National Day 62/100 - Midpoint overview of the 100-day challenges
Seven teams across the country are working on 100-Day Challenges to end Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) at this very moment. Day 1 was on 1 April 2022. At a mid-point briefing with the Presidency on Tuesday, 24 April 2022, they shared the highlights and obstacles they had encountered so far and also celebrated all they have achieved.
100-Day Challenges are a pilot project in the GBVF space aimed at fast-tracking the implementation of the National Strategic Plan (NSP) on GBVF at municipal level. Sibs Mthembu, on behalf of the Office of the President, explained that the aim of the GBVF NSP 100-Day Challenges was twofold: to localise the NSP itself and also to challenge ourselves to see what we can do within 100 days and then try and implement those skills moving forward.
For this round of 100-Day Challenges, there are teams working in Sol Plaatje, Tshwane, Tzaneen, Bloemfontein, Mathjabeng, Garden Route District, and the Exarro mining operations.
“I've seen them [the teams] struggling with what they are calling obstacles. And on my side I was seeing them as achievements because they're identifying things that are really giving us problems. When it comes to the implementation of the NSP, people have been asking, “So much work has been done. Why is this needle not moving?” It is those challenges that you are identifying. Those are the obstacles that keep things not moving,” she said.
With Day 60 upon them, the teams are preparing for a so-called refuelling workshop designed to re-energize them, celebrate their wins, and also make any necessary changes to their plans. If they are not yet able to see any progress toward their goals, this is the time to make adjustments.
100-Day Challenges are not about having one plan and sticking to it no matter what, they are about making adjustments as we learn more about the source of the obstacles until we find solutions that work. Most importantly, the teams are in charge, so their success lies in their hands.
When it comes to GBVF, there is no one-size-fits-all solution but by challenging patriarchal norms through radical compassion we can shift to new collaborative ways of working that have a positive long-term impact toward creating a healthy society.
PILLAR 1 deals with accountability, coordination and leadership. Their team in Sol Plaatje is working on reducing GBV hotspots by repairing the street and floodlights, and establishing multi-sectoral accountability structures in the district.
PILLAR 2’s work is about prevention & rebuilding social cohesion. In Tshwane, the team is busy with a learner-led school safety audit and plans to host anti-bullying workshops.
PILLAR 3 is responsible for justice, safety & protection. In Tzaneen, the team is using awareness campaigns to increase reporting of sexual offenses and domestic violence cases from the rural areas. The spinoff is that less rape cases, especially those which involve minor children, juvenile minors and minor victims have been withdrawn. In Bloemfontein, the team is already well on its way to reaching their goal to reduce the backlog in maintenance cases by 75%.
PILLAR 4 encompasses response, care, support & healing. In Matjhabeng, the team intends to increase services accessed by victims and survivors to seek counselling and support. They want to make sure that everyone who reports a case is given the support they need to see it through.
PILLAR 5 seeks to address the issue of economic power. They have been working with Exxaro to ensure that all workspaces in their operations are free from GBV and sexual harassment. Exxaro has undertaken to educate their employees on the company policies, statistics, and support and care systems available to them. Their goal, at the end of the 100 days, is to have 10,000 pledges from all employees to put an end to GBV and sexual harassment.
PILLAR 6 handles Research & Information Management, the team in the Garden Route District is looking specifically at the child sexual and related offenses case ecosystem. Their aim is to improve interdepartmental dataflow to improve service delivery to victims, survivors and their families.
“It can be done within 100 days, that a lot of men would start supporting their kids. It can be done that a lot of women will be receiving social services. This is a midpoint, and so much has been done and it is impressive work. I wonder what is going to happen when we reach our 100th day,” concluded Mthembu.
Source: Government of South Africa