UNITING TO CONTRIBUTE TO ENDING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN

 JOINT CALLS TO ACTION

The 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children’s Campaign runs annually from 25 November to 10 December. During this time:

• efforts to raise awareness of the effects of violence against women and children on the fabric of society are intensified,
• political will, and the success of national strategies are assessed, and
• calls to support activists better are reiterated more emphatically.

This year, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (the Fund) and the Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative (REPSSI-SA) have joined forces to highlight the critical role of the nurture of children, and the care environment, in realising a non-violent society.  
 
The second Presidential Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) took place between the 1st and 2nd of November 2022 in South Africa and presented an opportunity to reflect on the successes and challenges in tackling widespread GBVF in the country. Since the first summit in 2018, South Africa has taken some positive steps, including adopting the National Strategic Plan (NSP) on GBVF 2020, and the September 2021 amendment to the 1998 Domestic Violence Act. Despite all these efforts, GBVF is still rampant in South Africa. The data showed that between the first quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 there was a 52 percent increase in the murder of women, and 46 percent increase in the number of children murdered (President Ramaphosa address at the 2nd Presidential Summit on Gender Based Violence and Femicide.
 
The Fund and REPSSI-SA call on all actors that promote the wellbeing and protection of children to UNITE! to advocate for the safety of children and the eradication of GBVF from our communities.
 
At the summit, the President also made an urgent call to reach out to boys and young men to develop masculinities that value respect, understanding and accountability. He referred to the Primestars’ Project, What About the Boys? supported by the Fund, which in collaboration with Government, focuses on redefining masculinity among young men. The Fund and REPSSI-SA have partnered for over a decade to contribute to making South African homes, schools, and communities at large safer, happier places for children, through strengthening child protection and psychosocial support. Addressing harmful practices and toxic masculinity has been central to their approach employed.
 
The Fund and REPSSI-SA call on stakeholders to intentionally focus on the care conditions required to nurture non-violent boys, and to engage with evidence to plan interventions that effectively address patriarchal beliefs and practices that drive violence within our country and change the current reality in which boys and men are both predominantly the perpetrators of violence and predominantly the victims of violence.
 
Safety, protection, and mental health services are fundamental rights for all children and adolescents living in South Africa and are essential to overall health and well-being. However, national research and stakeholder reports indicate that these are underfunded and under-prioritised. This has created serious gaps in protection, care and health for children and adolescents in South Africa; gaps which often lead to gross human rights violations.
 
While mental health is so underinvested in, it is important to note that in UNICEF South Africa’s U-Report poll, 65% of young people stated that they have some form of a mental health issue but did not seek help. Increased poverty and a lack of hope for the future were the top reasons for children and young people’s anxiety, even more than violence which was the lead reason given in a similar poll conducted six months prior to this one. However, research on peace building and violence prevention has noted that poverty and unemployment (which contributes to a lack of hope for the future)

are key drivers of violence and ensures that the cycle of violence continues.
 
Therefore, the Fund and REPSSI-SA call for the integration of economic strengthening efforts in all child protection and psychosocial support programmes aimed at ending violence against women and children.
 
The partnership between the Fund and REPSSI-SA aim for this 16 Days of Activism is to highlight the importance of including and collaborating with boys and young men to fight the scourge of GBVF through:

1. Counteracting their socialisation into toxic understandings of masculinity;
2. Partnering with boys to build a healthier definition of masculinity;
3. Supporting boys to champion equality and safety for women and girls;
4. Implementing strategies to reduce engagement in unsafe sexual practices; and
5. Assisting boys to deal with their trauma, including their own experiences of childhood neglect and abuse.

 
The Fund and REPSSI-SA call on everyone within South Africa, including children, to UNITE! Against GBVF and to build a country that is safe for our children of all genders, and which provides the necessary conditions for them to thrive and enjoy good mental health and wellbeing.
For more details visit https://www.nelsonmandelachildrensfund.com/
 

The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (the Fund) is an advocacy and social developmental agency founded by former president, Mr Nelson Mandela in 1995. In line with its vision to Change the Way Society Treats its Children and youth, the Fund’s mission is to give voice and dignity to the African child by building a rights-based movement. The organisation’s strategic programmes include, Child Safety and Protection, Child Survival, Development, and Thriving, Sustainable Livelihoods, Youth Leadership and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital in Parktown, Johannesburg.
The Regional Psychosocial Support Initiatives (REPSSI) is a renowned pan African organisation that has been providing holistic psychosocial care and support to girls, boys and the youth in East and Southern Africa since it was founded in 2002. Our programmes are spread across 13 countries and aim to respond to the psychosocial, mental health and social protection needs of children and families affected by: HIV and AIDS, conflict, poverty and social strife. Programmes are delivered through partnerships with regional bodies, national governments and non-governmental organisations.
 
For more information contact:
Smanga Mokone
Communications Officer
smanga.mokone@repssi.org
The Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative (REPSSI)
Telephone: 0118861581/61
 
Ayabulela Poro
Manager: Communications and Marketing
ayabulelap@nmcf.co.za  
Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund
Telephone: 011 274 5600

https://www.gov.za/speeches/president-cyril-ramaphosa-second-presidential-summit-gender-based-violence-and-femicide-1