Media Statement

04 February 2021

Anti-GBV NGO welcomes President's launch of GBV Private Sector Response Fund

- MOSAIC lauds private sector support shown to the National Strategic Plan on GBV –

Cape Town, 04 February 2021 — MOSAIC Training, Service & Healing Centre welcomes the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) Response Fund launched this Thursday by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The private sector-led multi-sectoral GBVF private sector response fund aims to support implementing the National Strategic Plan (NSP) on GBVF response in South Africa.

"We are encouraged by the financial support the private sector is showing to this cause because it is going to take all sectors of society to join the fight and pledge their support to eradicate GBV," says Advocate Tarisai Mchuchu-Macmillan, Executive Director of anti-GBV non-governmental organisation (NGO) MOSAIC.

"We are looking forward to seeing the impact of the GBV Fund in supporting the NSP pillars, specifically, widening access to justice for victims and survivors and urgently responding to victims and survivors of GBV," says Mchuchu-Macmillan.

The NGO welcomes the spirit of collaboration by the private sector and hopes that the GBVF Fund will engage the relevant civil society sector in a coordinated approach to ensure that all pillars of the NSP are implemented. "It's going to be crucial for the civil society sector to use all levels of engagements on a local, regional, provincial and national level. We have to keep in mind all the best practices developed over the years while rolling out funding. We must ensure that we are using community-evidence based practices that fit each community's context to respond to domestic violence and GBV," says Mchuchu-Macmillan.

The community-based organisation works to prevent and reduce abuse and domestic violence by providing holistic, integrated services for the healing and empowerment of women through support services, access to justice and training. It recently extended its court support programme operating days from three days a week to five days a week in six courts in the Western Cape. It hopes to extend its services in all the courts it serves in 2021.

"The launch of the GBV Fund is truly heartening. We could not have justified telling millions of women and girls long-suffering under this pandemic of violence to wait for the country to first tackle COVID-19 before giving them a tangible, adequately funded national response to GBV," says Mchuchu-Macmillan.

An independent board, accountable to several structures including an Audit Committee, is set to manage the GBV Fund.

 ENDS

For more information, inquiries or requests for interviews, please contact:

Neo Khumalo

Communications consultant

E: communications@mosaic.org.za

T: +27 067 640 6032 (WhatsApp Calls and messaging)

About MOSAIC

MOSAIC is a community-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) that works to prevent and reduce abuse and domestic violence. This is achieved by providing holistic, integrated services when incidences occur, and supporting clients through the process of healing and rebuilding their lives after a traumatic event.

MOSAIC creates an enabling environment through our holistic and integrated five-pillar service model

• Access to justice – psychosocial and legal support provided by court support workers, and psychosocial support from MOSAIC's Sexual Violence Counsellors at Thuthuzela Care Centres
• Support and Healing – Counselling Services, Support Groups and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights;
• Engaging Men and Boys- Training and Workshops, Support Groups and Counselling for Men
• Empower- Education and Skills Training, Rights Training, Youth GBV Life Skills and Community Dialogues
• Advocacy and Policy- Advancing rights of women and girls by providing evidence from our services to change the system.

The organisation was established in 1993 in response to high levels of violence against women in South Africa, particularly in the form of domestic violence, and in recognition of the silence that many women suffer in unnecessarily, due to either a lack of knowledge of their rights, a lack of confidence to access justice for themselves, or both. MOSAIC's registered head office is in Cape Town, South Africa.

For further information about MOSAIC, please visit www.mosaic.org.za