This month is dedicated to women and the struggles they go
through on a daily basis. I was wondering how I could pay
tribute with an article to their heroism — as a son of a woman
myself and a little brother to my sister. Then my new colleague
and boss, Pregs Govender, wrote something more interesting than
my thoughts and she forwarded it to me, I thought I should share
it on this blog. She reminds us, especially men, that women’s
rights are human rights and they shouldn’t be celebrated as a
one-day event. By Pregs Govender Mary Robinson, former UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights and former president of Ireland,
noted in the Nelson Mandela 10th annual lecture that South
Africa is a “nation of paradoxes” for women. Women are well
represented in cabinet, parliament and political parties, yet
the majority of women’s daily lives remain unchanged. Women bear
the brunt of gender-based violence, poor service delivery, HIV
and poverty. She reminded us of the United Nations report,
“Resilient People, Resilient Plan