Editorial note

Welcome to the 27th edition of the Roadmap to Equality! Tracking progress towards the implementation and ratification of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development.

The election of South Africa Home Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dhlamini-Zuma’s as African Union (AU) commission chair, the most powerful position in the grouping, is cause for celebration as August a critical month on the gender equality agenda approaches. It is a victory not only for South Africa or the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) but for Africa’s women.

She has continued to break new ground as she has served ministerial positions traditionally male dominated such as Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs in South Africa. This has seen her serve in SADC structures such as the organ on the Inter-state Politics and Diplomacy Committee (ISPDC) mostly attended by men. There are high expectations that she will carry the gender equality torch into this new space as she is known to do.

The countdown to the Southern Africa Gender Protocol Alliance annual meeting scheduled for 14 – 15 August in Johannesburg begins. As per tradition, key issues of the agenda will include a SWOT analysis, reviewing the strategic plan, planning for joint campaigns and strengthening of institutional mechanisms. This year, one of the sessions will focus on reviewing the Network’s legal status.

The Alliance will launch the 2012 edition of the SADC Gender Protocol Barometer, an annual publication of the Network on 15 August 2012. There are two new features to look forward to. The first is a section on gender and climate, which attempts to look at where women are in decision making in that sector and other qualitative indicators based on a draft Addendum on gender and climate change developed by the Alliance as part of a campaign for SADC leaders to add this to the 2008 SADC Gender Protocol.

With support from UN Women, the 2012 Barometer introduces the concept of costing the SADC Gender Protocol at national level. Country researchers attempted to track government expenditure in programmes and activities that contribute to achieving gender equality with a special focus on the 28 targets of the SADC Gender Protocol.

The Johannesburg launch of the SADC Gender Protocol will be preceded by a first launch at the 8th Civil Society Forum to be convened by SADC CNGO ahead of the SADC Heads of State Summit from 6 – 9 August 2012 in Maputo. The Alliance will lead a parallel session focussing on what women want from SADC leaders under the banner: “The SADC We Want”, the theme for this year’s Forum. The Alliance will use the platform to get the campaign for an Addendum on gender and climate change into high gear.

South Africa is gearing up for commemorating women’s month during August, it is time to take stock of whether women have much to ululate for. There are progressive policies and laws but the gap lies in human and financial resource allocations and implementation.

At an inaugural launch of the Women and Budget initiative back in February 2012, the Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Lulu Xingwana and Precious Moloi-Motsepe promised to consult with women from both business and civil society and draw up a report on what the gaps were in the 2012 Budget in terms of gender. Moloi-Motsepeis co-chair of the Motsepe Foundation and spearheads the Women in Budget initiative.

The report would be presented during Women’s Month in August, and would hopefully help inform Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on how to draw up next year’s budget to ensure it does more to empower and benefit women.

This is something to look forward to in the coming month as the nation also awaits the launch of the National Gender Based Violence Council by the same Ministry also scheduled for August. The GBV levels as highlighted by the Gauteng Gender Based Violence Indicators Project, which show that at least 51.3% of women have experienced some form of violence,are a sore point. Even more shocking is the admission by 75.5 % men that they have perpetrated some form of gender based violence in their lifetime. That takes the country two steps back. Click here to read the report.

If media reports are to go by Zimbabwe will also not meet the SADC Gender Protocol target of reducing by half the current levels of gender-based violence by 2015 as levels are said to be increasing according the recently released police statistics and Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey.

Lesotho has failed the 5050 by 2015 test in their appointment of the cabinet ministers. Following the recent national election there was a drop of 15 percentage points from 37% in 2011 to 22% women representation. There were other qualitative losses besides a drop in which left Matseliso Mapetla from the University of Lesotho who is also the Barometer researcher for the country exclaiming, “Lesotho has really lost this time around”.

On a positive note Zambian gender activists are making waves to ensure that gender is sufficiently mainstreamed in the constitution and are demanding that it be adopted through a referendum at a just ended Women’s Constitutional Conference held from 13 – 15 June 2012. The conference came up with a declaration and roadmap for mobilising plan for inclusion of women’s constitutional rights in the document.

2015, yes we can! I will not say goodbye, but so long!