Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga: South Africa Country Statement at the 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women

Thank you, Chairperson 
Excellencies and Distinguished Delegates 

1.     Re-affirming support for the Beijing Declaration and CSW69 Declaration

From the onset, South Africa reaffirms its longstanding commitment to the full, effective, and accelerated implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. We pledge our support and congratulate the commission on the unanimous adoption of the political declaration yesterday. We recognise these as transformative blueprints for a future that will be just, equitable, sustainable, and collectively prosperous.

Moreover, we align ourselves with the statements delivered on behalf of the African Group, the Group of 77 plus China, as well as the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

2.    Situtational analysis and problem statement

As we gather to review, appraise, and take stock of progress in implementation of the Beijing Declaration and the Beijing Platform for Action, we do so from the world that is far from ideal for women and girls.

South Africa – Progress, achievements, challenges and gaps

Chairperson, 
Here is how far we have come as South Africa:
Gender Equality and the empowerment of women and girls are constitutional imperatives enshrined is Section 9 of the Constitution. Our Bill of Rights embraces restorative approach to gender equality.

A. With regard to representation in decision and law-making structures, South African women make up 43.5% of our Parliamentarians—an increase from 28% representation in 1994—and 43% of the Executive, up from only three women in 1994. As of February 2023, 45% of our 253 judges are women, up from only two women in 1994. This includes the very first South African woman to occupy the position of Chief Justice and Head of the Constitutional Court, our Apex Court.

B. We have surpassed gender parity in higher education participation rates in that over 60% of graduates from our colleges and universities are women. We are now prioritizing increased representation of Women in STEM, Artificial Intelligence and related emerging technologies.  

C. Comprehensive Social Protection and Fighting Poverty:
Over the past 30 years, we have developed and rolled out one of the most extensive social protection systems in the developing world, with social grants providing much-needed poverty relief for millions of women and girls.

D. Our President recently signed into law the National Council Act on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide which underscores South Africa’s whole-of-society effort to prevent, eliminate, and respond to violence against all women and girls in public and private spaces, online and offline. We have also completed a national GBVF prevalence study to ensure that our current and future interventions are based on sound scientific evidence.

E. Through our Chairship of the G20 Ministerial Working Group on the Empowerment of Women, we are shining the spotlight on the care economy, promoting financial inclusion through preferential public procurement for women-owned enterprises, and ensuring that women have access to land and related productive assets and economic opportunities.

Despite this progress, a lot more still needs to be done.  

Chairperson, no democratic world nor state can claim freedom unless women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression. Women and Girls will be free and this is our commitment.

I thank you. 

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