groups want to maintain independence from government. People can take ownership and engage with the Civil Society Secretariat.
e. Part of the outreach programme to provinces is to parliamentary committees. There are regular consultations with the Joint Monitoring Committee on the Environment, perhaps other committees should be involved.
f. Agenda 21 is 10 years old. Health is now a more pressing issue because of AIDS. Globalisation and poverty are also more pressing issues. There has been a call for two decades to review development finance. The United Nations held a development financing conference, but this happened before the WSSD. Outcomes from this conference will be carried into the WSSD. The positions at the WSSD in Johannesburg must be forward - looking. Pressing challenges have emerged in the past 10 years which have not been necessarily included in Agenda 21. From Bali the negotiations will be on the programmes of action for the next 10 years and must include funding, time - frames and the review of development agencies.
3.5 Presentation on the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Ms Lindeiwa Myakaza: NEPAD Secretariat
The strength of NEPAD is in its political will that cuts across regions. The draft plan of action has to be finalised by the 3rd of June 2002. The secretariat can sit with the OSW to do this. The plan of action is a political declaration from the heads of state.
It is important to note that some programmes are considered as gender neutral, for example. building projects - women can build too. But there is still space for intervention. It has to be kept in mind that NEPAD is a continental strategy therefore gender issues important to South Africa may not necessarily be important for other countries.
3.5.1 Questions and Comments Following the Presentation on NEPAD
a. Who are your stakeholders at provincial level in engendering NEPAD?
b. Has NEPAD accessed any funds yet?
c. In the secretariat, is the representation the same as in the steering committee?
d. For the objective.. water, the Lesotho project has been left out.
e. For the objective: energy, there is only mention of the highest sources of accessing energy and no mention of wood.
3.5.2 Response by Ms Lindeiwa Myakaza
b. There are donor funds to fund the secretariat. Other funds are within existing institutions.
c. No. The secretariat employs on short - term contracts for the purposes of setting up the organisation. There are also programme co-ordinators who come from outside South Africa.
d. There is broad articulation of projects as examples. Same for the question on energy.
3.6 Paper on the Moral Regeneration Movement
The presentation on this topic was not made. However, the meeting received a written presentation from the organisers, and assurance that all measures will be taken to ensure optimal participation by women, women's groups and gender activists including also the gender machinery. The meeting emphasised the importance of highlighting gender concerns in the Moral Regeneration Movement Programme.
Please refer to attachment 8: Opening Address by Deputy President Jacob Zuma, at the Launch of the Moral Regeneration Movement at the Summit held at the Waterkloof Air Force Base: Pretoria, 18 April 2002
4.0 Way - forward Action Points
4.1 Task Team to investigate the Capacity of the National and Provincial OSWs
A task force must be formed for the joint targeting of funding. The convener of the Gender Focal Point (GFP) Economic Cluster to work with the CGE on this.
A task team will be formed to investigate the capacity of the National and Provincial OSW offices. Their terms of reference are to prepare a document for Miniser Essop Pahad. The team is to present a document for the NOM within two months. The team is composed of the following.
- Convener of the GFP Governance cluster
- Ms Zukeiwa Mlakalaka - Ms OIly MIamleli
- Commissioner Bafana Khumalo
- Ms Mihloti Mathye
- A representative of the Joint Monitoring Committee on the Improvement of the Quality of Life and Status of Women
4.2 Mainstreaming AU Processes
There is an invitation by the SAHRC to ask the South African government why it has not ratified the African Court. The inquiry can be sent through the Department of Foreign Affairs which is co-ordinating the AU processes. The meeTing was informed that there were broader considerations with the issue of hosting the court. It was told two other countries have offered to host the court. Senegal and Mauritius. Libya has offered to host the African Parliament, this is curious as they do not have their own Parliament. South Africa wants to host ECOSOC. It must be kept in mind that the technical committees are where all the work really happens and therefore there is a need to be strategic.
Information must be requested from the Department of Foreign Affairs for the National Gender Machinery on - processes - opportunities for intervention - issues of protocol and location of committees.
The NGM must insist on a gender specialist on each of the eight committees the CGE will draft this letter.
4.3 World Summit on Sustainable Development
The NGM must make input into the National Substance Committee for WSSD.
The OSW will hold a pane! discussion on the 19th of April 2002 on "Engendering Sustainable Development". The OSW will also hold a think - tank session to develop a position paper on WSSD. The think tank intervention will be for the substantive input to the next Africa workshop on sustainable development to be held on the 10th and the 11th of May 2002. The OSW must write to the NSC of the WSSD and ask for position papers to inform the think -tank session.
The CGE wants to set up a centre at the WSSD as part of the month of volunteerism. The CGE proposes.
- hosting a welcoming dinner for women's delegations at the women's jail, which is soon to be the new space for the CGE
- the women's jail can form part of a tour guide
- the contact for the project are Ms Pinkie Mboweni and Ms Sibongile Nene. The project is envisaged to revive women's structures around sustainable development.
4.4 New Partnership for Africa's Development
There is a need to engage with the NEPAD document at the eve of language and definition of terms. The gender neutral language is problematic
At the 46th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (OSW) South Africa participated in an African Women's Caucus. A position paper was forwarded to the NEPAD steering committee.
The National OSW has been invited to participate in a gender critique of NEPAD by FEMNET.
The National OSW is assisting Professor Nkuhlu on a concept paper on how to include gender into NEPAD, for other countries.
There is a proposed consultation on the inclusion of civil society in NEPAD.
How do agreements such as CEDAW, Dakar and Beijing link to the NEPAD document?
A proposal is that there should be a seminar for provinces at engaging with NEPAD. The provinces will give their proposed dates to the National OSW for the national office to secure speakers for the provincial seminars.
4.5 Moral Regeneration Movement
The NGM has been offered five seats to the launch of the Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM). Attendance is important because they may be ground lost on gender issues, for example. the rights to terminate a pregnancy.
The Limpopo Province will forward their Moral Regeneration Movement framework to the National OSW for comment. The lead for this movement in the province is the Youth Commission.
The NGM should have a position paper for the launch of the MRM on the 18th of April 2002. The CGE is working on harmful traditional practices. The CGE must be given a mandate to draft such a paper.
4.6 Dates of the Next Consultative Meeting
The next consultative meeting of the National Gender Machinery will take place on the 27th and 28th June 2002. At this meeting, the meeting must decide on a theme for National Women's Day.