ATC130517: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Women, Children, and People with Disabilities on the Revised Strategic Plan of the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities (2013/14) and Budget Vote 8 for the financial year 2013/14, dated 15 May 2013.

Report of the Portfolio Committee on Women, Children, and People with Disabilities on the Revised Strategic Plan of the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities (2013/14) and Budget Vote 8 for the financial year 2013/14, dated 15 May 2013.

The Portfolio Committee on Women, Children, and People with Disabilities, having considered the strategic plan and budget of the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities for 2013/14 on the 08 May 2013, reports as follows:

1. Introduction

The strategic plan and budget of the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities was referred to the Portfolio Committee on Women, Children and People with Disabilities on 13 March 2013 for consideration and report. The Committee, in performing its constitutional oversight mandate, engaged with Department of Women, Children and People on 08 May 2013.

2 . Overview of strategic plan, budget and associated objectives of each programme for the 2013/14 financial year

According to the Estimates of National Expenditure (ENE) for 2013, the aim of the Department of Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities is to drive, accelerate and oversee Government’s equity, equality and empowerment agenda on women, children and people with disabilities, especially in poor and rural communities. In order to achieve these aims, the activities of the Department are divided among the three designated target groups namely; women, children and persons with disabilities.

More specifically, the Department aims to:

_• Collaborate with civil society to ensure conditions for integrated transformation in the three sectors.

_• Improve Government’s capacity to align planning across the three spheres of Government.

_• Monitor policy implementation and the realisation of sector specific targets for attaining the national goal to halve poverty and unemployment by 2014.

_• Develop global partnerships to strengthen the development of women, children and people with disabilities.

_3. Priorities over the medium-term

The Department’s strategic goals over the medium term are to:

• Coordinate and facilitate the process of establishing the National Council Against Gender Based Violence;

• Mainstream women empowerment and gender equality, children’s rights and disability considerations into Government’s policies and governance processes;

• Monitor and evaluate the mainstreaming of women’s empowerment and gender equality, children`s rights and disability considerations into Government’s policies and governance processes; and

• Coordinate institutional support and capacity development programmes for the promotion, protection and advancement of women, children and people with disabilities.

_{The Department also took into consideration the priorities of the National Development Plan which are to eliminate poverty through economic growth, jobs, education, and skills development, and to build a capable and developmental state. In so doing, the Departments activities as outlined in the Annual Performance Plan are related to job creation, skills development and education.}

4. Budget Analysis

The budget of the Department grew from R172.2 million in 2012/13 to R198.3 million in the 2013/14 financial year. Notwithstanding the nominal increase of 2.85 per cent, the budget has actually been decreased by 2.60 per cent when inflation is taken into account. Thus, in real terms the Department has less funding to work with than it had in the previous financial year. The implications of which have a direct impact on the core programmes of the Department. Moreover, this Department’s budget constitutes a mere 0.013 per cent of the overall national budget earmarked for the advancement of the rights of women, children and persons with disabilities.

In terms of economic classification, 66 per cent of the budget (R 131.6 million) is allocated to current payments, 61 per cent of which will be used for compensation of employees. The balance (R 51.3 million) is allocated for expenditure on goods and services. In addition, 31.8 per cent of the budget has been allocated to Transfer Payments.

Programme	Budget ( R million)
	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/2016
Administration	42.8	63.8	91.6	97.5	102.9
Women, Empowerment and Gender Equality	78.2	79.5	82.9	91.7	96.3
Children's Rights and Responsibilities	10.2	13.5	9.9	12.2	13.5
Rights of People with Disabilities	12	15.4	13.9	17.1	17.6
TOTAL	143.1	172.2	198.3	218.5	230.3

4.1 Programme 1: Administration

The purpose of this programme is to provide effective leadership, management and administrative support to the Ministry and other branches in the Department. According to the National Treasury (2012) between 2009/10 and 2012/13, expenditure increased significantly due to capacity building in the Minister’s office and the accommodation needs of the Deputy Minister’s office.

The Administration programme consists of four main sub-programmes namely:

• The Ministry comprising of the Minister and Deputy Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, ministerial support services and coordinates interaction between the Ministry Parliamentary Committee and related activities.

• Management which comprises of the Office of the Director-General including Internal Audit and the Secretariat for the National Council Against Gender-Based Violence and related support services.

• Corporate Management which comprises of administrative and essential services needed for the smooth running of the Department. This consists of Resource Management (HRM, IT and Facilities, Financial Administration, Strategic Management, Research and Policy Development, Inter-sectoral Coordination and International Relations and Communications.

• Office accommodation which is responsible for physical accommodation and safety of the Department in line with applicable legislation.

The programme has been allocated R91 637 million for financial year 2013/14. In this financial year however, the administration programme consumes 46 per cent of the budget. It should be noted that 61 per cent of the overall budget for this programme is allocated for the compensation of employees. Furthermore, an amount of R 51.3 million has been earmarked for goods and services (38.98 per cent), while travel and subsistence accounts for 12.16 per cent (R 16 million). In the previous financial year 2011/2012, travel and subsistence constituted 38.8 per cent of the overall goods and services allocation. The increase in spending in the medium term will mainly for the compensation of employees, which goes up 23.1 per cent in 2013/14 to build capacity for the department to implement its turnaround strategy. The budgetary allocation for the establishment of National Council on Gender Based Violence was also not stipulated. In addition, it was noted that a Chief Executive Officer would be appointed for the Council.

4.2 Programme 2 : Women, Empowerment and Gender Equality (WEGE)

The purpose of this programme is to facilitate national and international instruments into empowerment and socioeconomic development programmes as well as overseeing and reporting comprehensively on the national realisation of women’s rights and the progressive realisation of equality. The overall budget for WEGE 2013/2014 is R 82.9 million. It should be noted that t he transfer payment for the Commission for Gender Equality amounts to R63.1 million, constituting 76.12 per cent of this programme’s budget.

The strategic objectives of this programme are as follows:

· To promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. This will be done by advancing advocacy and mainstreaming activities to align with the national policy and gender mainstreaming strategy, and by increasing the representation and participation of women in various socioeconomic, cultural and political spheres by 50 per cent by 2014/15.

· To monitor and evaluate the mainstreaming of women empowerment and gender equality outcomes, ensuring that policy and programme implementation are directed to common goals in line with Government priorities. This will be achieved by developing and maintaining a monitoring and evaluation framework and establishing a database with gender responsive indicators and readily available gender disaggregated data in 2013/2014.

· To align international and regional instruments on women’s empowerment and gender equality initiatives with Government’s gender targets, by reviewing related legislation and Government policies by 2014/2015.

The Department aims to achieve these objectives through three sub-programmes:

_· Advocacy and Mainstreaming for Gender Equality

This sub-programme promotes the mainstreaming of women’s empowerment and gender equality considerations into Government’s policies and governance processes. Previously the total budget for this sub-programme was R9.3 million in 2012/2013. This year (2013/2014) the budget has decreased to R8.7 million.

The ENE (2013) indicated that this sub-programme will focus on ensuring the promulgation of the Women Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill. The bulk of the budget of Programme 2 in the medium term will focus on this sub-programme, particularly on the transfer of funds to the Commission for Gender Equality.

_{· Institutional Support and Capacity Building for Gender Equality}

_{This sub-programme coordinates institutional support and capacity development. It promotes synergy among Government departments, civil society and the private sector. This sub-programme had a total budget of R6 million in 2012/2013.} This year (2013/2014) this sub-programme budget has decreased to R4.8 million.

_{· Monitoring and Evaluation for Gender Equality}

This sub-programme tracks delivery on constitutional, regional and international mandates. It achieves this through the implementation of a sector-specific performance tracking system; verifying sectoral performance evaluation and comprehensive reporting systems. It also aims to monitor compliance with national and international instruments. This sub-programme had a total budget of R5.9 million in 2012/13. This year (2013/2014) this sub-programme budget has increased to R 6.3 million.

4.3 Programme 3: Children’s Rights and Responsibilities

The overall budget for this programme is R 9.9 million. The programme aims to oversee the consolidation of the children’s rights agenda and the alignment of the conceptual frameworks and strategies across the three spheres of Government to advance delivery in line with constitutional and international instruments. It promotes children’s rights and responsibilities in Government policies, programmes and governance processes by:

· Developing a national and provincial plan of action for children’s rights by March 2015;

· Facilitating social campaigns and programmes for the survival, protection and development of children and for child participation on an ongoing basis;

· Developing and implementing a national monitoring and evaluation strategy to monitor Government and civil society’s progress on the realisation of children’s rights on an ongoing basis and;

· Developing and implementing capacity building and support strategy for Government and civil society stakeholders in the children’s rights sector over the medium term.

This programme consists of three sub-programmes:

· Advocacy and Mainstreaming for the Promotion and Protection of Children’s Rights

The primary objective of this sub-programme is to align and advocate children’s rights and responsibilities across the three spheres of Government. This sub-programme had a total budget of R4.1 million in 2012/2013. The current (2013/2014) allocation is R3.4 million. In 2012/13, 5 national child advocacy events were conducted; and the National Plan of Action for Children was finalised after public consultations. In 2013/14, the following will be facilitated: National Children’s Day; the promotion of access to education for all children; Child Protection Week; International Day of the Girl Child; the Google online child safety campaign; and the Sanitary Dignity campaign in partnership with other Government departments, provincial Government, civil society and United Nations (UN) agencies. The National Plan of Action for Children will be tabled in Parliament and a provincial plan of action for children will be finalised in 2013/14. This sub-programme had a staff complement of 4 in 2012/13.

· Institutional Support and Capacity Building for the Promotion and Protection of Children’s Rights

_{This sub-programme coordinates institutional support and capacity development in relation to children’s rights. It promotes synergy among Government departments, civil society and the private sector} ; it had a total budget of R5.2 million in 2012/13. The current (2013/14) allocation for this sub-programme has decreased from the previous year to R3.4 million. In 2012/13, consultations on key policy documents for child rights machinery were held. The consultations included national and provincial stakeholders from Government and civil society organisations. In 2013/14, the strengthening and piloting of a model for child-friendly cities will be facilitated, capacity will be built for the National Plan of Action for Children, and a monitoring and evaluation tool and institutional arrangement strategy will be developed for all spheres of Government. This sub-programme had a staff complement of 1 in 2012/13.

· Monitoring and Evaluation for the Promotion and Protection of Children’s Rights

This sub-programme monitors and evaluates the mainstreaming of children’s rights into Government policies and programmes, and ensures that compliance reports are submitted. This sub-programme had a total budget of R4.2 million in 2012/13, t his year (2013/14) its budget has decreased to R 3.2 million. The sub-programme monitors and evaluates the realisation of children’s rights in Government’s policies and programmes, as well as coordinates compliance by Government with international and regional reporting obligations. The capacity building framework for national departments, provinces and municipalities was finalised in 2012/13 and a first draft of the monitoring and evaluation framework for children’s rights was developed. Reports were completed on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Welfare and Rights of the Child. In this financial year the focus will be on facilitating capacity building for the national plan of action for children, and developing a monitoring and evaluation tool and institutional arrangement strategy in all spheres of government. This sub-programme had a staff complement of 3 in 2012/2013.

4.4 Programme 4: Rights of people with disabilities (RPD)

This Programme is aimed at facilitating the translation of national and international instruments into empowerment and socioeconomic development programmes. It oversees and reports on the national realisation of the rights of people with disabilities and the progressive realisation of equality.

It aims to ensure the progressive realisation of the rights of people with disabilities by:

· Reporting periodically: quarterly, annually, four yearly or as required, on trends on the status of people with disabilities;

· Finalising the National Disability Policy and regulatory impact assessment for a National Disability Rights Bill by the end of 2013/14;

· Finalising the National Framework for Universal Access and design of products and environments to ensure that they are accessible to all people, by the end of 2013/14;

· Developing models to accelerate mainstreaming of disability considerations into sector programmes and services in line with relevant frameworks and legislation and improve the quality of outcomes by the end of 2013/14;

· Co-ordinating and providing secretariat services to a national disability system which facilitates the application of the resolutions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and the participation in the Africa Decade of Persons with Disabilities on an ongoing basis.

· Co-ordinating the Integrated National Disability Rights Information and Awareness Campaign, including the National Disability Rights month and the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, on an ongoing basis.

Programme 4 was allocated R 15.7 million for the 2012/13 financial year. This financial year has seen a decrease to R13.9 million.

This programme consists of three sub-programmes:

· Advocacy and Mainstreaming for the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities

This sub-programme aligns and advocates for the rights and responsibilities across the three spheres of Government to attain equity and improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. It had a total budget of R4.0 million in 2012/13. The budget for this sub-programme has decreased to R3.8 million.

· Institutional Support and Capacity Building for the Equalisation of Opportunities for persons with Disabilities

The sub-programme integrates actions and creates synergy among Government departments, civil society and the private sector. This includes implementing the antipoverty strategy for people with disabilities and developing a national disability agenda. This sub-programme had a total budget of R6.1 million in 2012/13. The budget for this sub-programme has decreased to R4.3 million.

· Monitoring and Evaluation for the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities

The primary focus of this sub-programme is to track delivery on constitutional, regional and international mandates by establishing and implementing sector-specific performance tracking verification and evaluation systems. This sub-programme had a total budget of R5.7 million in 2012/13. This year (2013/2014) this sub-programme budget has marginally increased to R5.8 million.

5. Observations

Having met with the Department to scrutinise the Revised Strategic Plan 2013-2014, Annual Performance Plan 2013-2014 and budget, the Committee made the following observations:

Budget

· The Committee noted that the Revised Strategic Plan and APP lacked the requisite details in terms targets and indicators that links to programme activities. As such, given the broad description of initiatives stipulated the allocation of funding appears to be limited on account of the lack of detail.

· The Committee noted with concern that given the Department’s limited budget it was unclear as to how the remaining activities of the TAS would be implemented when this was not clearly articulated in the Revised Strategic Plan or APP.

· The Committee noted that the Department has received the smallest budget allocation and noted that the budget has decreased by 3%. The Committee was concerned with the budget allocation given the commitments made with respect to women, children and people with disabilities.

· The Committee noted that there was decrease in the budgetary allocation for all sub-programmes of the Department and was concerned as to how the Department would be able to fulfil its mandate as a result of limited funding.

Programme Outcomes

· The Committee noted that the National Council Against Gender Based Violence has been located within the Office of the Director–General and that no budget has been allocated to implement programmes of the Council. The Committee was concerned as to how the Council is going to implement its programme given that there is no budget allocated to it.

· The Committee noted that the Women Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill (WEGE) has not been finalised by the Department and was concerned about the time frames for finalising the Bill.

· The Committee noted that there was lack of awareness with respect to the Department’s programmes and activities.

· The Committee noted that the Department’s overarching policies, frameworks, strategies with all its respective indicators in its final form was crucial for effective monitoring and evaluation and as such needed to be implemented.

· The Committee noted that the Administration Programme had an allocation of R5 and R1 million respectively for advocacy awareness campaigns and a stakeholder forum yet Programmes 2, 3 and 4 had significantly less funding to undertake such initiatives which formed part of its core functions.

Implementation of Strategic Plan, Annual Performance Plan (APP) and Turn-Around Strategy (TAS)

· The Committee noted that the Department’s Revised Strategic Plan and Annual Performance Plan provided more of a theoretical perspective of the Department’s mission and vision. However, the requisite details insofar as detailed indicators and targets for the current financial year were lacking. Clear timeframes for achieving the Department’s objectives were also lacking.

· Whilst the Committee acknowledges, the filling of key vacancies such as that of the Director General, Chief Financial Officer as well as that in risk management and supply chain management, the establishment and implementation of systems and procedures to mitigate the concerns previously raised by the Auditor General was crucial. The implementation of the TAS and the recommendations of the Auditor General cannot be clearly identified within the APP except with reference to the filling of key vacant positions.

Programme Disparity

· The Committee noted with concern the disparity between Programme 1 and the rest of the Programmes namely 2, 3 and 4 with respect to budgetary allocation and resourcing. To this end, notwithstanding the importance of the functions located within Programme 1, there are 152 posts which comprises 73% of the Departmental establishment yet Programmes 2, 3 and 4 which drives the core functions of the Department are significantly under-staffed to effectively undertake advocacy initiatives, institutional support and capacity building and monitoring and evaluation at a national scale.

Human Resources

· The Committee noted that even thought the Department had filled 61% of allocated posts, there were still 12% of funded vacancies in various processes that were not filled and 27% of the allocated posts were unfunded vacancies.

· The Committee noted with concern the high turn-over of staff within the Department.

6. Recommendations

Having considered the strategic plan and budget of the Department, the Committee recommends that the Minister should ensure that:

· The Department strengthens its awareness strategy to ensure that the community is aware of its programmes;

· The Department speeds up the finalisation of the Women Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill and brief the Committee accordingly;

· The Department briefs the Committee on the role, function, structure and budget of the National Council on Gender-Based Violence;

· The Department provides the Committee with a detailed account of all donor money received to date and an indication of what the deliverables were required in this regard;

· The Department expedites the filling of funded vacant positions and update the Committee in this regard in terms of progress;

· All departmental programmes have SMART objectives that are linked to detailed targets and indicators that coincide with activities all of which have to be costed accordingly. Clear time frames should be stipulated; and

· The Department provides the Committee with regular updated reports on the implementation of the TAS and submit all outstanding quarterly reports timeously.

7. Conclusion

The Committee thanked the Department for the presentation and noted the Department’s attempt to address concerns raised by the Committee. Further engagement in this regard will continue.

Report to be considered.