Declarations from the 2018 SALGA Women’s Commission National Summit

Posted: 23 August 2018

Following the successful hosting of the SALGA Women’s Commission National Summit in East London International Convention Centre in Eastern Cape, on 13- 15 August, women leadership on behalf of 257 South African municipalities has resolved to continue serving citizens and to consolidate the gains made towards deepening women empowerment, gender equity and equality within South Africa’s maturing democracy.

The 2018 SWC National Summit Declarations are as follows;

WE CELEBRATE the significant legislative, quantitative and quality progress made over the past two decades to advance the cause of Gender equality and equity. This progress remains focused on Women’s empowerment, transformation and representation in critical domains of leadership, management and governance in relation to socio-economic and political conditions within the local government sphere.

WE ACKNOWLEDGE adverse conditions through which Women in general and Women Councillors, in particular, continue to strive through at work and in communities of their designations. 

WE APPRECIATE the ongoing solidarity and programmatic partnerships of Gender organisations and institutions, the vertical ones between three levels of government and the horizontal ones between different sectors, within the Republic and across the region, continent and the globe.

WE NOTE the slow pace of progress, stagnancy and regress in some areas of the structural and systemic development in relation to Women representation, empowerment and leadership. At the moment of the writing of this declaration, the Republic is mourning the continued, among others, heinous murders, violent rapes and complex kidnapping schemes of Women and Girls.  As the SWC, we convey our heartfelt condolences to families and loved ones of these Women and Girls, to those who have made it to the public news and those who haven’t.

WE ARE INSPIRED by the keynote address by the SALGA President and participation of our partners within government and non-government organization in relation to events and programmes of the SWC.

The 2018 SWC National Summit pledge to lead the fight against:

• Patriarchy finding expression and imposing its suppressive, exploitative and oppressive measures through poverty; institutionalised mistrust around women leadership; political, private sector and media traditions; poor institutional funding; restriction to land access and polarization of masculinity from femininity;
• Gender-based violence (GBV) in all its forms, verbal and physical, and in all spaces, private and public

The 2018 SWC National Summit also resolve to be impact driven in pursuance of:

• The empowerment of Women for the enhancement of their dignity
• The representation of Women in critical domains of development
• The transformation of Women for improved mutual support and uplifting as opposed to pulling each other down
• Bringing all Women on board across political affiliation.
• Practice advancement, policy betterment and Gender mainstreaming
• Institutional arrangements conducive for the optimal and timely achievement of women empowerment and gender mainstreaming objectives
• Furtherance of institutional support and funding of the Gender cause
• Socio-economic and political structural and systematic transformation
• Intensifying Gender sensitive planning especially in relation to the Integrated Development Plans, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation, advocacy, procurement, dialogue, research and capacity development especially on legislation in the local government sphere.
• Strategic partnerships nationally, continentally and globally
• Alignment of the local Gender agenda to the policies in the local government and global agenda such as the Sustainable Development Goals