Pretoria – South Africa will table its country report, which reviews how far it has come in advancing women issues in the last 20 years, at the 59th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW59).
Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Susan Shabangu, on Monday held a stakeholder consultation in Pretoria to brief the nation on the state of readiness for South Africa’s participation at the CSW59.
The CSW59 meeting kicks off from 9 – 20 March 2015 in New York.
The Minister said following broader consultations, the country report has been compiled, informed by inputs from various stakeholders which review how far South Africa has come in advancing women issues in the last 20 years.
“This report provides a comprehensive account of South Africa’s progress on critical outcomes adopted by the UN Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. It contributes to a better understanding of how gender equality and the empowerment of women can be strengthened in a Post-2015 Development Agenda,” Minister Shabangu said.
The 20-year review of progress countries have made in the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action will focus on 12 thematic areas. These include women and poverty, education and training for women, women and health, violence against women, women and armed conflict, women and the economy, women in power and decision making, and institutional mechanism for the advancement of women.
It will also focus on the areas of human rights of women, women and media, women and the environment, as well as the girl-child.
“The draft national report was submitted to a Cabinet committee to recommend to Cabinet to approve the report. The Cabinet committee gave it the thumbs-up.
“Cabinet will approve it on 4 March and I will table it in Parliament. For the first time after many years, we will have a national report endorsed by Cabinet and Parliament,” Minister Shabangu said.
The country report will be released in the coming week once formal depositing processes have been finalised.
“We will make it available on our website www.women.gov.za and various other government websites,” said Minister Shabangu.
The CSW59 is a global policy two-week meeting that is attended by representatives of member states, UN entities and the United Nations Economic and Social Council accredited NGOs.
The programme for the meeting is divided into two distinct but interrelated sessions, namely the high level ministerial segment or formal CSW59 session and the NGO forum, which is in the main an informal session.
The CSW59 meeting marks the 20-year review of progress countries have made in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action (Beijing +20).
It has seen the global community intensifying efforts towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the shaping of a post 2015 Development Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
South Africa participated in the 4th World Conference of Women in 1995, and signed the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in the same year.
In line with resolution E/RES/2013/18 of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), South Africa is committed to undertake a comprehensive national-level review of the progress made and challenges encountered in implementing the Platform for Action for the achievement of gender equality and empowerment of women.