SALGA WOMEN'S COMMISSION NATIONAL ELECTIVE CONFERENCE

  

SALGA is mindful of the fact that women in local government still face many challenges in addition to issues related to gender parity of representation and budget allocation. It is within this broad context that SALGA has endorsed the establishment of SALGA Women’s Commission (SWC) to support the national developmental goal of women’s empowerment and gender equality at a local government level.    

The establishment of the Women’s Commission for SALGA, launched at the 2010 Women in Local Government Seminar derives its mandate from a United Cities Local Government Association (UCLGA) initiative, aimed at the strengthening of gender equality within African local governments.  The membership of the national SWC comprises of provincial chairpersons from all nine provinces and a National Chairperson.  Membership at provincial level is made up of provincial chairpersons as well as the district and/or metro commissioners where applicable. At a local level, the district commissioners lead Multi-Party Women Caucuses (MPWCs) from district and local municipalities.

As part of its work on women’s empowerment and gender equality at a local level, SALGA has identified the Local Government Women Leadership Development Programme as one of its flagship programmes.   The programme is aimed at empowering and equipping women councilors and managers at local government level with the requisite skills and competencies for the betterment of society and to play a significant role in the attainment of the local government development imperatives as enshrined in the Constitution.  The programme provides skills enhancement to women in leadership and management roles in council and local government divisions through the following interventions:

  1. Training
  2. Coaching
  3. Mentoring
  4. Leadership exposure through a series of online seminars (Webinars)

The SALGA Women’s Commission is hosting a celebratory event in August as part of its ongoing work on women’s empowerment and is joining other organisations marking this significant month in the country’s calendar.