As you are aware, the issue of gender-based violence (GBV) has come to the forefront at our universities and colleges, with our students highlighting the need for the sector to actively address gender based and sexual violence that has long plagued our campuses and our country at large and it became evident that policy and programming was an imperative course of action.
As such, the Department of Higher Education and Training mandated HEAIDS to implement a GBV programme in the HE sector university and college campuses to mitigate the problem. The goal being to develop a comprehensive prevention programme and model that addresses sexual and gender-based violence at our institutions, with the specific emphasis on policy interventions to reduce gender-based violence, to improve victim/survivor support services and to challenge gender-based violence more broadly in society. It is against this backdrop that HEAIDS has been leading several key activities in collaboration with key role players across the country, inclusive of Government, UN based organisations, civil society, institutional and student leadership and donor partners.
In addition to developing the GBV Policy and Strategy Framework through an extensive consultative process with all universities and TVET colleges and relevant partners and stakeholders, various ministerial dialogues have been facilitated across the sector to date. These dialogues are critical in enabling the leadership to hear the voices of the students and to also understand the stark realities on the ground.
The Ministry of Higher Education, under the leadership of Deputy Minister Buti Manamela will host a series of GBV Imbizos, leading up to the launch of the GBV Policy Framework, with HEAIDS. These events will enable us to keep the spotlight on the issue and to mobilise the sector around the implementation of the Framework.
On behalf of the Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, HEAIDS takes pleasure in inviting you to its second Gender Based Violence Provincial Imbizo. The details are as follows:
DATE: 7th August 2018
TIME: 12h00 to 15h00
VENUE: Tshwane North College, Mamelodi Campus, Gauteng, 19403 Serapeng Road,
Mamelodi East, Pretoria.