COMMISSION ON GENDER EQUALITY
PRESENTATION BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF
THE COMMISSION ON GENDER EQUALITY MS JOYCE PILISO-SEROKE
JOINT MONITORING COMMITTEE ON THE
IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY OF LIFE AND STATUS OF WOMEN
Chairperson, Members of the Joint Monitoring Committee, Ladies
and Gentlemen.
We have come a long way: the
establishment and institutionalization of the Gender Machinery in
Following their recent appointment by the President, a new body of
Commissioners has finally come on board. Let me introduce the Commissioners who
are here today….
The other Commissioners are….
We were requested to present to you
an overview of the activities and financial report of the Commission on Gender
Equality for the period 2006-2007, together with the strategic plan for the
coming year. These documents have already been presented at the Budget Hearings
of the Justice Portfolio Committee. As the Commissioners’ term of office has
just commenced, the stratplan document still has to be deliberated with
Commissioners for their input.
Before I request the Chief Executive
Officer of the Commission on Gender Equality, Ms
Securing the entrenchment of gender
equality in the Constitution of South Africa and the state’s commitment to
international, regional and sub-regional instruments, have been major
achievements of advocacy for gender equality and the empowerment of women. The
establishment of appropriate institutional mechanisms or gender machinery can
be traced to direction given at the Beijing World Conference. The Beijing
Platform for Action, which was
·
Create national machinery “at the highest level of
government” for the advancement of women
·
Give this machinery a clearly defined mandate and authority
·
Provide the machinery with adequate resources
·
Ensure the ability and competence of this machinery to
influence policy, and to formulate and review legislation.
Since this time,
The Commission for Gender Equality
(CGE)[1]
was established as an independent statutory body in terms of Section 187,
Chapter 9[2] of
the Constitution of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996. The Commission on Gender
Equality, as an institution established to strengthen constitutional democracy,
the CGE is mandated to promote respect for gender equality and the protection,
development and attainment of gender equality.
The powers and functions of the CGE
are detailed in the Commission on Gender Equality Act 39 of 1996. In terms of Section 11(1), the CGE must inter alia monitor and evaluate policies
and practices of organs of state at any level, statutory bodies and functionaries,
public bodies and authorities, and private businesses, enterprises and
institutions, in order to promote gender equality and make any recommendations
that the Commission deems necessary.
Also applicable to the Commission on
Gender Equality as a national institutional supporting constitutional
democracy, in terms of the Principles
relating to the Status of National Institutions (The Paris Principles), as
adopted by the General Assembly
resolution 48/134 of 20 December 1993, are the various principles espoused
in relation to national institutions supporting and promoting human rights.
Central to these is that such national institutions shall be vested with
competence to promote and protect human rights, be given as broad a mandate as
possible, and that the principle of independence is guaranteed. The Commission
on Gender Equality as a Chapter 9 institution is also based on these
Principles, which includes the mandate to report to UN or regional treaty
bodies on the status of human rights as independent national institutions of
human rights.
South Africa’s National Policy Framework for Women’s Empowerment and
Gender Equality
describes the structure and components of the institutional framework for
mainstreaming of gender through the Gender Machinery. The Gender Policy
Framework captures this specific function of the CGE in the description of “key
institutional processes” (section 1.6):
Advancement of the empowerment of women and gender equality and
monitoring the effectiveness of departmental policies on gender equality; and
Liaise with parliamentary committee (JMC) and monitor the implementation
of the Policy Framework.
This specification of the role of
the CGE within the Gender Machinery resonates with the Paris Principles for
national institutions, where it states that national institutions shall
“maintain consultation with the other bodies, whether jurisdictional or
otherwise, responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights (in
particular ombudsmen, mediators and similar organisations); and “develop
relations with the non-governmental organisation devoted to promoting and
protecting human rights, to economic and social development, to combating
racism, to protecting particularly vulnerable groups… or to specialised areas”.
STRENGTHENING OF THE GENDER MACHINERY
At the beginning of 2007, for the
first time since the advent of our country’s new-found democracy, parliament
introduced the process to review all chapter nine bodies that support
democracy. For our part, the CGE has welcomed the initiative, which we believe
will inform how we strengthen our country’s democratic processes and practices,
also through the Gender Machinery.
We have given our input to the Ad
Hoc Committee set up to undertake this enormous task. As we navigate our way in
the seas of democratic change, we hope that the Ad Hoc Committee received and
will consider our submission in a constructive manner.
We now look forward to its
insightful outcomes, and stand ready to shift gears where such recommendations
are made. In the end we hope that the Ad
Hoc Committee will ensure the independence, impartiality and effectiveness of
the Commission on Gender Equality to exercise its powers and perform its
function without fear, favour or prejudice.
The Commission on Gender Equality remains
strongly committed to strengthening
The
CGE believes that an integrated package of institutions is necessary to deal
with the many and complex human rights issues of women and girls. Global best
practice has showed that a comprehensive national gender machinery is essential
to a democratic state, with clarity about coordination, powers, functions and
relations among the institutions to avoid duplication and confusion. Furthermore,
global best practice indicates that one of the institutions in the package
should be a constitutional body with powers to enforce its decisions and
perform a watchdog role. This is seen as necessary to prevent arbitrary
government interference, protect its autonomy and reputation, and allow it wide
effective powers.
The Commission on Gender Equality has since its
inception delivered on its mandate despite a host of challenges mostly based on
insufficient resources. We continue to insist that government should fulfil its
obligations and prove its commitment to gender equality by providing sufficient
resources to the gender machinery and to the CGE. We recognise that greater
cooperation is needed between national machinery, NGOs and other civil society
organisations. Also, a stronger, more watchful and more supportive women’s
movement and civil society will contribute to our quest for a more effective
national machinery.
In terms of the operations and programmes, I wish to bring the following
to your attention:
The CGE now has offices in all nine
provinces, and each of the provincial offices have now been beefed up with core
personnel in the form of researchers, legal, as well as education officers.
This bodes well for our outreach efforts to both the South African citizenry
and our partners who need our support in every part of the country.
In this past year, our relations
with partners have widened in scope and depth. We have engaged in
collaborations with them both at the national, sub-regional, regional and
international levels. In the year under review, CGE collaborated with key
partners in the gender sector to host a number of successful workshops,
campaigns, dialogues and conferences on various topics. Highlights of these
activities include:
·
A
conference on ritual murders in
·
A
workshop to garner inputs on the SADC Draft Protocol on Gender Development, a
precursor to the meeting of Heads of State later this year that we expect to
ratify this important instrument. The gender machinery and other interest
groups participated in this exercise.
·
Pre-conference
Summits that the CGE ran country-wide, prior to the recent World Congress on
Rural Women (WARD), not only extended our reach, but they presented a unique
opportunity for ordinary farm and rural women and men to have their own
voices heard.
Chairperson, these kinds of
collaborations have far-reaching impact. They contribute to limiting and/or
eliminating duplications, and ensure a groundswell of synergies of our common
initiatives. This can only result in integrated approaches and a positive impact
on our society and deepening of our democracy.
INSTITUTIONAL GOVERNANCE
Our organizational affairs were run
on a sound basis:
On the HR front, the CGE staff
turnover improved relative to the previous year/s. We filled various positions,
new and existing, both at management and lower levels. The provincial offices,
which I referred to earlier, are almost fully capacitated. Overall our staff
complement has moved from 94 to 101 during the period under review. All this
translates into a better resourced CGE that can ably carry out a major part of its
mandate.
The status of CGE finances is
also on a sound footing. Overall, we have managed to receive unqualified
reports.
During this period we had a
qualification on staff leave. This has now been addressed through the revision
of our leave system.
On another related matter, we wish
to bring to your attention, Chairperson, an area of concern that has also been
raised at other times and fora, namely: The Budget Process. The current
process of budgeting and allocation, including the manner in which we approach
the MTEF presentations, continue to dog us. The recent development,
Chairperson, is that the CGE cannot make its case directly to Treasury but has
to do so through the Department of Justice. This state of affairs has become
untenable for a number of reasons, including that:
·
We
are not in a position to formally engage Treasury on our corporate plans and
priorities that we feel only we can articulate, first-hand; and
·
We
feel our independency is compromised by the very process of reliance on a
second source – the Justice Department, to receive our annual allocations
As you know, Chairperson, due to
these constraints, the CGE initiated some discussions around the
budget/allocation matter. We wish to request that the said discussions be
expedited and brought to a conclusion, to ensure that inputs and recommendations
we made receive the attention they deserve.
CONCLUSION
Before I close, Chairperson, I wish
to reiterate the commitment of the CGE. The biggest challenge of the CGE is
being an institution responsible for monitoring gender transformation in a
country that is itself still transforming. However, we are up to the challenge:
·
The
Commission on Gender Equality will ensure that the legacy of the struggles
waged and gains made by countless people shall be carried forward and
strengthened;
·
The
CGE will continue to monitor, introduce and/or lobby for interventions and
improvements, on
May I take this opportunity to thank
you, Chairperson and members of the JMC, for our relationship throughout the
years. I wish you continued success in your veritable task. I thank the
Secretariat for their support, and wish my new colleagues a successful term.