Question NW1633 to the Minister in The Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
31 July 2020 - NW1633
van der Merwe, Ms LL to ask the Minister in The Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
(1) With regard to the establishment of the National Council on Gender- based Violence and Femicide, (a) on what date and (b) how will civil society be engaged meaningfully to participate in the process to establish the National Council on Gender Based Violence and Femicide; (2) Whether the R80 million funding sitting with the National Development Agency is still available for distribution to organisations working on gender-based violence and femicide; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, on what date will it be distributed; (3) Whether the South African Business Coalition on Health and Aids still manages the Gender-Based Violence Fund; if not, what is the current status of the Fund; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
1.Cabinet established the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Gender Based Violence and Femicide which will play a key facilitation and political liaison role in the National Council for Gender Based Violence and Femicide (NCGBVF) processes; The National Council which will be tasked with the implementation of the National Strategic Plan (NSP); and take recommendations made at the 2018 Presidential Summit against GBVF forward; The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD) recently met with civil society sector to engage and forge a roadmap for the establishment of the National Council; The Webinar resolved to extend the deadline for the establishment of the National Council to provide Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) the opportunity to consult extensively with their constituencies and communities on processes to be followed towards the establishment of the National Council – that includes discussions on the National Council terms of reference and selection criteria for the representatives. The parties agreed on a timeframe of 3 months following the Webinar.
2.The Department of Social Development (DSD) has appointed the National Development Agency (NDA) as an implementing partner for funding of CSOs from the Criminal Asset Recovery Account (CARA) Funds. The contract between DSD and NDA was signed for R95 million for funding of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) which render services to victims of crime and violence including victims of gender based violence as well as implementing mentoring programme for emerging CSOs. The NDA advertised the call for proposals in January 2020 and the total of 589 proposals were received by closing date. These proposals were evaluated by the inter-sectoral evaluating team comprised of representatives of NDA, DSD and the Interim Steering Committee on GBV and a total of 312 CSOs were recommended for funding. The process of verification for all the recommended CSOs has been conducted and the process of contracting as well transferring the funds to qualifying CSOs is underway.
3.In order to enforce accountability, coordination and leadership, the multi-sectoral GBVF Fund was established by the Interim Gender Based Violence and Femicide Steering Committee (IGBVF-SC) in order to urgently respond to the GBVF crisis and to support interventions rolled-out within the Emergency Response Action Plan (ERAP). Amongst others, the objectives of the a multi-sectoral GBVF Fund are to: a) provide a vehicle for the private sector to respond to the national emergency response on GBVF campaign in a coordinated and strategic manner; and b) provide a vehicle for the private sector to be able to effectively monitor and efficiently spend funds in this regard.
In order to facilitate this process, on 13 December 2019, the South African Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (SABCOHA) was approved by the Department of Women, Youth & Persons with Disabilities, through recommendation by the IGBVF-SC, as the agency to establish the multi-sectoral GBVF Fund in line with the terms of reference crafted by the IGBVF-SC. SABCOHA proceeded with getting approval to open a separate bank account in line with its internal and banking governance requirements. Once established, the NCGBVF will be the custodian of the multi-sectoral GBVF Fund; and will work together with CSOs to develop guidelines for management of the fund based on feminist principles.
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