Cabinet has emphasised the importance of different sectors in society working together with government to tackle the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).
“Communities are urged to tackle the scourge of GBVF head-on by reporting perpetrators to law-enforcement agencies. Each sector of our society must play its part by creating conditions that make it difficult, if not impossible, for GBVF to thrive,” Cabinet said on Thursday.
Government hosted the second Presidential Summit on GBVF at the Gallagher Estate in Midrand, Gauteng, on Tuesday and Wednesday under the theme: “Accountability, Acceleration and Amplification, NOW!”
“The summit was the ideal platform to engage in honest and robust discussions around successes and challenges in the fight against GBVF. It also showcased the need for collective action and how significant success can be achieved if adequate resources are provided and managed correctly.
“The agreements reached at the summit have demonstrated the importance of the partnership that government has forged with civil society, business, development partners, the faith-based sector and other sectors to work together to deal with the scourge of GBVF,” Cabinet said.
Some of the interventions agreed upon included the need to allocate adequate funding to the National Strategic Plan (NSP) on GBVF to implement consequence management mechanisms to ensure accountability, and to strengthen national, provincial and local accountability structures.
The summit reflected on progress made in the implementation of declarations proposed during the 2018 Presidential Summit, which reaffirmed the country’s commitment to a united, comprehensive and effective response to GBVF.
Participants at the two-day summit accounted for work being done towards the implementation of the NSP on GBVF, which aims to provide a multi-sectoral, coherent strategic policy and programming framework to strengthen a coordinated national response to the crisis of GBVF by the government and country as a whole.
Cabinet reiterated that all acts of violence and abuse will not be tolerated in society. – SAnews.gov.za
