WELCOME AND OPENING ADRESS BY THE ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL, MS CONNY NXUMALO AT THE VICTIM EMPOWERMENT SUMMIT, BIRCHWOD HOTEL
19 JUNE 2008
Programme Director,
Esteemed delegates
Ladies and gentlemen
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the Victim Empowerment Programme Stakeholder Consultative Summit under the theme: ‘Strengthening Partnerships in delivering Integrated and Coordinated Services to Victims of Crime and Violence’. We should view this gathering as more than just a summit. Several important objectives underpin this initiative. Among others, we would like to:
• Establish a strong representation of civil society at both national and provincial to improve service delivery
• Explore strategies to address issues of capacity building for civil society
• Generate practical yet feasible solutions to strengthen the VEP sector
Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you will quickly settle in and feel comfortable and, in particular, that every individual attending this Summit will feel free to contribute fully and honestly to the deliberations of the two days. Of course, we will also welcome constructive criticism because we are committed to consultation and we fully accept that criticism is part and parcel of the deal.
We are honoured to have with us the Chief Operations Officer from the Department of Social Development, Mr Zane Dangor, the Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Dr Jonathan Lucas and Head of the European Union to the Republic of South Africa, Ambassador Lodewijk Briet. We are happy to have you join us at this significant gathering.
A special welcome to representatives of the civil society organizations who are the backbone in the provision of services to victims of crime and violence. I trust that the deliberations of this summit will be enriched by your experience on the ground. If you take a quick glance at the programme for the Summit you will see that this summit is in the hands of all delegates present here today. The primary purpose of this gathering as the name itself implies, is to consult with all stakeholders to enable those of us who make decisions of national importance to be guided by the thinking and experiences of colleagues working closer to the coalface of service delivery to victims of violence and crime.
Programme Director, let me mention that the purpose of the summit is primarily aimed at generating practical solutions and building strong partnerships between government, civil society, business sector, academic institutions and the development agencies. One such partnership which culminated in this Summit is the Financing Agreement between the European Community and the Government of South Africa for the Programme of Assistance to the Victim Empowerment Programme of the Department of Social Development.
Let me assure that in this summit ideas and opinions are welcome, and are all equally valued irrespective of the position or rank that one occupies within an organization or government department.
The presentations from the various speakers are there to generate the discussions and remind us that while progress has been made, there is still significant ground to cover to address the challenges in the field. I am encouraging you to engage yourself in the discussions actively and share your experience with us.
It remains for me to thank you for being here and treating the challenge of providing services to victims of crime and violence with the dedication it demands. I am fully aware that, in the short space of time available, we may not be able thoroughly address all the critical issues. This summit is not the end, but the beginning of various consultative processes to mark the 10th Anniversary of the Victim Empowerment Programme that will culminate into a national conference in August this year.
In closing I would like to thank members of the Task Team responsible for organizing this Summit. A special words of thanks to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the European Union for their financial and technical support.
I hope that the deliberations of this summit will be carried out beyond this conference facility into our homes and communities and bring the message home that violence against women and children is unacceptable. I am confident that this Summit will measure up to the challenge of the times.
I thank you
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