Issued by: Department of Justice
The Chief Directorate: Transformation and Equity launched the National Gender Forum yesterday. The Gender Forum represents a mechanism whereby the Department could feed into and interlook with various processes on the advancement of gender equality. It also presents on opportunity to influence transformation within the Department itself and on a national level.
Article 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) condemns discrimination against women. This article requires that each member state should take policy measures to stop such discrimination by inter alia including the principle of equality between men and women in its national constitution and laws, making sure that this principle becomes a reality in everyday life. Each member state is also required to make sure that there are national courts on special bodies where women can go to complain about discrimination. Responding to this national call, the Department of Justice has developed its own gender policy statement in order to bring a gender perspective to the planning and implementation of the transformation process within the Department. The policy provides a framework for the achievement of gender equality and substantive equality for women and men through the empowerment of women.
The Gender Forum should be regarded as a very crucial and important of the National Gender Machinery. It represents a mechanism whereby the Department could feed into and interlook with the various processes on the advancement of gender equality, ensuring valuable and significant contribution to this cause. Viewed in this light, the Gender Forum represents a wonderful opportunity to influence transformation both within the Department itself and also on a national level.
One of the major functions of the Gender Forum will be the facilitation of co-ordinated and systematic main streaming of gender issues into planning and policies, and the implementation of the aspects highlighted in the policy in all activities performed by the Department. The Gender Forum will form part of the implementation strategy for Institutional Transformation and Monitoring as envisaged in the Gender Policy.
It is envisaged that there should be a National Gender Forum and also regional sub-structures. Local of sub-offices may also constitute their own local fora which will link up with the provincial fora. This means that whilst all the provinces will have to set up their own gender fora, there will still be a National Gender Forum consisting of at least two representatives from the various provincial fora.
Having been set up it is anticipated that the regional structures will exercise their own discretion on the regularity of their meetings, but will, however, be required to submit quarterly reports to the National Gender Forum, which will meet every three months.
The Department is committed to address all matters concerning gender issues. The Department's Gender Mission Statement reads as follows:
"Within the next five years, we will take all steps to:
eradicate all obstacles to women's access to justice through
researching, acknowledge and addressing the needs of women, including race
and class differences and disadvantages in the administration of
justice, in order to achieve substantive equality for women.
To this end we will:
address both our internal policies as an employer, and our
external policies as a service provider to the communities."
The launch of the National Gender Forum therefore marks another important milestone in our concerted effort to constantly and continuously promote gender equality and effect improved service delivery.
ISSUED BY THE CHIEF DIRECTORATE: COMMUNICATION SERVICES OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
20 MAY 1999
PRETORIA
ENQUIRIES: HEINRICH AUGUSTYN
TEL: (012) 315 1723
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