Violence Against Women
The Portfolio and Select Committees on Women, Children and People with Disabilities have raised concerns about the lack of adequate funding for the National Council on Gender-based Violence. The committees were reacting to a presentation made by the Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Ms Lulu Xingwana, on the Council's progress.
The Department highlighted the fact that in this financial year it had set aside R3m for setting up the Council but following its launch in December 2012, the cost of delivering its mandate had been estimated at R20 750 000, which led to a shortfall of over R17m. The committees were concerned that this lack of funding would prevent the Council from delivering on its mandate.
The National Council on Gender-based Violence was established to find ways of addressing the problem of violence against women, children, the elderly and lesbians, gays, bisexual, transsexual and intersex people. This culminated in a Cabinet decision to establish the National Council on Gender-based Violence in December 2011. The Council was mandated to adopt a multisectoral approach to the problem of gender-based violence, strengthen the coherence of strategies addressing the issue, and monitor and evaluate the execution of all interventions.
The Department said that although the Council's budget was insufficient, it was important that the preparatory work should be done so that the Council could function fully once funding was made available. To this end, the Department and the Council have prioritised the appointment of a Chief Executive Officer. In the meantime, staff in the Department will be made available to assist the soon-to-be-hired CEO.
The Department also said that it had embarked on a major fundraising campaign, both nationally and internationally, to raise funds for the full establishment of the Council. "We were able to raise about US$1m in funding from various sources, such as United Nations agencies," the Minister said.
The Department has also approached the National Treasury to request a further allocation for the coming financial year. This funding will be used to appoint the required personnel to drive the Council's mandate.