Wits University commits to improve gender equality

The University of the Witwatersrand is joining the United Nations HeForShe solidarity movement‚ making Wits one of 10 universities around the world committing to take game-changing action to achieve gender equality within and beyond their institutions.

This work will be done in partnership with UN Women‚ the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Executive Director of UN Women is South Africa’s Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

Wits has committed to develop and implement a gender sensitisation curriculum for students‚ faculty and staff‚ including a mandatory orientation for all new students‚ along with programmes that will address gender-based violence.

“South Africa’s legacy of gender discrimination and violence is a reality that we fight daily. This is not a fight for women only. It is a fight for every person who abhors the abuse of power and the trauma of violence.

It is a fight to ensure that the role of men in ending gender-based harm is as active participants and not passive observers; it is to ensure that patriarchy and inequality are uprooted; and to ensure that those who benefit from inequitable hierarchies are an equal part of their deconstruction. It is a fight that universities generally‚ and Wits University specifically‚ must be part of‚” says Wits Vice-Chancellor and Principal‚ Professor Adam Habib.

Professor Jackie Dugard‚ Director of the Wits Gender Equity Office‚ said: “The UN HeForShe campaign is an important international platform for highlighting and addressing gender based harm including sexism‚ sexual violence and gender equity gaps through regular reporting and monitoring of the stated commitments of key universities‚ companies and statespersons”.

Additionally Wits’ commitments to gender equality include:

• Develop a comprehensive system to report‚ predict‚ prevent‚ and address gender-based harm on Wits’ campus.
•  Use non-traditional supporters to mainstream gender equality on the Wits campus.
• Increase the representation of women staff in the context of South Africa’s complex ‘dual diversity’ mandate.

The global HeForShe initiative is described as “a solidarity movement that calls upon men and boys to stand up against the persisting inequalities faced by women and girls globally. The campaign strengthens the support for women’s rights as human rights by enlisting the support of men and exhorting them to put themselves forward as advocates for gender equality”.

The HeForShe initiative has also been joined by vice-chancellors from the universities of Hong Kong‚ Leicester and Nagoya.

Since January‚ leaders from around the world have made personal and institutional commitments to the advancement and achievement of gender equality. UN Women said these include: Sébastien Bazin‚ Chair & CEO of Accor; Rick Goings‚ Chair & CEO of Tupperware Brands; Dennis Nally‚ chairperson of PricewaterhouseCoopers International and Paul Polman‚ CEO of Unilever.

-RDM News Wire.