ANNUAL REPORT 2009/2010

COMMISSION FOR GENDER EQUALITY27 OCTOBER 2010

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CGE MANDATE

Constitution of SA:In terms of Section 187 of the Constitution of SA, CGE was created to strengthen and deepen constitutional democracy in South Africa.

The Commission on Gender Equality Act 39 of 1996:Charges the CGE with a mandate to promote respect for, as well as promote the protection, development and attainment of gender equality.

PEPUDA Act 4 of 2000: Obligates the CGE to institute proceedings of unfair discrimination on the grounds of gender

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EXECUTION OF THE MANDATE

• Monitor• Investigate• Research• Educate• Lobby• Advise Parliament and report on issues concerning gender equality• To influence legislation & policies to be gender sensitive by

responding to all legislations and relevant policy• To monitor compliance to international, regional instruments• To strengthen outreach services

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INTERNAL & EXTERNAL CHALLENGES

INTERNAL EXTERNALLack Continuity- New Commissioners/Perspectives

Commissioners Vacancies/Legal requirement in terms of law

Structure

Financial Resources Limited in turn impacts on Human Resource Capacity

IT Infrastructure

Lack of cooperation to CGE’s monitoring role from stakeholders

Limited Budget/Resources

Public Perceptions

NGO’s competitiveness

CGE Graded lower than all C9’s

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ORGANISATIONAL CONCERNS & OPPORTUNITIES

CONCERNS OPPORTUNITIESLimited Resources

Lack of Cooperation from Government- CGE projects

CGE presents reports to Parliament and limited actions/follow up

Public Perceptions

Lack of understanding CGE’s Mandate9service delivery issues

PEPUDA- No budget allocation

Set Budget from Treasury

Donor Funding

Presence in all Provinces & Collaborative work with stakeholders including C9’s

CGE’s Mandate- Constitutional Independence

Ability to influence Legislation

Extensive Knowledge on Gender Issues

Recognition by International Bodies

Strategic Review underway

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SERVICE DELIVERY PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

The CGE through its operational departments have managed to achieve most of its pre-determined objectives.

3 Key Operational Departments are;

Public Education & Information

Legal Services

Research

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SERVICE DELIVERY PERFORMANCE INFORMATION-PEI

THEME EC FS GP KZN LIM MP NC NW WC TOTAL

Gender-based

Violence (8)

8 8 7 9 6 3 9 5 8 71

Gender and

Poverty(11)

11 8 7 8 10 8 7 9 6 85

Gender Democracy and Good

Governance(7)

1 1 1 4 4 1 1 3 5 28

Gender Culture Religion

and Tradition

(7)

6 5 5 6 4 2 5 4 4 48

Gender HIV and AID S(4)

2 2 1 2 2 2 1 0 1 17

(NGM)(4)

4 4 4 21 4 4 4 4 4 53

Total(41) 32 28 25 33 30 20 27 25 24 302

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SERVICE DELIVERY PERFORMANCE INFORMATION-PEI

72

99

63 63

36 36

7185

28

48

17

53

114

35

15 11 17

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Gend

er-

base

dvio

lence

Gend

er an

dPo

verty

Gend

er,

Demo

cracy

&Gov

erna

nce

Gend

er,

Cultu

re,

Relig

ion,

Trad

ition

Gend

er,

HIVa

nd A

IDS

Natio

nal

Gend

erMa

chine

ry

Target Actual Variance

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SERVICE DELIVERY PERFORMANCE INFORMATION-PEI HIGHLIGHTS

National Office

• held a Women and the Media Dialogue during the month of October 2009. This was a collaborative seminar with Media and Diversity Development Agency (MDDA) and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).

• Two working groups have been established to prepare reports on the country’s compliance with the international instruments, namely the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The working groups comprise officers from the Research, Legal and PEI Departments. The two reports will be available in the 2010/11 financial year.

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SERVICE DELIVERY PERFORMANCE INFORMATION-PEI HIGHLIGHTS

The Eastern Cape office • headed a consortium of the Commission, SAHRC, UNPFA, National Prosecuting

Authority (NPA) and OPP. The prime purpose of the established consortium was the development of material that would be used in their interventions in fighting against forced marriages, Ukhutwala.

16 days of activism• Interventions during this period focused on the impact that GBV has on the

increased number of HIV infections as well as increases in rape and sexual assault incidents. Other interventions focused on men, masculinities and gender-based violence as well as possible increase of violent incidents during the FIFA World Cup.

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PEI CONT…The Kwazulu-Natal office:

Harmful Cultural Practices • Three practices discussed at the dialogues were virginity testing, ukuthwala and

male initiation. The dialogues discussed whether traditional practices still hold relevance and whether these practices are indeed being undertaken within the ambit of culture. Also for consideration: these traditional and/or cultural practices to take cognizance of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Maternity Benefits• spearheaded two pilot consultative workshops on Maternity Benefits for Self-

Employed Women. The workshops were held on 18 and 20 August 2009 in Stanger and Durban respectively. A diverse group of working women gathered at both workshops to dialogue and debate the issues with the campaign team and to deliberate on the policy gap and the practical impact on working women.

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PEI CONT……The Mpumalanga office:

Men against violence

• hosted a men’s seminar on issues of gender based violence at White River on 26 November 2009 followed by a men’s march on 27 November 2009.

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MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS

• Support for line departments by printing reports and pamphlets• 40 media coverage or interventions were made for the year under review addressing or

looking into issues ranging from and not limited to: CGE’s mandate Forced marriages Sex work Human trafficking Maternity benefits Gender & Elections GBV

• Interviews were mainly conducted with National and Community based radio stations.

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SERVICE DELIVERY PERFORMANCE INFORMATION-LEGAL DEPARTMENT

HIGHLIGHTS OF COMPLAINTS• Chieftaincy cases • SAWFA• Estate Matter- Recognition of Customary Marriages & Interstate of Succession COURT MONITORINGFor the year under review, 16 cases were monitored countrywide. The purpose of monitoring was

to ascertain the courts functionality. PUBLIC HEARINGSThe Legal Department participated in 10 public hearings organised by parliament. The Public

hearings held were on the Traditional Courts Bill

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LEGAL CONT….

PARLIAMENTARY LIASON

SUBMISSIONS

12 Submissions were made to Bills before Parliament including draft bills likely to affect Women. Issues covered included and not limited to:

Human Trafficking Customary Marriages Domestic Violence Adult Prostitution Protection against Harassment and Expansion of the CGE mandate to assist citizens in foreign jurisdictions.

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SERVICE DELIVERY –PERFORMANCE INFORMATION- RESEARCH DEPARTMENT

Thematic Area Target as per POA 2009/2010 Actual Achieved

Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Sex Work Concept Paper.Literature review.Victims Charter Report

Completed

Poverty

Land distribution/socio-economic rights access- Gendered Analysis of Land Reform Policy and Implementation outcome in South Africa.

Completed & Presented to National Department

Culture, Religion and Tradition Concept Paper development;Ukuthwala; Virginity Testing and Female Genital Mutilation.Traditional courts desk top study on best practice, international conventions etc. to produce research report.

Concept Paper completed.

HIV and AIDS CGE assesses policy and implementation terms, the extent to which the Broad Framework for HIV, AIDS and STI Strategic Plan for South Africa 2007-2011 reduces women’s and girls’ vulnerability to HIV and AIDS.

Completed

Democracy and Good Governance (D&GG)

Employment Equity-Complete Gender Equity in the Private Sector 2008.

Study finalised, presented to EE Commission

Gender Barometer report and web-based tool.

Launch of the Gender Barometer with national government institutions.Information sessions held with a sample of 15 government departments identified to participate in the pilot project.

Monitor the 2009 national and provincial elections

Tools developed.Monitoring of elections has taken place.Study completed in all provinces of the Republic of South Africa, and presented to IEC

Gender and Media Dialogue Seminar report produced: Transformation, Gender and the Media Dialogue.

Monitoring of Government Departments National- 17Provincial- 25

SERVICE DELIVERY HIGHLIGHTS

• Beijing Project• CEDAW Project• CSW Seminar Report• Internal Staff Training on International Instruments• Elections Monitoring & Dialogue Reports• Parliamentary Submissions• Identification- Reservation in Terms of AU Protocol• Ratification of SADC Protocol• Ukhutwala in Eastern Cape• Petition in KZN- Manyiseni Matter• Maternity Benefits Project• Land Study Report

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SERVICE DELIVERY –PERFORMANCE INFORMATION- VARIANCES

• CGE fleet was grounded from May to 14 August 2009.• POA was circulated 24 June 2009 to provinces and roll-out commenced almost into

the 2nd quarter• Capacity in terms of the vacancy rate had a major impact on implementation.

Concerted effort was made to execute the activities but as mentioned lack of capacity and overall late roll out of POA had impacted on implementation.

• Specific activities were done at national level and not at provinces, but was in the POA to be rolled out to provinces.

• In relation to cultural practices were expected to be executed, but could not due to provincial dynamics not all provinces have similar practices.

• There have been limitations in terms of data required to finalise the projects as government departments responses are very slow at times no responses are received. CGE needs to develop a strategy to ensure governments compliance to request for data.

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RE-ENGINEERING ROAD MAP

ACTIVITY ACTIONS/TIMEFRAME

Implementation of Turn Around Strategy

Phase 1- Complete- Short TermPhase 2- In Process- Medium Term

Strategic Review Phase1- In Process: Consultation & DraftingPhase 2- RestructuringPhase 3- Implementation of new strategy

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THANK YOU!!!

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