What’s New, Webby?
Statement from Women’s Workshop, South Africa
Women leaders from small-scale fishing communities throughout the Northern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa, gathered from 8 to 10 April 2008 in Simonstown, for the first ever Women in Fisheries’ workshop in South Africa. The workshop was facilitated by Masifundise Development Trust.
A powerful statement issued at the culmination of the workshop strongly asserted women’s rights to participate equally and effectively in the development of a new small-scale fisheries policy for South Africa.
The statement articulated the vision of a gender-equitable small-scale fisheries in which the wellbeing and livelihoods of fishing and coastal communities and marine ecosystem are secured; where women and men in fishing communities are empowered to participate effectively in policy making and co-management; and where support is provided by local, provincial and national government to ensure that the small-scale sector is able to contribute to the growth and development of vibrant local economies based on the principles of social justice, participatory democracy, sustainable marine resource utilization, poverty eradication and food security.
View the full statement online at: http://www.masifundise.org.za/docs/Women%20in%20Fisheries%20Statement.pdf
