The FHR believes in social change. Social change will only happen if it is driven by active citizenry and thriving civil society. For this reason, the FHR is engaged in various activities that are aimed at advancing the rights of women. In recent years, the FHR has provided financial support and engaged in policy advocacy and development activities including:

• #TheTotalShutdown march and National Gender-Based Violence Summit resulting in the Presidential Declaration on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide.
• Drafting and consultations on the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide. The FHR is also a founding member of the Call to Action against gender-based violence civil society organization coalition, which is currently working on popularising the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide.
• The drafting of the National Action Plan on the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, in relation to the UN Security Council Resolution 1325. In this regard, the FHR facilitated and funded the provincial consultations with civil society organizations across the country, which significantly contributed to the drafting process of the National Action Plan. 
• Drafting shadow reports for the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and making submissions to relevant human rights bodies.

The FHR has also been active at the campaigning front by supporting or driving various campaigns:

• In 2019, the FHR supported and was actively involved in the #SandtonShutDown campaign, which was aimed at encouraging the private sector to be actively involved in funding interventions addressing gender-based violence in communities.
• #Mzansi4SouthSudan is a campaign established in partnership with Crisis Action and Amandla.Mobi during Women’s Month in August 2019, and concerns standing in solidarity with women affected by sexual and gender-based Violence in South Sudan. It is about taking collective action and calling for accountability, justice and redress for survivors of gender-based violence. For more information see “FHR participates in the Mzansi for South Sudan campaign”.

Under the Socio-Economic Justice for All (SEJA) programme, the FHR, in partnership with other organizations and experts, has provided capacity-building to a broad audience, including government officials, prosecutors, police officers, civil society organizations working with the survivors of gender-based violence, and other experts. The capacity-building initiatives typically include workshops and training covering subjects related to the legal and medical aspects of investigating and prosecuting gender-based violence cases, best practices in dealing with the survivors of gender-based violence, or issues related to eco-feminism. Our most recent capacity-building initiatives related to gender-based violence include: 

• FHR/Street Law Workshops: Strengthening medico-legal responses for gender-based violence survivors.
• Masibambisane: A Community Response Model in Addressing gender-based violence
• For more information on FHR’s capacity building initiatives see our Capacity Building page.

The year 2020 is a critical year for women’s rights as it is the 25th anniversary of the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), and marks five years since the adoption of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. One of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identified in the Agenda is the achievement of gender equality.

The year 2020 also marks the end of the African Women’s Decade and coincides with South Africa assuming the Chairmanship of the African Union (AU) this year. 2020 is also the final year of its non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). This represents a unique opportunity for South Africa to leverage the capacity of both institutions to advance the Women, Peace and Security (UN Security Resolution 1235) agenda. The 20th anniversary of UNSC Resolution 1325 and the AU’s Silencing the Guns by 2020 initiative give further impetus to South Africa’s focus on the role of women in the promotion of peace and security on the African continent.

1. In light of the above, the FHR is focusing its current efforts on: 
   The ongoing building of solidarity with women’s movements and formations, and partnerships at all levels: community, national, regional and international.
2. Engagement with regional mechanisms including the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights and the various UN bodies including the UN Women Generation Equality Campaign (Beijing +25), CEDAW, and the UN Human Rights Council.