Pretoria – South Africa is to participate in a United Nations meeting to discuss the scourge of violence against women and girls in societies across the world.
The 57th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) will take place at the UN headquarters, New York, from today and will continue over the next two weeks.
The South African government delegation will be led by Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities Lulu Xingwana, and will include Minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini, Deputy Minister of Correctional Services Adv Ngoako Ramahlodi and Deputy Minister of South African Police Service, Maggie Sotyu.
The CEO of the Film and Publications Board Yoliswa Makhasi and representatives from the National Prosecutions Authority are also expected to attend.
The session, to be attended by government delegations from other UN member states, will see governments reporting to the UN on work that has been done in their respective countries to prevent gender based violence.
South Africa will participate in various activities of the session and will host and coordinate side events on gender based violence, economic empowerment of women as well as an event which will emphasise strengthening the hand in hand approach in the fight against gender based violence, strategies and approaches for ending violence against women, strengthening partnerships for working solutions.
The theme for the session is “Elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls”.
The review theme for the session is “Equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including care giving in the context of HIV/AIDS”. – SAnews.gov.za
