Men urged to lead fight against gender based violence

Friday, December 1, 2017

Public Service and Administration Minister Faith Muthambi has encouraged men to take the lead in the fight against gender based violence.

“Men have the power to put an end to abuse, assault, rape and domestic violence against women and children,” Minister Muthambi said.

She was speaking during the Community Development Workers Consultative Engagement and the African Peer Review Mechanism Second Generation Review Process in Worcester on Friday.

The consultative engagement takes place as the country observes the campaign of 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children. The annual campaign is run from 25 November to 10 December.

Over this period, government will convene a series of dialogues on violence against women and children to focus on the challenge, discuss the causes and to find appropriate solutions.

Through the dialogue sessions, government will interact with community members who experience violence and abuse. 

“We call on responsible father figures to instil the values of human dignity, equality and respect in young men and boys.  Our young boys must be mentored and guided in their journey to adulthood so they value and respect women and children,” Minister Muthambi said.

She encouraged communities to report all cases of rape, sexual assault or any form of violence to the police. 

“Our criminal justice system and our courts deal harshly with those who commit violence and abuse.  The police and courts are empowered to arrest, prosecute and convict perpetrators of violence, assault and rape,” Minister Muthambi said.

CDW programme

She said the National School of Government is working on a number of capacity development initiatives for both the Community Works Programme (CWP) and the Community Development Workers (CDW).

The NSG is planning to conduct the first pilot session of the programme in February 2018.     

“The target audience for the first group will be CDWs, representatives from the Non Profit Organisations that are the implementing agents, site managers and supervisors from the CWP, Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs officials and Department of Public Service and Administration officials.

“We remain committed to helping you in improving your skills, and in shaping your careers as public servants,” Minister Muthambi said.

The CDW programme was primarily created to bridge the service delivery gap between the government and the people. 

It is a community-based programme established by government to facilitate a solid community-government interface, which would result in increased access to government services by communities through the ward based CDWs. – SAnews.gov.za