The Salga Women’s Commission must ensure that no one is left behind as it develops gender-sensitive policies in local government – this was the message from the gender equality think-tank and advocacy group Gender Links delivered at the Salga Women’s Commission summit, which was held at Emperors Palace in Ekurhuleni this month.
Mariatu Fonnah, governance and economic justice manager at Gender Links, told the summit that, while South Africa had made strides in the improvement of female representation in elected representative office, including at local government level, the country faced many challenges in making local government gender responsive, with only one political party – the ANC – applying quotas for women.
Fonnah said female empowerment was guided by the fifth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals on gender equality, which have been operational for a year. The goals seek to, among other things, “end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere”.