We can’t speak about a GBV crisis and not finance it, says deputy minister - TimesLIVE
Five years after countries made commitments to tackle gender-based violence (GBV), stakeholders are calling for stronger implementation, funding and prevention as Southern African countries take stock of what has been achieved.
Akili Dada, through the support of UN Women, and in partnership with the Black Womxn Caucus, is convening GBV Action Coalition commitment-makers from across Southern Africa under the Shirikiana Initiative to take stock of five years of commitments, build a coalition, and shape joint advocacy for the next phase.
The Southern Africa Regional Convening is being held in Johannesburg from September 8 to 10, bringing together commitment-makers, government representatives, media and regional funders. Its focus includes validating evidence on progress, identifying challenges and developing regional recommendations and joint advocacy campaigns.
The Generation Equality Forum’s five-year action period has closed, but the convening comes as stakeholders warn of shrinking civic space, financing gaps and the risk that progress on GBV could be reversed.
Deputy minister in the presidency responsible for women, youth and persons with disabilities Mmapaseka Steve Letsike said SA had made progress through legislative amendments and interventions across education, health and communities.
She pointed to 68 Thuthuzela Care Centres and progress in convictions, but said these measures had to be matched by stronger prevention. “The big part of the work we have is the prevention agenda.”
She said communities, health and faith leaders all had a role to play in identifying and stopping gender-based violence.
Letsike said SA also needed to intensify implementation, co-ordination and budgeting. “We can’t speak about a crisis and not finance it appropriately,” she said, identifying funding and financing as key gaps in the response over the past five years.
She said GBV interventions needed to be properly costed so that government could understand the resources being put into prevention and response and whether they were producing results.
The convention’s objectives include refreshing the evidence on commitments, building a broader coalition, launching joint advocacy campaigns and securing political will from decision-makers.
Letsike said the next phase also needed to place greater responsibility on men to challenge violence and harmful gender norms.
“Men are not bystanders,” she told TimesLIVE.
Sonke Gender Justice regional programme specialist Josephine Mukwendi said engaging men through other men was one way of challenging those norms.
The organisation uses community action teams made up of trained men from the communities where it works. They engage other men on positive masculinity, patriarchy and issues such as fatherhood.
Mukwendi said the conversations also take place in spaces where men gather, including traditional community meetings and taverns.
She said the approach had resulted in men challenging one another and, in some cases, intervening when they became aware of potential violence. “There are a lot of changes because men are now able to highlight what is wrong and what is right,” Mukwendi said.
The convention will conclude with a coalition-led roundtable where commitment makers, policymakers and funders are expected to adopt formal regional recommendations.
The organisers say the Southern Africa gathering is intended to produce regional recommendations, campaign clusters and a validated evidence base that will feed into the next phase of the work.
For Letsike, the test now is whether political commitments can translate into meaningful changes in the safety and lives of women and children. “Women can no longer be walking around feeling unsafe. That’s unacceptable.”
