As the world marks the start of 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children Campaign, so do organisations in South Africa.
Among them are members of the South African Military Health Service of the SANDF, who this week celebrate their Prestige Week, during which they will run a programme with various themes.
They will have members executing activities through various corporate and sporting activities, to culminate in an awards evening on December 1. Gender-based violence awareness campaigns, they explained, will be held at the Pretoria Military Sports Club, the Pebble Rock Golf and Country Club, and the CSIR, to feature corporate awards evenings.
This comes as they join the worldwide 16 Days of Activism campaign which began on Saturday, and runs until December 10, which is Human Rights Day.
The campaign was started by activists at the inauguration of the Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991 and is used as an organising strategy by individuals and organisations around the world to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.
This year’s theme is “UNiTE! Invest To Prevent Violence against Women & Girls”. The UN said: ”By using #NoExcuse as a slogan and hashtag, the campaign calls for financing different prevention strategies and transforming social norms to end violence against women and girls.“
Launching their campaign, the SANDF themed their gender-based violence awareness fight #ExerciseVUKUHLOME and #16ActivismWomenChildrenGBV, and this week they said they would run this programme alongside some of their other campaigns, including their social responsibility, community outreach and health awareness programmes.
These activities, to be held at Thaba Tshwane military area sports field and on the outskirts of Pretoria, will see the members of the SANDF health wing run a series of events and exhibitions that will build up to World Aid Day commemorations on December 1. Their plan is to engage various communities and stakeholders in order to recognise them for their diligence throughout the year in providing military health service nationally and in the region.
The Prestige Week opening ceremony was held yesterday, where capability demonstrations took place at Thaba Tshwane, featuring a South African Military Health Service charity golf event. During the week, the health wing of the defence force will host members of the public at the events to display their social responsibility initiatives and participation in community outreach and health awareness programmes.
Pretoria News