President Cyril Ramaphosa is today expected to convene a virtual meeting with the Interim Steering Committee on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF).
The meeting will explore ways in which government and civil society can combat violence against, and the abuse of vulnerable persons and groups as part of the national response to COVID-19.
The steering committee, which comprises government and civil society delegates, will also present reports detailing progress in the implementation of the National Strategic Plan (NSP) and the Emergency Response Action Plan (ERAP).
The reports will provide progress in addressing these five key intervention areas:
- Access to justice for victims and survivors;
- Changing norms and behaviour through high-level prevention efforts;
- Urgently responding to survivors of GBV;
- Strengthening accountability and architecture to respond to the scourge of GBVF adequately, and
- Prioritising interventions that facilitate economic opportunities for addressing women’s economic vulnerability.
These interventions - under the Emergency Response Action Plan - are aligned to the pillars of the National Strategic Plan, which was approved in March 2020.
They are integral to a broader, sustained and strengthened response to all forms of GBVF in the country, which that addresses underlying structural drivers such as economic power, and the pervasiveness of violence and related systems of inequality.
It is also envisaged that strategic synergies with other key initiatives, including the District Development Model, will be maximised to achieve a grounded, multi-sectoral and intersectional approach to the NSP.
The virtual meeting of the President will be convened from his private residence in Johannesburg. – SAnews.gov.za
