Pretoria-A human settlements policy that is gender-sensitive is needed to drive social transformation, Human Settlements Minister Connie September said on Wednesday.
“While recognising the limitations of sector based gender strategy, I believe that a gender-sensitive human settlements policy can drive social transformation,” she said.
The minister was speaking at a Women in Human Settlements Dialogue on Wednesday.
In her address the minister said that although much has been achieved in the last 20 years much more still needs to be done for gender equity.
“Given the successes of the last 20 years, we all agree that achieving gender equity is a difficult task and much more must be done. Further, the role of human settlements in promoting gender equity is widely acknowledged,” she said.
Minister September said that addressing the issue of gender requires a holistic approach.
“This must include how we design homes, how we design neighbourhoods, the safety and security of women and children, the participation of women in construction as well as monitoring the quality, and the on-going maintenance,” she said.
Research projects in 60 developing countries, indicate that female-headed households are much poorer than male-headed households with similar studies in South Africa also confirming this.
“Thus [the] continued targeting [of] women-headed households will make a greater impact on addressing the poorest of the poor. Providing women with assets that they can leverage securely for their economic needs will assist in improving their livelihoods and security.” - SAnews.gov.za
