Question NW1420 to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
05 May 2022 - NW1420
Hlengwa, Mr M to ask the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
With reference to her speech at a dinner hosted by the Charlotte Maxeke Institute on Saturday, 9 April 2022, where she spoke of several projects to be rolled out in the course of five years, with the aim of mobilising the global community to support women’s leadership across all the action coalitions, particularly economic justice and rights through education, training and mentorship for women and youth (details furnished), what are the (a) criteria that will be used to determine the suitability of potential partners for the Fellowship for African Women and Diplomacy Programme that will groom female public servants inspired by the values of Charlotte Maxeke, such as ethical leadership, empathy and excellence and (b) details of the type of support required?
Reply:
a) The criteria that will be used to determine the suitability of potential partners for the Fellowship for African Women and Diplomacy Programme that will groom female public servants inspired by the values of Charlotte Maxeke, will be ethical leadership, empathy and excellence.
The Charlotte Maxeke Fellowship for African Women in Diplomacy is one of the six flagship programmes and will be implemented during Phase 3 (2023/2024) of the Charlotte Maxeke African Women’s Economic Justice and Rights Initiative. The Fellowship programme will provide both degree and non-degree awarding opportunities to the next generation of African women in public service.
The implementation of developmental programmes is a complex exercise that needs different expertise, skills and strategies. National government alone cannot manage to respond to the needs of the people or the stakeholders without soliciting partnerships. We therefore need a collaboration with different role players using their unique access and influence in society in order to gain support and buy in. The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) like all other government departments has been utilising the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for effective and more inclusive service provision. This partnership between government, private sector, academia, civil society organisations as well as development partners has been shown world over as an effective model.
DIRCO is already working actively with the Charlotte Mannya Maxeke Institute (CMMI) which is a non-profit company organisation born out of the desire to preserve, promote, elevate, and leverage the legacy left behind by Mme Charlotte Maxeke. Mme Charlotte Mannya Maxeke’s achievements and contributions to society both inside and beyond South Africa’s borders motivated the families to seek recognition of her accomplishments as well continuing to promote her teachings, the values she stood for and the continued empowering of women and social activism she pursued during her lifetime. For DIRCO to celebrate this icon, it was important to work with the family through the CMMI.
For the roll out, DIRCO will be initiating engagements with the following stakeholders: (i) Wilberforce University in the USA; (i) Higher Education Institution in South Africa (UP, Wits or UJ); (iii) Higher Education Institution in East Africa (University of Nairobi or Addis Ababa University); (iv) Higher Education Institution in West Africa (University of Ghana Legon); (v) US Government; Ford Foundation and (vi) African Leadership Centre, to advance the Initiative and start gearing up for its rollout. The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), Ford Foundation, and the Swiss Foundations have been identified as key and influential partners to solicit financial resources from to support the initiative, as well as to provide policy and/or programmatic support, driving advocacy and awareness.
DIRCO will also engage different constituencies including private sector and youth organizations as well as strengthening civil society engagement. This will make the collective commitment truly multi-stakeholder, but more importantly, will leverage the expertise and opportunities that these constituencies offer the Initiative.
In addition, the Department through its diplomatic Missions will take advantage of the emergence of the new female presidency in Ethiopia H.E Madame Sahle-Work Zewde and in Tanzania H.E. Madame Samia Suluhu Hassan, which offers a fresh opportunity to draw on influential champions on the continent (both serving and retired) in order for the initiative to be anchored in many parts of the continent through them.
b) The support required includes participation by private, civil society, academia, and development partners to supplement limited public sector capacities, and raising additional financial resources. We hope to harness private sector operational efficiencies to be able to increase quality to the public and the ability to speed up development and implementation of this programme.