PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION

1. PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION The aim of this presentation is to brief the Portfolio Committee on Gender Equity and Mainstreaming of Disability in the Public Service, Northern Cape

2. SPECIAL PROGRAMMES DIRECTORATE • The Special Programmes Directorate is located in the Office of the Premier under Programme 3 (Policy and Planning). • It comprises of the following units: • The Office on the Status of Women, • The Office on the Rights of the Child, • The Office on the Status of Persons with Disabilities, and • Moral Regeneration and Transformation.

3. SPECIAL PROGRAMMES DIRECTORATE: STRUCTURE

4. SPECIAL PROGRAMMES: OBJECTIVES • Creating an enabling environment, advancement and socio - economic development for Women, Children and Person’s with Disabilities in the Northern Cape. • Providing leadership and support to Northern Cape Provincial Departments of Batho Pele programmes to improve service delivery and coordinate the programmes of all sectors aimed at restoring moral fibre of society.

5. ENABLING INSTRUMENTS • GENDER: • Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality Strategy and Implementation Plan (Draft). • Aim: • The Purpose of the Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality Strategy is to provide an integrated Framework for managing and accelerating gender transformation through effective planning and monitoring of Women’s Empowerment by Provincial and Local Government as well as Civil Society.

6. ENABLING INSTRUMENTS • GENDER: • South Africa’s National Policy Framework for Women’s Empowerment • and Gender Equality 2001. • Aim: • To advance the ‘Basic Needs’ approach to Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality to ensure that Government approaches these challenges in an integrated manner. • To enhance and advance Gender Mainstreaming in all spheres of Government. • To Establish Policies, Programmes, Structures and Mechanisms to empower women and to transform gender relations in all aspects of work and at all levels of Government, as well as in the broader society.

7. ENABLING INSTRUMENTS • DISABILITY: • Provincial Programme of Action 2007 – 2008 (Reviewed). • Aim: • To alleviate poverty amongst disabled people and their families. • Combating causes of disability by promoting peace and reducing other causes of disability. • Strengthening of the African voice of disabled people. • Service Delivery Framework for Persons with Disabilities in Municipalities 2008. • Aim: • To create a conducive environment for Persons with Disabilities in Local Government

8. ENABLING INSTRUMENTS • EMPLOYMENT EQUITY: • Provincial Diversity Management Training Manual 2011. • Aim: • Employment of Women and Persons with Disabilities to assist the Employment Equity Manager or any person who is tasked with the training to have an understanding of diversity management and to be able to train other staff members on diversity and to draft his/her own diversity management strategy for Departments or Municipalities. • Employment Equity Policy and Plan 2010 Oct – 2013 Oct • Aim: • To achieve the set target of 50% of women employment in SMS level and 2% persons with disabilities across all occupational categories.

9. ACHIEVEMENTSMainstreaming Disability and Gender in the Public Service • GENDER: • Provincial Gender Machinery has been established and is functional. • Gender Focal Persons have been appointed in all Provincial Departments (from Assistant Manager to Deputy Manager). • All Municipalities have Special Programmes Officers dealing with a variety of issues, i.e. gender, persons with disabilities, children, youth, elderly, IDP’s, etc. (location varies from Office of the Mayor and the Municipal Managers). • OSW coordinated awareness campaigns on issues affecting women and girls and linked these to commemorative days, i.e. Women’s Month, 16 Days of Activism on No Violence Against Women and Children and International Women’s Day. • OSW assisted Municipalities with the induction processes of the implementation of Gender Policy Framework.

10. ACHIEVEMENTSMainstreaming Disability and Gender in the Public Service • GENDER: • All GFP’s trained on gender conceptualisation. • Training Manual has been developed on the implementation of gender mainstreaming within Departments and Municipalities. • Capacitated Departments on the implementation of the HOD’s 8 Principle Action Plan. • Strengthening shelters for abused women and children by rendering financial support through fund raising, i.e. Gamagara Shelter, Bopanang Shelter, Tsholofelo Shelter , Thuthuzela Care Centre and Tamar Centre. • OSW coordinated Economic Women’s Empowerment Programmes in collaboration with the Department of Economic Affairs, the Department of Social Development, the Department of Labour and the Municipalities LED Officers (Training on Financial Management, Office Management and Development of Business Proposals).

11. ACHIEVEMENTSMainstreaming Disability and Gender in the Public Service • DISABILITY: • The Office facilitated training sessions on Disability Mainstreaming for Provincial Departments and Municipalities. These Sessions also assisted with laying the foundation for the domestication and institutionalisation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). • The Office conducted awareness raising programmes on the UNCRPD for Provincial Departments, Municipalities and Disabled People’s Organisations. These sessions were attended by disability focal persons, Municipal Councillors and the Disability Sectors.

12. ACHIEVEMENTSMainstreaming Disability and Gender in the Public Service • DISABILITY: • Other awareness raising programmes were partnerships between South African Local Government Association (SALGA) on the implementation of Disability Framework for Local Government and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) on the relationship between disability and HIV/Aids. • Terms of Reference for Disability Machinery were developed and adopted in July 2012.

13. ACHIEVEMENTSMainstreaming Disability and Gender in the Public Service • DISABILITY: • The disability machinery, amongst others: • Seeks to serve as a forum to oversee the mainstreaming of disability rights into Government strategy and integrated plans, programmes and activities. • Monitors the implementation of the international, continental and national disability instruments in the Province. • Provides a platform for multi-stakeholder engagement across disciplines and sectors on the development of the Provincial and Local Disability Agenda.

14. ACHIEVEMENTSMainstreaming Disability and Gender in the Public Service • DISABILITY: • Provincial Report on the UNCRPD was submitted to the Department of Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities. • Research Report on the Disabled Youth in the Northern Cape was conducted by the University of Cape Town. The objective of the research was to investigate the livelihood assets of disabled and non-disabled youth in rural communities of the Northern Cape. The said report was tabled on 3 December 2012 (The Report was commissioned to inform policy processes and programmes of Provincial and Local Government as well as civil society organisations that work with disabled youth at community level).

15. ACHIEVEMENTSMainstreaming Disability and Gender in the Public Service • EMPLOYMENT EQUITY: • Established Provincial Employment Equity Forum that meets on a quarterly basis to assess the progress made on the employment of Women and Persons with Disabilities, and to train and advise on issues of Employment Equity and Diversity. • Terms of Reference for the Forum developed and adopted. • Provincial Diversity Training Manual developed with a “dummy” presentation and instructional CD to simplify the process of training, development and employment of Women and Persons with Disabilities.

16. PROGRESSEmployment of Women and Persons with Disabilities Representation of Women and Persons with Disabilities in the workplace

17. PROGRESSEmployment of Women and Persons with Disabilities Provincial Scenario: Departments and Municipalities

18. CHALLENGES • No Target Group disaggregated data in most monitoring and evaluation systems. • Inconsistence with the location and levels of Target Group focal persons. • Reporting on service rendered to Target Groups is not based on planning but on events because sector departments and municipalities do not have gender and disability specific indicators in their Strategic Plans and Integrated Development Plans. • Employees are not open about their disability status. • No Employment Equity Policy and Plan in some Departments. • Limited number of posts at SMS levels.

19. SOLUTIONS • Encourage employees to declare their disability status. • Departments to have Employment Equity Policies and Plans in place. • Establishment of Employment Equity Forums within Departments and Municipalities. • Integrated Framework on Target Groups • Setting up functional teams to achieve integration.

20. SOLUTIONS • Integrated mainstreaming strategy that will focus on the following issues: • Institutional Support, • Monitoring and Evaluation (develop a check-list on performance for Target Groups), • Advocacy, and • Capacity Building. • The Integrated Mainstreaming Strategy will be finalised by the end of September 2013.