South Africa: The proceedings of day two of the SWC Lekgotla have begun. A recap of day one and related recommendations were made, and the latter was adopted with additional comments.
MECs Motlalepule Rosho (Provincial Treasury), Desbo Mohono (Dept. Agriculture & Rural Development) and Keneetswe Mosenogi (Economic Development, Conservation & Tourism) are the main speakers of today’s programme.
The recommendations made on yesterday’s discussion theme were:
- -Ownership of land and property amongst women should be developed and championed by relevant government departments in the economic sector.
- There is a need to increase the participation of women in formal sector employment, targeting encouraging women to study STEM subjects. This would assist women in having an interest in financial literacy, which is a requirement for financial access.
- It is recommended that the social sector should provide yearly data on girls who returned to school after dropping out due to pregnancy and family commitment.
- There should be continued advocacy and awareness-raising to change gender norms and practices that continue to keep women confined to stereotyped gender roles.
- There should be a wider conversation to be held in all sectors across the country regarding the sharing of responsibilities for household work for both men and women.
- There need to be policy discussions around the workplace regarding responsibility for children at the workplace, freeing mothers to take up emerging opportunities in the economy.
- All Government Departments in the economic sectors must create and develop specific measures for increasing land distribution and access so that women are prioritized for land ownership and land rights.
These recommendations, together with contributions from the three MECs, will form part of the resolutions of the conference that will be finalized at the end of the lekgotla.
