Women’s Justice Empowerment Initiative
Anti-Sexual Offences Indaba
Remarks by Gary Juste, Deputy Director; USAID Southern Africa
Johannesburg--May 18, 2009

Good Morning.

On behalf of the USAID mission for Southern Africa, I am pleased to join you at this Indaba. 

I like the meaning of your word for this conference:  INDABA - a meeting to discuss a serious topic.  Indeed, the subject of “combating and preventing violence against women and children” is important to this country’s safety and security.  The most important aim is to enable women and children to enjoy their fundamental human rights. 

During my development work with USAID, I’ve worked across Africa as well as on other continents, including Russia.  I see a lot of similarities that plague most of these countries grappling to improve the well-being of their citizens.  One of the common dilemmas is cultural and gender exploitation that fuels abuse and violence.  USAID deals with each country uniquely in a coordinated response to address and end domestic violence.

USAID has a long-standing partnership with the South African Government to strengthen your country’s response to eliminate violence against women and children, and to help victims to cope with their traumas.

Our Women’s Justice & Empowerment Initiative (WJEI) is one of USAID’s key tools in this effort.  The U.S. Government has increased funding for this program, enabling the American people to give even more resources to help South Africa combat violence against women and children.  This Indaba reflects the dedication and commitment of every one present today to work together to deal effectively with South Africa’s serious problem of sexual and gender-based violence. 
We come together today for the following reasons:

• to reflect on the progress South Africa has made in dealing with sexual and gender- based violence;

• to identify and address persisting challenges in a frank and collaborative manner, recognizing that we all have a role to ensure the success of this program;

• to share our respective knowledge, concerns and best practices, and

• to begin developing a feasible and sustainable plan to dramatically increase the level of services available to victims of violence.  Part of this goal will be realized by expanding and strengthening the South Africa’s Government’s Thuthuzela Care Centre network.

As a sponsor of the Thuthuzela initiative, USAID recognizes the importance of this Indaba to lay the groundwork for a successful national roll-out of such facilities and services.  This forum provides a unique opportunity for stakeholders to come together to discuss their needs and concerns.  We share the aim to strategize issues such as resources, governance and sustainability.

As an outcome of this meeting, we hope to collectively identify specific sites for the next phase of the roll-out and agree on a strategy to take the program forward at the provincial and local levels.  We recognize that this is an ambitious undertaking. 

Before I say anything further about USAID’s program and support for Thuthuzela, I would like to recognize Advocate Majokweni, the Inter Departmental Management Team and the SOCA [Sexual Offences and Community Affairs] team.  Thank you for your outstanding commitment to this project.  Advocate Majokweni deserves specific mention – it is largely a result of her vision and leadership that we are here today.

I would also like to acknowledge all our partners in the South African Government at the national, provincial and local levels; our implementing partner, RTI International; and especially our guests from the Thuthuzela centres, hospitals, police stations, courts and civil society organizations who provide direct and often life-saving services to victims of violence on a daily basis.  You all play an extremely crucial role to arrest the spiraling violence against  South Africa’s vulnerable women and children.  We thank you for your dedication and perseverance.

The Women’s Justice & Empowerment Initiative (WJEI) that I mentioned earlier is a continuation of USAID’s ongoing partnership with the South African Government and non-governmental organizations to prevent and combat rape and sexual abuse.  

Over the years, USAID has:

• Provided grants to South African organizations engaged in ending violence committed against women and children;

• Supported public awareness and training initiatives through the Department of Justice and the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority] SOCA Unit;

• Supported the piloting and initial roll-out of the Thuthuzela Care Centre model; and

• Most recently, helped to establish 7 new Thuthuzela Centres in 5 provinces.  Most of these facilities are now equipped and staffed, and will come fully “online” in the next few months.  SOCA and its partners delivered the intersectoral training for the remaining new sites last week.

Through the grants program of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief--known as PEPFAR--USAID is also supporting a number of non-governmental activities and initiatives aimed at preventing gender-based violence; improving delivery of emergency, medical and social services, and preventing HIV infection among victims of sexual assault.
 
USAID is glad to contribute to these programs.  We believe they have made--and will continue to make--a positive difference for the people of South Africa.

The WJEI was launched formally last month.  The Initiative marks a new chapter in our partnership with the South African Government to contend with and prevent gender-based violence.  Working closely with the IDMT, SOCA and RTI, our goal over the next three years is to significantly increase the availability and quality of services for victims of sexual and gender-based violence in South Africa, including children.

Together, with the seven centers already mentioned, this Initiative will quadruple the number of Thuthuzela Care Centres nationally, while upgrading facilities and strengthening services at existing sites.  

USAID also plans to provide targeted grants to NGOs working in conjunction with the Thuthuzela Centres to extend additional and timely services, such as confidential counseling, outreach and follow-up.

The Women’s Justice and Empowerment program has three key aims:

• One: Improve Access: To increase the number of rape survivors who are able to access integrated services and receive essential support, including in rural areas.  In addition to expanding the number of Thuthuzela sites, WJEI will work closely with communities to raise awareness of available services and overcome obstacles to accessing them. We will also encourage our government partners to support and work side-by-side with non-governmental organizations providing services to victims of violence.  We acknowledge that other effective programs exist in addition to Thuthuzela.  The crisis of gender-based violence is too big for the government to address on its own.

• Two: Increase Quality of Care:  USAID and our partners are committed to improving the quality and consistency of services delivered to victims of rape and abuse at each link in the chain. Toward this goal, WJEI will support intersectoral training at all new sites and provide technical assistance to help the Thuthuzela Centres comply more fully with national standards for collecting evidence and administering sexual assault care.  Priorities include:
  • ensuring that all eligible survivors have timely access to post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to prevent HIV infection from sexual assault, and to
  • work closely with the provincial departments to strengthen intersectoral service delivery at the TCC level.  

Ensuring that all key stakeholders are informed, involved and “on-board” with the roll-out is vital to this objective’s success.

• Three: Sustainability:  Through WJEI, USAID will work to build the capacity of stakeholders at all levels and will work with government to ensure that the Thuthuzela Centres continue after donor funding ends.  

WJEI is an ambitious project – we are aware of the many challenges to full implementation of the Thuthuzela model.  These challenges exist across the relevant sectors – in health, law enforcement, justice, education, and social services.  We understand, however, that many of the Thuthuzela Care Centres, NGOs and provinces have devised innovative ways to address some of these challenges.  We hope you will take advantage of this Indaba to share your good ideas and practices with your colleagues from other regions and sectors.

Despite the challenges, USAID has a great deal of confidence in the Thuthuzela program and, above all, in our partners.  The Thuthuzela Care Centre is a “best practice” model with proven capacity to improve care, reduce secondary victimization, and increase conviction rates of violence perpetrators   It is a model that attracts people from many other countries who want to see how to deal with rape and abuse in an integrated, holistic manner.

Your support – and the support of every department and organization represented here today – is crucial to the success of the Women’s Justice and Empowerment Initiative and, in particular, to the roll-out of the Thuthuzela Care Centre network.

We wish you the greatest success in your discussions and deliberations at this Indaba.

We look forward to working with you.  Thank you in advance for your support.