Cape Town – The UN has commended the South African government on the launch of the private sector Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Response Fund.
The fund, which President Cyril Ramaphosa has called a fulfilment of “a promise made to women and children in our country to work together and end the violence against women and children”, is a private sector initiative aimed at expanding on the government's work in fighting gender-based violence and femicide.
Speaking at the virtual launch of the fund on Thursday, Nardos Bekele-Thomas, the resident co-ordinator of the UN and the resident representative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in South Africa, pledged the support of the entire UN system to implement the government’s National Strategic Plan.
The National Strategic Plan was launched last year to expand support for GBVF survivors, broaden access to the judicial system and drive social change. It also aims to broaden access to economic opportunities for economically marginalised women.
Bekele-Thomas stressed that the UN understood the scale of the undertaking and was mindful that a multi-agency approach was called for to ensure its success.
“As UN South Africa, we are mindful that it is not just the business of government alone, but requires a whole-of-society approach,” she said.
“We therefore congratulate the private-sector companies who have come forward to put their money where their mouth is by bringing resources to the table to address this second pandemic – gender-based violence and femicide.”
IOL