More than 200 public servants have enrolled for gender equality training since August.
Public service and administration minister, Senzo Mchunu, has welcomed the growing number of public servants registering for the five-day virtual gender mainstreaming training programme run by the National School of Government (NSG).
The course aims to empower public servants to identify opportunities to advance inclusion and proactively address gender-based violence. “We have to work harder to raise consciousness within the public service so that even in practical situations in the coalface of service delivery, such as police stations, hospitals or municipal offices, women will be treated with respect, dignity and with an understanding that women’s rights are human rights and that equality is a constitutional right for all,” the minister said.
The course was first rolled out in August by the NSG, in partnership with the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities. Topics covered in the curriculum include the mainstreaming of gender, gender-based violence and gender-responsive planning and budgeting.
The course aims to develop the capacity for gender-based policymaking in the public service, including building capacity to identify and respond to gender-based violence and femicide. It has been well-received by both men and women, with over 200 participants attending and completing. Participants have included both senior and middle managers from national and provincial government departments.
The minister has encouraged public servants to use the course to empower themselves with the knowledge and skills to fight gender-based violence through policymaking, implementation and the day-to-day work of providing government services.
Targeting middle and senior managers in the public sector in national, provincial and local government departments, the policymakers, project managers, programme planners and implementers, human resource practitioners, budget planners as well as procurement and education and training officials, the course should also assist in improving the way services are delivered to women.
