Gender Justice and Local Government Summit

Gender Links is a NGO committed to a region in which women and men are able to participate equally in all aspects of public and private life in accordance with the provisions of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender and Development.

Gender Links is hosting the Third Annual Gender Justice and Local Government Summit from 16-18 April 2012 under  the theme ‘365 Days of Collective Local Action to End Gender Violence’ in Johannesburg.

This is the premiere regional event for showcasing local level efforts to end gender violence and empower women.

The summit is a practical illustration of the Southern African Protocol on Gender and Development at work in the lives of ordinary women and men in the SADC region. The Protocol, adopted in 2008, has 28 targets for the attainment of gender equality by 2015, also the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals that include gender equality (target three).

The Summit kicks off on 16 April 2012 with a panel discussion about local elections in the SADC region – Lesotho, Zambia and South Africa in the last year; Mauritius, Madagascar, and Zimbabwe this year.

On 17 April 2012, the plenary discussion will focus on Gender and Climate Change. The final day, 18 April 2012, summit participants will take to the streets of Ekurhuleni for field visits that will expose them to some of the gender initiatives being undertaken in South Africa.

Enquiries: Abigail Jacobs Williams, Tel: 072 693 5744, E-mail: governance [at] genderlinks [dot] org [dot] za.

For more about the summit, refer to www.genderlinks.org.za/page/gender-justice-and-local-government-summit-2012.

For more about Gender Links, refer to www.genderlinks.org.za.