Summit 2017-Koeneng Council COE

 Koeneng Community Council is situated in Bela Bela in the rural area of Berea District. The council has joined COE process in 2015 and has completed 10 stages of the process.

In terms of a gender policy, the council is trying to align the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into their work. At present, the council has 17 councillors by which 12 of them are men and 5 are women. The mayoral sector is being led by men only.

The council has 3 committees and none of those have a female representative. Women, PWD and youth are part of decision making within the community council. Approximately 26%-50% women participate in public consultations and are part of decision making. Koeneng does not have a Junior Council.

The council employs three women, four men, two members of youth and three people with disabilities, of the total workforce. There is only one woman in the management. The council secretary is a woman.

There are provisions for maternity leave for 3 months and women at this stage get paid. However, there is none for paternity leave. The council does not have a sexual harassment policy. Cases of sexual harassment have to be reported at the authorities like the police. The council lacks disability-friendly facilities.

Koeneng Community Council allocates a substantial budget to gender-related projects from 2016 to 2017.

There are markets for women and men who are willing to sell their different products. However, there are no finance schemes linked to the council. In addition, the council projects consist of 10 women, 13 women, 4 youth and 3 PWD. This entails that people are being given opportunities within https://genderlinks.org.za/programme-web-menu/koeneng-coe-2015-07-27/the Koeneng council.

The council is aware of the climate change and its effects. The council has employed 27 people on the climate change projects. There are 13 men, 10 women, 2 youth and 1 PWD in the climate change projects, all involved in recycling catchments.

Women, men, PWD, and youth are involved in the planning, management, and maintenance of water and sanitation. There is a total of 3 water and sanitation committees. There are 2 women and 1 men on the committees. There are 2 women leading water and sanitation committees.

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