Parliament, Friday 8 March 2019 – The Presiding Officers of Parliament, Speaker Baleka Mbete of the National Assembly (NA) and Chairperson Thandi Modise of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), join the world in celebrating International Women’s Day.
It is a special time to celebrate National and Parliament's achievements on gender-balance and a just world. The Presiding Officers said, South Africa is expected to continue to do better after the 6th democratic elections, building on a solid foundation of being the ninth nation with 41% women representation in Cabinet and 10th in terms of its 42% women representation in Parliament. These ratings are periodically published by the Inter-Parliamentary Union as part of tracking overall progress made in mainstreaming gender in various facets of society in the world.
The theme for the 2019 International Women’s Day, 8 March, is: #BalanceforBetter. The future is exciting. Let’s build a gender-balanced world. Everyone has a part to play – all the time, everywhere.
The Presiding Officers said: “Together, as women and men, we must step up our efforts to achieve meaningful gender equality and end the current seeming war on women’s rights to security, dignity and freedom. The continuing pervasive violence and abuse against women is repulsive and contrary to the principles of our Constitution and its Bill of Rights. It disrespects our common humanity and undermines our efforts to build a society in which the quality of life is improved for all citizens and the potential of each person is freed."
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
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