Gabi

[Editor’s note: This is a section of a report that had to be proofread. The brief was to proofread and do a light edit to ensure that the style is consistent throughout. The client’s name and other sensitive information has been redacted.] FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The [REDACTED] was established, in terms of Section 181 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, as one of a number of independent constitutional bodies to support democracy in South Africa as one of a number of independent Constitutional bodies. Its work derives from Section 187 of the Constitution, which, among others, states that the [REDACTED] “must promote respect for gender equality and the protection, development and attainment of gender equality”. Further elaboration of the [REDACTED]’s mandate is provided in the Gender Equality Act1, which enumerates various of its powers and functions under Section 11. This report was compiled by the [REDACTED] as part of its constitutional and legislative mandate to monitor and assess the activities of organs of state, statutory bodies or functionaries; public bodies and authorities; and private businesses, enterprises and institutions, in order to promote gender equality. From its activities, the [REDACTED] may make any recommendations that it deems necessary, and, as per its obligations, report to Pparliament regarding its activities. This report provides insights from a discussion and analysis of the information obtained through fieldwork and other activities carried out by the [REDACTED] pProject Tteam to monitor and assess the work of government (in partnership with key role- players from civil society, the development sector, academia and others) to realise the commitments made during the Presidential sSummit on gGender- Bbased vViolence and Ffemicide in November 2019. The key aim of the sSummit was to articulate the collective demands of all role players regarding the need for government and other concerned stakeholders to develop an effective, long term, well-resourced and sustainable national response and appropriate interventions to combat the seemingly increasing rate of gender- based violence (GBV) as well as violence against women and girls in the country. Currently, critical programmes, activities and related processes have been put in place, under the leadership of an Interim Steering Committee (ISC) established in line with the sSummit dDeclaration, to ensure that the country addresses the scourge of gender based violenceGBV. The contents of this report are intended to provide insights from the work that the [REDACTED] carried out by examining and assessing the programmes, activities and related processes arising out of the sSummit on gender based violenceGBV and femicide as contained in the Ssummit Ddeclaration. As will be indicated in the report, while the work was conducted under limiting circumstances, the [REDACTED] still hopes that the discussion, analysis and insights drawn from this work will be of significant benefit to the government and other stakeholders in the gender sector. It is important to also note that this work is far from complete, and that the [REDACTED] looks forward to continuing to monitor and assess the continuing work of the government, spearheaded by the ISCInterim Steering Committee on Gender Based Violence GBV and fFemicide, with the hope that the work will be completed successfully, leading to the development of effective, long term, well-resourced and sustainable responses and interventions against gender based violenceGBV in general, as well as violence against women and girls in particular. The [REDACTED] is grateful for the cooperation and assistance received, sometimes under limiting circumstances, particularly from some government officials and members of civil society organisations, who were able to provide insights, views and opinions into current efforts to assist the country to move towards developing effective mechanisms and strategies to deal with gender based violenceGBV and violence against women. The [REDACTED] also appreciates the access allowed to its pProject tTeam to observe some of the formal activities of the ISC, including some of its meetings and community consultations ve meetings in several provinces, especially during the early phase of the project fieldwork. This report was compiled by the following [REDACTED] rResearchers listed below who comprised the pProject tTeam that carried out the work. It was edited and finalised by [REDACTED] (Director: [REDACTED] rResearch dDepartment).