While notable progress has been made in alleviating the plight of women and girls around the world, billions of them are still discriminated against and marginalised in the workplace, at home and in broader society, President Cyril Ramaphosa has said.
The president said this Thursday evening during a virtual high-level meeting to mark the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women convened by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City.
Calling on governments represented at the UNGA to end all forms of violence against women and girls, Ramaphosa said gender-based violence (GBV) “continues unabated and is an indictment on our societies.”
“Meeting the aspirations of the Beijing Platform for Action and Sustainable Development Goal 5 demands a more decisive response from us all,” the South African leader said.
He revealed that his government has placed the empowerment of women “as one of South Africa’s national priorities and central to our development strategies.”
“In this regard, we have a multi-sectoral National Strategic Plan to provide a coordinated national response to violence and abuse against women,” he said.
According to him, part of his country’s plan to root out GBV included law reforms to protect survivors and the creation of opportunities to enable women to become financially independent.
Ramaphosa, who is also African Union chairman, said as part of the African Women’s Decade of Financial and Economic Inclusion, AU member states have agreed to put policies in place to increase women’s economic participation, access to finance and ownership of land.
“By unleashing the economic potential of women, we are unleashing the potential of our economies to grow and benefit all,” he told the UNGA:
NM/jn/APA