
By Graça Maria, Maputo, 04 July 2018: Under the motto “50/50 until 2030! Empowering women, ending gender-based violence and premarital marriages, “held the V National Summit on Good Practices on […]
The non-involvement of men in HIV and AIDS initiatives in the region is one of the impediments to progress in addressing the effects of the pandemic. Theresa Sikute Chishimba from the Society for Women and AIDS (SWAAZ) in Zambia, said that women are at the forefront with very few men joining in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Citing examples from her organisations’ experiences, she said SWAAZ invites both women and men, but men never show any interest.
The main conference hall turned into a computer jamboree on the last day of the Third Gender Justice and Local Government Summit on 25 April 2012. Participants took to the communications highway in a learning session on how to use the new information technology (IT). Approximately 100 computers including laptops were set up in the plenary for delegates to learn how to network with each other, navigate the Gender Links (GL) page, set up email and face book accounts. GL’s Chief of Operations, Kubi Rama, facilitated the fun session.
Participants at a Gender and Media Diversity (GMDC) seminar on Mainstreaming or malestreaming: Gender@work in organisations” have urged gender movements to involve men as equal partners in addressing gender inequalities. The older women in the movement should also mentor young girls so that they can close the intergenerational gap in the achievements made thus far to empower women and girls.
We caught up with seven summit participants and this is what they had to say (Note that this is the view of the participants and not those of the institutions that they are representing)
The third Gender Justice and Local Government summit closed in Johannesburg on 25 April 2012 with awards to women and men whose work on the ground won the highest accolades from judges and participants during presentations made earlier this week. The awards are used by Gender Links to affirm the work of local government stakeholders including councilors, community based organisations, municipalities and councils.
Participants welcomed the inclusion of the memory boxes and the issue of the environment and climate change on the agenda of this year’s summit, and noted that the issue must move beyond the halls of conferences. Bhekithemba Matsebula, a senior housing officer in the Swaziland Ministry of Housing says climate change should be part of our everyday lives. It should not be a subject reserved for special occasions such as summits.
Participants at the just ended Gender Justice and Local Government summit have described this year’s summit as a good training and learning ground for local authorities. Some 280 representatives from local government authorities, municipalities, non-governmental organisations, journalists and other professionals attended the summit organised by Gender Links (GL) under the banner “365 days of local action end violence and empower women.”
Participants to the third annual Gender Justice and Local Government summit signed a petition calling on governments in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to add an addendum on climate change and sustainable development to the SADC Protocol on Gender. Noting the impact of climate change on the lived realities of women, representatives from local authorities attending this year’s summit joined gender activists in urging governments not to leave out the issue in the gender protocol, which is a road map for achieving gender equality in the region. The protocol has 28 gender equality targets to be achieved by 2015
Mauritians at the just ended Third Gender Justice and Local Government Summit have called for the inclusion of women in political decision-making saying women have a lot to offer the electorate. Currently, women constitute 6.4% of those in local government in the country. “Women have so much potential and bring different perspectives to development. Along with their male counterparts, they will undoubtedly bring change,” said Shenaz Sooba, an executive member of the Labour Party. She added that women understand issues that affect the community much better than men. As a woman, she says she has always fulfilled her mandate in the community development association that she works for.
The recently launched Gender and Media Diversity (GMDC) Journal on Gender, Popular Culture and Media will contribute immensely to the growing body of knowledge around gender and diversity, participants to the launch said. Gender Links (GL) launched the journal Wednesday evening at a parallel event during the just ended third annual Gender Justice and Local government summit. Some 280 men and women from around the SADC region attended the summit.
In a symbolic action of solidarity with the campaign for climate change justice in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), participants to the Gender Justice and Local Government Summit braved the morning breeze (Wednesday) to take part in the “Walking the Green Talk” morning walk.