Women's Month

1 - 31 August

“Working Together for Equal Opportunities and progress for Women: Forward to the Decade of African Women”

South Africa commemorates Women’s Month in August.

Women’s Day (9 August) recalls the day in 1956 when women from all races and walks of life marched to the Union Buildings in protest against oppressive apartheid laws.

This historic march was a turning point in the role of women in the struggle for freedom and society at large. Since that eventful day, women from all walks of life became equal partners in the struggle for a non-racial and non-sexist South Africa.

The Women's Day commemoration will take place at Buffalo City stadium in East London on 9 August.

Government is organising activities throughout the country:

Government advisories, statements and speeches

The year 2010 marks the commencement of the decade of African Women (2010-2020) as declared by the Heads of States of the African Union.

Government recognises that the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment are central to all efforts aimed at combating poverty and stimulating sustainable development.

The dedicated Ministry for Women, Children and People with Disabilities gives emphasis to Government’s initiatives to protect and promote the interests of women and other targeted groups.
The 2009 female representation in Parliament and in provincial legislatures puts South Africa amongst the leading countries in the world in terms of the number of women in important leadership positions.
Government continues to pursue the advancement of education, including the elimination of gender disparities to increase the participation of women and girls. Since 2000, there has been a steady increase in the number of female students graduating in science, engineering and technology.
Good practices such as safety nets for abused women and children (victim empowerment shelters and Thuthuzela care centres) to protect women and children were established.
Income support structures and programmes like Women in construction, South African Women in Mining and Energy, and Women in farming are some of the economic empowerment programmes in place to enhance women development.

The advancement of women’s emancipation calls for a reflection on the attainment of regional and global milestones which mature in 2010.

Commitments from the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (30th years since adoption by the UN General Assembly) and the Beijing Platform of Action (15 years since adoption) are being fulfilled in the form of adopted gender-sensitive laws and constitutional provisions.
The need to address gender inequality was emphasised as an explicit goal on gender equality and the empowerment of women in the Millennium Development Goals thus providing another valuable opportunity for the advancement of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing commitments.
The launch of the African Women’s Decade 2010-2020 provides an opportunity to leverage on global and regional political goodwill for the advancement of African women. The African Union (AU) adopted the Africa Gender Policy in 2009. This policy guides the process of gender mainstreaming at regional and sub-regional levels, and makes provisions on technical support the AU committee can provide to member states for mainstreaming gender in their policies and programmes.
In accelerating our initiatives towards the realised emancipation of all women, there will be a conference report outlining the Plan of Action towards Beijing +20, reports on discussions around Bills in Parliament, a National Plan of Action on Women in informal Cross Border Trade and a report on Women’s Empowerment beyond the World Cup.

Read about Women's struggle in South Africa.

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Last modified: 06 August 2010 14:42:29.