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President Cyril Ramaphosa will, on Sunday 09 August, deliver the 2020 National Women’s Day keynote address under the global Generation Equality campaign with the theme: “Generation Equality: Realising women’s rights for an equal future”.

Given the national lockdown restrictions on public gatherings, this year’s national day will be televised and celebrated virtually with President Ramaphosa delivering his keynote address remotely.

National Women’s Day is celebrated on 09 August every year as part of Women’s Month, which commemorates the heroic 1956 Women’s March to the Union Buildings against draconian pass laws and their impact on women.

Women’s Month is a platform from which government and civil society are able to highlight the challenges confronting women and profile programmes and policies that advance women’s empowerment and gender equity.

This year Women’s Month objectives are to advance efforts to end gender discrimination and advance the rights of women and girls in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres of life, and mobilise women and strengthen organised formations towards the development of sustainable Action Coalitions.

The Month also aims to advance efforts to develop national consensus around a programme of gender policy priorities and programming to advance the gender agenda in the period 2020-2025, and towards the achievement of gender equality in South Africa by 2030.

Women’s Month 2020 is also directed towards giving impetus to the accelerated implementation of programmes for women, youth and persons with disabilities.

Furthermore, government and civil society are working together to address national priorities including the eradication of gender-based violence, expanding youth employment and ensuring reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities.

Issued by The Presidency