Deputy Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister for her response, and I recognise that South Africa needs to go to these UN sessions to report on our country's progress, especially at a time when South Africa faces a real crisis of violence against women and children.
However, opportunities for individuals in our delegations to participate in events there are normally very limited, and the real work that has to be done is here on the ground in South Africa - in affected households in communities. Would it therefore not be more prudent in this current economic climate to use the R1,7 million that was allocated for this trip in areas such as the programmes that you have, which are critically underfunded, and also to channel it to the nongovernmental organisations - the real people doing the hard work on the ground and who also face real funding problems? Hon Minister, would you in future consider rather adopting this approach?
The MINISTER OF WOMEN, CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: Deputy Speaker, well, the IFP is not ruling South Africa. The IFP has no obligations internationally. This country is highly respected in the international community. It has signed and ratified international instruments and therefore has a responsibility to go every year and report on the progress made by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Cedaw, on the optional protocol, and also on the Beijing Platform for Action. We were there with NGOs that were also using their money to go and report, and share experiences and best practices.
I would like to say that the delegation represented South Africa so well that we were highly commended by the Under-Secretary-General of UN Women, Dr Michelle Bachelet, for the work that we have done. We were highly commended for the launch of the National Council Against Gender-Based Violence on 10 December 2012, International Human Rights Day. We were highly commended for the laws we have passed since 1994 to empower women and protect them from violence and abuse. We were highly commended for the role that we are playing in ensuring that lesbians and gays are protected in our Constitution. We were an example for the entire continent, even in the negotiations, in fighting for the rights of lesbians and gay people, and for women to be protected from abuse, violence and rape. Also, we were commended for the work we have done with rural women in South Africa in ensuring that they are given the opportunity to come to Parliament to raise their concerns on the Traditional Courts Bill and to ensure that their voices are heard. Thank you very much. [Time expired.]