'Half of new jobs should go to women'
1 Aug 2011
The celebrations kicked-off last night with a three-day national women's conference attended by more than 800 delegates at the Birchwood conference centre in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni.
The conference was convened by Xingwana's department and speakers include government ministers and representatives of UN agencies.
The opening coincided with the celebration of the Pan African Women's Day.
Xingwana said her department will embark on campaigns to prevent HIV and Aids transmission from mother to child, and for blood donations to assist women during childbirth.
A chief director of the Department of Correctional Services, Memelo Morobi, said efforts were being made to improve the conditions of women in custody.
Speaking on behalf of Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Morobi said the department was still male dominated though the government had improved the situation significantly since 1994, when women comprised only 11% of employees as compared to the current 28%.
Morobi said the department planned to embark on a skills empowerment initiative for women prisoners by teaching them skills such as making sanitary towels.
The department will reconsider the living conditions of female prisoners whose children are with them in prison.
