The need to develop guidelines on reporting under the Women’s Protocol is urgent. In developing these guidelines, lessons from the exiting guidelines should be incorporated. Emphasis should be placed on a workable set of guidelines that do not overburden states, and take into account their existing reporting obligations.
The grave financial and economic crisis that broke into full view in the fall of 2008 has dominated not only headlines but also government and business deliberations. Bailout efforts and stimulus packages of unprecedented scope have taken center stage, as attempts to stave off the specter of a second Great Depression unfold. In sharp contrast with the laissez-faire attitude of the past three decades, the question now is not whether government can play a useful and central role, but what the specifics of government action should be.
After the democratisation of South Africa in 1994, the influx of migrants from other African countries increased dramatically. Despite reconciliation initiatives, old patterns of racism (deeply rooted in the country’s apartheid past) combined with new forms of discrimination, such as xenophobia, have played out through the country’s period of political transition.
The intention of this report is to discuss the links between xenophobic attitudes, gender and male violence by focusing on discussions held with both South African and migrant women and men living in Du Noon, Cape Town.
The creation of another structure in the form of a ministry to promote the rights of women, this time alongside other disempowered groups, is ill-considered. A more worthwhile effort would have been to fix the problems plaguing the existing gender structures, rather than creating a whole new bureaucracy.
Gender Mainstreaming needs to be taken more seriously and a topic for society as a whole. Besides legal frameworks, we need bottom-up policies, a strengthening of initiatives that target equality and more men on board to fundamentally change the relationship between the genders.
There is no doubt that the 2009 elections were the most competitive and important since 1994. In putting to the test several features of the country’s political landscape their outcomes will play a key role in shaping the nation’s futures. With this dossier we hope to provide an accessible survey of the issues which shaped South Africa’s 2009 elections.
Historically, women have been excluded from public life and still occupy largely peripheral and powerless positions when they do enter that realm. For this reason, women have developed a different voice, which can be described as a “submerged discourse”. This paper will engage with the extent to which the ANC, through the resolutions adopted at Polokwane in 2007, has attempted to create a policy framework within which the new government seeks to render women’s “submerged discourses” visible.
Today, environmental degradation, social conflict and social strife, poverty, HIV/AIDS, etc. – all of them resulting from or linked to bad governance – have become more of a security concern than the traditional military antagonisms that pitted nations against each other. The main threats to international peace and security are rooted in situations within states rather than between states, and this is especially prevalent in the African context.
South Africa’s National Credit Act has attracted the attention of policymakers worldwide who are keen to prevent reckless lending practices. The NCR is already assisting neighbouring Namibia to develop similar legislation.
