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LOCAL GOVERNMENT CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE FOR GENDER MAINSTREAMING

Mauritius COE Analysis report

Implementing through Innovation

April 2014

Verification process in Vacoas/Phoenix District Council

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Key facts: In 2013/2014 a record number of new Councils completed

the Centres of Excellence process with workshops thatGender Links did in villages

10 Councils have been elevated to stages 11-15 through the FLOW project All Councils that GL works with have Gender Action Plans and Gender Based Violence

Action Plans During the year 2012, nine Councils formed part of the Centres of Excellence (COE)

process. But after the December 2012 local elections, three District Councils were splitaccording to law, making a total of seven District Councils instead of the original four.For the purpose of the verification, Gender Links therefore decided to work with FiveMunicipal Councils and Four District Councils making a total of nine Councils. Fivevillage Councils joined the COE in March 2013 and another 30 Village Councils joinedthe end of 2013 making a total of 47 COE for Mauritius (Nine Municipalities; SevenDistrict Councils and 35 Village Councils).

All 12 Councils have been part of the Centres of Excellence (COE) process with all 12are currently active as COE councils

Gender Links GL had a challenge to get verification done in Port Louis, Pamplemoussesand Flacq in 2014

These 12 COE councils cover the whole population of Mauritius which is 1,200,000 ofwhich 52% are women

The COE’s include councils that are based in rural and urban settings. There are 5Urban councils namely Port Louis, Beau Bassin/Rose Hill, Quatre Bornes, Curepipe andVacoas/Phoenix. 7 rural councils – Pamplemousses, Riviere du Rempart, Moka, Flacq,Grand Port, Savanne and Black River

At the 2012 Local Elections a record of 973 women in the 130 villages of the sevenDistricts stood as candidates and 302 of them were elected

Currently the number of women in management positions at 26% and this is a causefor concern therefore interventions need to be put in place to ensure equalrepresentation of women within key decision-making positions

A high proportional number of women are employed within the councils at howeverthis is not an indication that these women are employed within management positions.Very often these women are mostly employed at the clerical or administrative levels.

The 12 COE Councils administered the Gender in Local Government Score Card andan average baseline score of 61% was determined at the start of the project. Howeverthere has been a significant increase in terms of the current progress overall score ofthe council based on the verification exercise to 79% increase in improvement incouncils which were verified.

Gender Action plans have been developed and incorporated into existing IntegratedDevelopment Plans (IDP) of the current COE councils.

The nine Councils that were verified this year had a baseline score of 61% while theaverage score during verification process was 79% making an increase of 18%.

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Six Councils made presentations at the 2014 Summit. The average score of these sixCouncils during verification was 80%, and the average score by the judges during theSummit for these six Councils was 58% making a difference of 22%.

Two Survivors of GBV who followed training with GL through FLOW presented papersat the 2014 Summit.

It must be noted that progress is evident on the ground with projects. The MunicipalCouncil of Curepipe, which won the first prize at the 2012 National Summit won therunner up at the Regional Summit on Climate Change. This year, for the 2013 Summitthey have won in the Climate Change category as well as Constitutional and LegalRights and Governance while Black River won on Education and EconomicDevelopment. 2014 Summit Grand Port won the Local Government Rural prize, BeauBassin Rose Hill won the prize for Local Government Urban. Riviere du Rampart wasthe most improved council; Quatre Bornes was the runner up and Savanne was awinner in the women’s rights category.

During the 2013 Summit, GL succeeded in getting the Association of Urban Authorities(AUA) to commit in working with Gender Links.

All 12 COEs, have a gender action plans and out of these 12 councils there are 9 thatare implementing the action plan. Annex A

Case Studies of winners is athttps://genderlinks.sharepoint.com/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?RootFolder=%2FShared%20Documents%2FSummit%20Gender%20Protocol%202014%2FMauritius%2FSummit%20report%20podcast%20videos%20articles%20case%20studies%2FCase%20Studies&FolderCTID=0x012000481DFC47805BA840AE546F483EB985E0&View=%7B779F4082-DE4B-423A-947A-77EE4B46B5C4%7D

Gender Links saved 193,015 Rands in terms of in-kind support for the Summit. FromJune 2013 to December 2013, Gender Links saved 35,000.Rands through in-kindsupport given by Councils through venues, audio visual, sound system equipment,catering. Two Councils announced specific budgets for the Gender Action Plan and togender specific projects. Although these amounts are relatively small, they underscorea significant commitment to the process.

The COE process has resulted in high level political support, across ministries andpolitical parties, as reflected in the high level attendance at the summit.

The New Local Government Act of 2012 includes a gender neutral quota for women inlocal elections. This has opened the door for more women to stand as candidates andbe elected. While the Act mentions at least 33% women or 33% men must stand ascandidates, the result is close to the number of candidates; 31% elected are nowcouncilors. This was 6.4% before the December 2012 local elections.

GL, with the support of Australian Aid worked with 35 villages of Mauritius in 2013 GL Mauritius launched “War @ Home” – Gender Based Violence Indicators Study. The

findings are now being used in Stage of V of the COE Workshops. MOU was signed with the National Empowerment foundation and they have received

ToT from GL Mauritius and helped with the Village workshops (21 villages for 2014)

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National Summit 2014 - SADC Gender Protocol@Work SummitThe SADC gender protocol summit took place in Hennessy Park Hotel from the 25th to the26th of March 2013. For presentations made at the summit please refer tohttp://www.genderlinks.org.za/page/mauritiius-gender-summit, as well as the summitbooklet attached. A summary of the summit proceedings and winners going on to the regionalsummit is contained in the press release.

Below are quick facts for the summit:

Male Female Total %Male % Female

Entrants 13 32 45 28.80% 71.10%Official 3 2 5 60% 40%Chairs 1 2 3 33.30% 66.60%Judges 6 3 9 66.60% 33.30%Partner 10 22 32 31.25% 68.75%DonorStaff 4 11 15 16.60% 73.30%Embassy 0 2 2 0% 100%TOTAL 37 74 111 33.33 66.67

Background

Members of the Alliance, Media and Local Government needed to come together, as we arerapidly moving towards the deadline of the SADC Protocol Alliance. It was necessary to takestock and turn up the pressure for implementation of and accountability towards the Protocol.In addition it was a platform by which the participants would develop a post 2015 strategy forthe continued work of the Protocol after its evaluation. Similarly, the MDGs also have adeadline of 2015, so the summit was intended to profile and affirm the work of differentstakeholders. Prior to this monumental event, GL held 2 District Local summits for Localgovernment Centres of Excellence councils. Thus this was the platform on which the 3 entitieswould engage and come up with strategies and synergies.

Number of participants in all categories are 42 of which (30 are women and 12 were men) Number of women and men winners : twelve Women and Four Men Number of men and women runner ups : Three Men and six Women Number of organisations represented : 27 organisations were represented Number of councils represented : two rural and four Urban Number of media houses represented : Two Media Houses Number of government entities represented : two

CATEGORY AWARDS ORGANISATION WINNER’S NAME

Alliance andcoalitionbuilding

Winner Institut Cardinale JeanMargeot for Zezi Vre Zom

Marie Desire Jean-MaxAppanah

Runner up Women in NetworkingLimited

Murielle Adelson - Lai ChinKon

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Government Winner Ministry of Gender Bhunjun Jayseeree

Runner up NATRESA Mrs. Jadunundun

LocalgovernmentCOEs

Best UrbanCouncil Beau Bassin Rose Hill Janita Soopal

Best RuralCouncil Grand Port Mamta Koonjan Jugroop

MostImprovedCouncil

Riviere du Rampart Anoushia Mahadeo

Media COEs

Best MediaCOE

Mauritius Broadcastingcorporation Dhanjay Callikan

MostImproved MediaCOE

Le Defi Media Group Imran Bahadoor

Leadership Winner Mauritius Broadcasting

corporation Soondaree Devi SOBORUN

Runner up Women in NetworkingLimited Bruneau Woomed

Gender basedviolence andconflictresolution

Winner ANPPCAN Ghura Shiksha

50/50 Winner Media WatchOrganisation (Alliance) Mary Coopan

Women’srights andpost 2015

Winner Association of Councilorsof Savanne Priscilla Bignoux

Runner up Union Park WomenAssociation Luxshmee Gunness

Climatechange andsustainabledevelopment

Winner Ministry of Environment &Sustainable Development Maxwell Sardoo

Runner up Platinum Solutions/ CWA Zaheeda CHUTTOO –JADHAKHAN

media Radio Winner Mauritius Broadcasting

corporation Nathalie Didier

Runner up Mauritius Broadcastingcorporation Yacoob Ghanty

Media TV Winner Mauritius Broadcasting

corporation Utam Ramchurn

Runner up Mauritius Broadcastingcorporation Kendy Mangra

media print Winner 5 Plus group Laura Samoisy

Runner up Le Defi Media Group Jenilaine Ancily MooneanMediaPhotojournalism

Winner Mauritius Broadcastingcorporation Kendy Mangra

Emergingentrepreneurship

Winner Noelette Simirone

Winner Veronique Celestin Runner up Geraldine Celeste

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Synopsis

This report concerns the Gender Justice and Local Government programme for Gender LinksMauritius from April 2013 to April 2014. The work focuses on cascading and strengthening inMauritius of pioneering work on Centres of Excellence (COE’s) on Gender Mainstreaming forLocal Government across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region byGender Links (GL) and localities of Mauritius. The report incorporates the analysis of councilinstitutional profiles and projects obtained through the Centres of Excellence (COE) processand the SADC Protocol 2014 summit. The report covers the activities undertaken in all localitiesof Mauritius and the activities that Gender Links Mauritius has been doing in conjunction withits partners throughout Mauritius.

Executive SummaryThis paper addresses the inception of the COE processes in Mauritius. The Centres ofExcellence for Gender Mainstreaming in Local Authorities was introduced in 2011 in Mauritius.A research was done in 2007 in which Mauritius one of the four countries which were selectedas pilot projects. This was done to establish how women’s voices were presented in Localgovernance. At that time Mauritius representation in Local governance stood at 6.4%. Butafter 2012 there was a fourfold increase and women councillors are now at 26%. It was agreat evidence of impact of Gender Links work in Mauritius. The New Local Government Actprovides for a gender neutral quota.

At the GL Gender Justice Local Government Summit 2013, Hon. Herve Aimee, Minister ofLocal Government and Outer Islands, in his keynote address, credits Gender Links and civilsociety organisations with getting more women elected: “The New Local Government Act isindeed a milestone towards gender equality. I would like to thank (GL FrancophoneDirector) Loga Virahsawmy and Gender Links for all their help over the last two yearsensuring that the radical changes I proposed became reality. The new Local Government Actis another step in line with the Government’s philosophy of the role of women in modernMauritius. I want to empower women through local government. Their presence is one ofproximity, as all councillors must reside in their local council area. Many are becomingleaders of their communities. It is my intention that local government should become astepping stone for women to emerge for participation at the national level, where less than20% of the members of the National Assembly are female.”

In 2009 Gender Links has introduced Gender Action Plans in all the Councils it works with.

The purpose of the programme was to;• Build participants understanding around key gender concepts• To empower participants around personal empowerment• Build capacity around issues of gender, democracy and good governance• Look at what makes good leaders through looking at transformative leadership• Look at key concepts like gender policy and planning concepts• Assist participants in understanding the importance and synergies around gender, the

economy and budgets• Develop a Combined Local Gender Action Plan• Inform councils about the collection of good practices for addressing GBV at the local

level and in the Gender Justice and Local Government Summit.• Assist local Authorities with sustainable campaigns and case studies on GBV for Summit

come 2012.

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BackgroundIn 2003, GL undertook the first comprehensive study of the impact of women in politics inSouthern Africa. One of the key findings of “Ringing up the Changes, Gender in Politics inSouthern Africa” was that local government is a sadly neglected area of the gender andgovernance discourse. Taking heed of this finding, GL conducted ground breaking research in2006/2007, At the Coalface, Gender and Local Government covering South Africa, Lesotho,Mauritius and Namibia.A key finding of this study was that few practical steps have been taken to mainstream gender

in this tier of government or to build the capacity of councillors to lead this process. The studyhas since been extended to nine countries. In terms of process, once the research reportshave been written up, GL hosts launch and strategy workshops in the respective countrieswith key stakeholders and partners, ideally the local government associations of that particularcountry to map out a way forward of how to roll out the strategy and host Gender and GBVaction plan workshops. The launches are then followed by Gender and GBV action planworkshops that are held at local level to ensure that all councils have gender action plans.

PROCESSES:The process was navigated from a three stage process to a ten stage. Another process wasadded in 2012. The Cascading and rolling out the COE modelThe COE processThe stages covered are illustrated in the diagram.

Key principles include:

Political support: Getting buy-in at decision-making level. An evidence-based approach: Conducting a situation analysis that is council-specific

and will help to address the needs of that council. Context specific interventions: Conducting council-specific gender and action plan

workshops that localise national and district gender policies and action plans. Community mobilisation:SADC Gender Protocol village levelworkshops that familiarisecommunities with the provisions ofthe sub-regional instrument andempower them to hold theircouncil’s accountable. Capacity building through on-the-job training with councilofficials and political leaders. Application of skills: Assistingcouncils and communities to applythese new skills through runningmajor campaigns, e.g. 365 Days toEnd Gender Violence; the 50/50campaign etc.Monitoring and evaluation:Administration of score cards andother monitoring and evaluation

tools that can be used to measure change in the immediate, medium and long terms. Knowledge creation and dissemination: Working to gather and disseminate best

practises, case studies, etc. that can be presented at the annual gender justice and local

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government summit and awards that provide councils and communities with a platform tolearn from each other on empowering women and ending violence at the local level.

Cascading the COE’s: GL is working with local government associations across theregion on innovative strategies for cascading the COE’s that include working throughgender focal points of the associations and peer support.

Key additions to the COE process as it has evolved include: Additional theme areas - including care work (the unwaged work of women) and

climate change. The strategic communications module now has a specific module on IT aimed at

ensuring proficiency and empowerment in this area. The targets of the planning framework have been aligned to the SADC Protocol on

Gender and development. Monitoring and evaluation has been strengthened through the administering of a score

card at the beginning and end of the process. GL now proposes to strengthen thiseven further by monitoring the prevalence and attitudes towards GBV at the beginningand end of the process. The aim is to show that community by community the SADCGender Protocol target of halving gender violence by 2015 can be achieved.

Objectives for 2014/2015The Mauritius Centres of Excellence in Gender Mainstreaming Programme sought to: Raise support for the in-country Gender Justice and Local Government summit in April

2014, leading to the regional summit in May Raise support for the roll out of the COE’s to all the 12 Municipal and District Councils

and the 110 Village Councils by 2015, the deadline for the achievement of the 28targets of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development. This rollout started with 9Councils since 2010 and today we have the buying of all 12 councils.

Popularise and enhance application of the SADC Gender Protocol through the villageworkshops that accompany the COEs and incorporating its targets in the local actionplans in order to increase community outreach and impact of the Protocol@work.

Share the GBV findings at the local level and use the findings to impact on the genderand local government initiatives, as well as build up on the findings to help localitiesto start projects on GBV. This session is vital for the FLOW project that Gender Linksembarked on in 2013 as well as for reaching the SADC target of halving genderviolence by 2015. Mauritius has now succeeded with the following:

Pre-2013 target councils 2014 target councilsGrand PortRose BelleMahebourgPetit Bel AirGrand Bel AirMare d’Albert

PamplemoussesArsenalBaie du Tombeau

Grand PortBambous VirieuxBananesBeau VallonBois des AmourettesCamp CarolClunyGrand Sable

PamplemoussesCongomahCrève Coeur

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Pre-2013 target councils 2014 target councilsCalebassesD’EpinayTriolet

Riviere du RempartCap MalheureuxGoodlandsGrand BaieGrand GaubePetit RaffrayMokaDubreuilDagotiereLa lauraQuartier MilitaireProvidence

FlacqBramsthanCamp de MasqueClementiaLalmatieLaventure

SavanneBaie du CapBel OmbreBenaresBois CheriCamp Diable

Black RiverCase NoyalChamarelLa GaulettePetite RiviereAlbionTotal = 35

Fond du SacLe HochetLong MountainMorcellement Saint AndréNotre Dame

Riviere du RempartAmauryCottageGoodlandsMapouPitonPlaines des rochespointe aux lascarPoudre d'or hamletpoudre d'or villageRoche noire

SavanneBel Air (Rivière Sèche)BramsthanBrisée VerdièreCamp de Masque PavéCamp IthierClemenciaEcroignard

TOTAL= 31

GL Mauritius is working with the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and FamilyWelfare, the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life, the Ministry of Environment and theNational Women Entrepreneur Council for their support in getting resource persons. The justended 2014 summit has profiled the COE programme in Mauritius; strengthenedpartnerships and garner support.

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The National Empowerment foundation signed an MOU with GL Mauritius. This shows theircommitment to better train their staff and councillors in all 12 councils and ensure the 28targets of the protocol are followed and reached. An MOU was signed with the SMEDA andthis helped with the FLOW project on empowerment of survivors. Combined with the mediaand alliance networks, a total of 16 winners were awarded certificates and 2 best improvedfor excelling in best practices on gender mainstreaming and will proceed to compete at aregional level.Prior to the summit GL Mauritius undertook an on-the ground verification exercise of theCOEs where evidence of progress was gathered and an update scoring exercise donethrough the local government scorecard. This level of monitoring and evaluation furtherstrengthened through establishing levels of gender issues and projects at Council level.The verification exercised is benchmarked using the council action plans, which include thegender based violence plans all based on the SADC protocol on gender and development.

Target groupsThe target groups for the programme are the local government councils both rural andurban in Mauritius. Working from the ground upwards has proven the best way to integratepolicy and community actions in gender mainstreaming as this is streamlined into the servicedelivery approach of local government. The programme has raised a critical mass of womenand men who are pushing the gender equality agenda in the form of gender champions (thecouncillors) and gender focal persons (the technical persons). Prior to the local electionsGrand Port/Savanne (now Grand Port and Savanne – 2 Councils) organised a mock councilmeeting to train potential councillors on how to participate in a Council Meetings. The Ladiescouncilors of the Savanne council have done an Association of Women Counsellors to ensurethat work on the ground is being done. This programme won the fist proze durig thenational summit.Gender Links Mauritius with the collaboration of localities and other partners will facilitatethree day workshops on Women in Politics for various poltical parties. The skills andtechniques that will be used will encouraged women to stand as candidates and in the 2015general elections. Women will be targeted in the programme through the personal accountsof the action that they are taking at a local level in the form of stronger women Politiciansand Changing Lives stories. These personal accounts will show how the programme isshowing impact on the ground.

COE& Summits:

The year 2014 has witnessed a growth and extension of COEs in Mauritiius. The Summitconcept has been decentralised to villages. Gender Links has introduced another concept ofthe Summit to make sure all councils get a fair chance to present their best practices in termsof service delivery. Councils had the chance to compare notes on how best practices inCouncils can replicate with success stories.

Gender Links Mauritius this time around has decentralised the mode of deliverables withVillage Councils.

The 2014 COE paper confirms breakthrough of the Gender Justice and Local Governmentprogramme and activities for Gender Links Mauritius from 2013 to May 2014. The work focuseson cascading and strengthening the Centres of Excellence (COEs) on Gender Mainstreamingfor Local Government across Mauritius.

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The objectives of the SADC Gender Protocol Summit and Awards aims to achieve the followingat country and regional level; To take stock and turn up the pressure for implementation and accountability to the 2015

deadline. Bring together all key stakeholders to share strategies and good practises for achieving

the 28 targets of the SADC Gender Protocol in the count down to 2015. Profile and affirm the work of media and local government Gender Centres of Excellence

and create synergies between their efforts. Build linkages between the media and local government work on the ground as part of the

broader objective of gender responsive governance and accountability, and developing acritical citizenry around the SADC Gender Protocol and the MDGs.

Develop strategic partnerships and networking opportunities. (Concept Note) Pressure for implementation and accountability in the final count- down to 2015. Make use of the upcoming Mauritius General Elections of 2015 and in the SADC region to

demand women’s equality. Lobby for a strong post 2015 SADC Gender Protocol that incorporates missing areas such

as sustainable development, and strengthens the commitment to women’s rights. Profile and affirm the work of media and local government Gender Centres of Excellence

and create synergies between their efforts. Develop strategic partnerships and networking opportunities. Strengthen the gender movement from local to national to regional to international level.

The three summits were meant to take stock of progress made in terms of genderresponsive policy development and implementation of activities that are in line with gendermainstreaming. The report covers the activities undertaken in all the Councils of Mauritiusand the activities that Gender Links Mauritius has been doing in partnership with theAlliance partners and localities.

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COE programmeBefore the passing of the New Local Government Action Mauritius was divided fiveMunicipal Councils and Four District Councils. Since December 2012 Mauritius isdivided into 12 localities with five Municipal Councils and seven District Councils. Thiscovers the whole of Mauritius with its 1.2 million populations. Furthermore there are110 villages forming part of the District Councils.

The COE process has the strong support of theMinister of Local Government and Outer Islandswho have been active in all activities of GenderLinks. He makes it a point to make keynoteaddresses and opens Gender Links Workshopsand Summits. At the 2014 Summit, the Ministerof local government and outer islands Hon.Aimee announced the efforts of his ministry tocollaborate with Gender Links .He talked on theemancipation of women in politics, brought bythe Local Government Act in 2011, how this Lawhas brought an increase in the womenrepresentation in local authorities in Mauritius.He ends by shedding light on the progression ofthe classification of Mauritius among thecountries of the SADC in terms of womenrepresentation in municipal and district councils.We are classified 6th amongst the 15 member

countries, which make us positive for achieving the targets of the SADC Protocol.Currently, all District and Municipal Councils are part of the COE process and fiveVillage Councils joined in 2013. The COE approach includes a unique blend of researchand evidence, applied to strategies and action planning, with on-the-job capacitybuilding and applied learning, vigorous Monitoring and Evaluation, affirming of goodpractise, and sharing of learning at the annual summits. Emerging evidence suggeststhat this is an effective and sustainable model. Learning from the first phase has beenincorporated in the second phase that has expanded the original six phases to tenphases. Strengthening of action plans through additional content and practise onclimate change and sustainable development; care workand local economic development, and IT skills of councillorswill be strengthened as part of the communicationscomponent.

The split of District Councils from four to seven has been agreat challenge for Gender Links to do the verification. Fromfour District Councils there are now seven and verificationwas done in four of them (Black River, Riviere du Rempart,Grand Port, Black River and Moka/Flacq). Gender LinksMauritius also did verification in four Municipal Councils aswith all the changes due to the December local electionsresults it has been difficult to get appointment in theCouncil of Port Louis (which is the capital of Mauritius).

Through the COE process, nine councils and five village councils have gender actionplans, which include gender based violence action plans. The on-the job nature of the

http://gemcommunity.genderlinks.org.za/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=44699Photo:Olivier Von MallyLoga welcoming Hon HerveAimee, Minister of Localgovernment and outer islands forhis speech.

Anushka Virahsawmy doing verification inCurepipe Municipal Council.

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COE process has equipped gender focal persons and champions with skills to facilitatesome of the COE workshops and to introduce peer to peer learning between councils.Gender mainstreaming is therefore firmly on the agenda of service delivery in thesecouncils. An additional 30 village councils are being targeted in 2013 to bring to 47 thenumber of COEs in Mauritius. A challenge with the COE process roll out has been theincorporation of stage 6 (statement of commitment) of the process which councils feelthey have already affirmed through the Gender Action Plan. The summary of stagescompleted per council is as follows:

Council COE stages

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Curepipe 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1Beau-Bassin/Rose Hill 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1Quatre Bornes 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1Vacoas Phoenix 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1Port Louis 1 1 1 1 1 1 1Grand Port (formerly Grand Port Savanne) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1Riviere du Rempart (formerly RdR/Pamplemousses)

1 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 1

Black River 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1Moka/ Flacq 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1Mahebourg 1 1 1 1 1Rose Belle 1 1 1 1 1Petit Bel Air 1 1 1 1 1Grand Bel Air 1 1 1 1 1Mare D’Albert 1 1 1 1 1

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Training of trainers workshopsThe Mauritian model for cascading the COEsThe implementation of the COE activities is beyond the scope of one NGO. It is alsonot desirable that GL drives every one of the COE stages and therefore ownership isimportant. Gender Links, therefore, works with partners. The Ministry of Health andQuality of Life, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the Ministryof Gender, Child Protection and Family Welfare and the National Women EntrepreneurCouncil send resource persons to all Gender Links Workshops.Furthermore the Deputy Chief Executive of Grand Port has agreed to be a resourceperson for village workshops. Skills building and transfer are also essential forsustainability. Gender mainstreaming needs to be embedded within councils andcouncil practise. As such, GL identified one high level official to help at village levels.Gender Links also signed an MOU with the National Empowerment foundation and aTraining of Trainers was done to get more trainers to help in different villages L willgo and work this year. The NEF works in all the villages in Mauritius and they have allrequired contacts and knowhow of getting people in to get the action plan up andgoing. 14 people were trained from the NEF in March and training in villages will startin July 2014 Gender focal points: In Mauritius since working with GL, most Councils have

GFPs and Gender Steering Committee and as such, GL took advantage of thosealready existing structures to organise workshops and get venue for free. Thestrategy is to identify and use the existing GFPs within each Council who will betasked with driving the process from within. The GFP’s have received training andcan make sure that projects are put in place. In addition they will help with villageworkshops.

Gender champions: Since working with GL, almost all councils in Mauritius haveGender Champions. As from 2014 each District council will be asked that theirgender champions have special responsibilities with helping at village workshopsand help with the SADC Gender Protocol Village workshops and communitymobilisation linked to this. A few already have champions and it is working reallywell

COE Verification Process 2013/2014Gender Links (GL) undertook its annual verification process. This process is part of themonitoring and evaluation exercise (also known as the stage 9 in the Centre OfExcellence 10 stage process) done by the organization to assess how the councils thatare in the COE process are progressing in terms of mainstreaming gender in policieswhich will result in good service delivery. In 2014 nine councils underwent theverification process. For the 2014 verification Gender Links could not get appointmentwith the Municipal Council of Port Louis, Flacq due to shortage of staff and it was notpossible to get verifications done in Pamplemousses again due to lack of staff. Veryimportant to reiterate that Moka and Flack have been separated and are now twodifferent councils and same for Riviere du Rempart and Pamplemousse that weretogether until 2012 and they have severe lack of staff. This year only eight verificationswere done. And six of them presented of them presented their localities (Grand Port,Vacoas-Phoenix, Riviere du Rempart, Curepipe, Quatre Bornes and Beau Bassin RoseHill.

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Methodology of the verificationGender Links Mauritius identified Councils where the Chief Executive Officer haveremained the same Councils after the December 2012 local elections. Nine Councilswere therefore identified for verification: Municipal Councils of Quatre Bornes, Vacoas-Phoenix, Beau Bassin-Rose Hill, Curepipe and Port Louis and District councils of GrandPort, Riviere du Rempart, Black River, Moka/Flacq for verification. This was quitechallenging specially Francophone Director doing verification for Madagascar as well.Appointments with the Municipal Council of Port Louis have been postponed severaltimes until it was too late to do the verification. This will now be done after the Summit.

The process involved councils reviewing their gender score-card (see Annex B 1) forany changes in the score that they were allocated at the previous summit. They hadto score themselves for the past year then Gender Links scored them and a agreedscore was negotiated. Councils had to collect as much testimonial evidence as possiblee.g. gender-sensitive housing policy, minutes showing their drive towards a genderresponsive council. GL compiled institutional profiles of all the Councils (see exampleof Grand Port below) he full set of institutional profiles can be found in the summitdocument that accompanies this report. Progress in each council and supportingdocuments can be found on GL website.

Outcomes of the verification exercise Outputs of the verification1. Verified councils had done

exceptionally well in progressing withgender issues.

2. Participants realised the need to bemore gender sensitive in their servicedelivery.

3. The verification process highlightedthe need for councils to come up withmore structured monitoring andevaluation tools to complement theexisting tools.

4. Capacitation of GFPs is a necessity aswell as having gender inscribed intheir job descriptions.

5. Budget for gender activities must beclearly spelt out

1. GL collected a sizeable number offiles in which councils had evidenceof the actual work they were doinge.g. policies, budgets, minutes.

2. Photography of COE work beingdone on the ground.

3. Institutional Case studies for the 8verified councils.

4. Women in politics and changing livesaccounts.

5. Leaflets of materials used forprojects

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Institutional profiles of Beau Bassin Rose Hill council

Beau-Bassin/Rose Hill is the cultural town of Mauritius with its theatre, theBritish Council, the French Cultural Centre and the Promenade RolandArmand

Quotable quotesBeau-Bassin/Rose Hill Municipal Council believe in the work of NGOs and hence notonly give them funding but offices with all facilities for free. Media Watch Organisationgets an office for free in the heart of Rose HillCOUNTRY MauritiusCOUNCIL Municipal Council of Beau-Bassin/Rose HillWHY SELECTED Stage 9 of COE verificationScore when scorecard firstadministered

56 %

Agreed score atsummit/duringverification

83 %

Population 115,000Key characteristics Beau-Bassin is the heart of culture with the Plaza

Theatre, the British Council, ancient buildings,churches. Arab Town Shopping Centres and differentKovils. The Promenade Roland Armand is THE placefor joggers of all ages.

Contact person J SoopalDesignation Welfare OfficerContact details + 230 494 3082

The Municipal Council of Beau-Bassin /Rose-Hill host one of theoldest theatres of the island.http://gemcommunity.genderlinks.org.za/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=23853Photo:Mena Gopaul

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More workshops have to be done with the Council now that it has a new administrationand more women councillors.Work in collaboration with the women councillors and women involved in social workso that the COE process can be cascaded to the whole community.

Women take the lead in Grand Port

Subhowantee Coonjan Jugroop

Deputy Commissioner of Mauritius Prison, G.Aubeeluck addressing to the children of Phillipe RivallandRCA Primary School.http://gemcommunity.genderlinks.org.za/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=18426Photo: Mauritius Prisons.

What are the characteristics of this group that distinguish it from theothers?

All streets are lit and have names. While walkers and joggers are in the promenadethey feel safe as there is always a police patrol. Waste lands are cleaned on a regularbasis.It is among the few council that has women as waste collectors and street sweepers.In the council kindergarten, one of the teachers is a man, which is a first as it waspreviously a job exclusively for women. The Council has signed an MOU with LEAD, anNGO dealing with HIV/AIDS. It takes an active participation in sensitizing thecommunity. In addition, the council is proactive when it comes to GBV. It has offeredlogistic facilities in the form of a hall. Raymond Chal, where different organisations candistribute pamphlets or do their talks.

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What changes in intervention design might or have been made to increasethese benefits?

While working in the community and with the COE of her locality in mind, Jugroopidentified many problems that women were facing, e.g. gender based violence HIV/Aids, environmental health, women not being empowered economically as well asissues at council level. She put her full weight in the COE process and set up a genderbalance Steering Committee. A budget of Rs. 70,000 (R20,500) was approved for ayear to implement the Gender Action Plan.Away from the kitchen and serving the community has not been an easy task, theleader has had to bear negative attitudes and remarks from the opposite sex beforethe introduction of the policy to have one third female in a group of councillors. Sheheard all sorts of comments such as “the council will be a kitchen now” and they willlook good on lorries”. She had to fight the stereotypes and eventually she is thehonorary president for gender equalities for a village.Her journey is more field work and involving much interaction with people. The leaderhas had a lot to deal with males attitude and putting a policy of having 1/3 women ascouncillors. She made sure that the millennium development goals are achieved atboth rural and urban level. Workshop and seminars were organized such as genderequality, talks on water borne diseases like malaria, dengue, and chikungunya, andalso talks on child mortality.Many campaign of awareness were held to erase the thoughts that women should nothave equal rights as the men and stop the negative thinking such as women aretreated as an object.Implementation these values have enable men to recognize the value of women andmake people more conscious .The women have been able to voice out whenever therewere violence and abuse. The leader has made sure that girls are encourage to study,go to school and get more schorlarship instead of early marriages while many coursessuch as artisanal courses were introduced so that housewives can mingle with thesociety.

She has been able to mainstream gender in the Council as well as in the communityso that men and women get equal chances and benefits.

She takes credit in getting her Council of signing an MOU with Gender Links. She hashelped to reach different groups of men, women and the physically handicapped. Thisgood practice helps to improve effectiveness of Council operations. For instance, theinfrastructure and resources will be more widely and optimally used and sustained byall user groups, rich, poor women and men. This good practice also helps to increaseefficiency in Council operations.Progress in implementation: The average baseline score for councils in Mauritiusas measured by the Gender in Local Government Score Card for eight localities are59.9% and the average score during the verification process of 2013 are at 71.9%.This shows an increase of 12%. Only five of these Councils did presentations at theSummit and while the verification gave an agreed average score of 71.8% for theselocalities this was brought down to 61.02% by the independent adjudication processat the summit (judges scores are taken as final) making a decrease of 10.78%

1) Overall there is significant progress over the year. These scores are based on25 indicators of gender responsive governance. They reflect women’s increasedrepresentation, participation, and access to resources and services as a resultof the COE process.

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2) The Monitoring and Evaluation process is participative; honest and fair. Thefact that judges scores are in line with self-scoring in most instances showsthat Councils have taken ownership; improved evidence gathering skills andare highly motivated.

Change reflected in programmes: Projects showcased as summit entries (pleasesee accompanying booklet) reflect the extent to which Councils are mainstreaminggender in their programmes – see examples below:

Summary and analysis of projects emerging from the COEs as evidenceName of COE Project name and descriptionCurepipe 1. Judicious use of water resources with a gender

approach2. From Social Worker to Councillor3. Education and Economic Development as a tool to

combat GBVBlack River Educating children and Economic Empowerment of

Women through a Mushroom ProjectVacoas-Phoenix Project on waste reduction and recyclingBeau-Bassin/Rose Hill 1. Prevention, Support and Care for people living

withHIV and AIDS2. Educating the Community to promote

development and eradicate povertyGrand Port 1. The New Era of Women in Politics

2. Knowing rights through laws3. The relation between poverty, environment and

women

Drivers of Change

Marie-Michelle Leprédour: De survivante à conseillère municipale

Marie-Michelle Leprédour aurait pu se cantonner à son rôle de victime de violence etcontinuer à s’apitoyer sur son sort. Au lieu de quoi, elle a mis à profit sa rage de surviepour s’émanciper, être institutrice, faire du social et même entamer une carrièrepolitique. De survivante, elle est devenue conseillère municipale à Curepipe, une descinq mairies de l’île.Ne jamais renoncer à ses rêves, c’est ce qui a permis à Marie-Michelle Leprédour desurvivre à un mariage précoce et violent. N’en pouvant plus de subir la violence, malgrétrois enfants en bas âge, elle puise dans ses réserves le courage de demander ledivorce. Si le deuxième mariage qu’elle contracte par la suite est heureux - et cesouvenir lui met des étoiles dans les yeux et un sourire aux lèvres -, elle a le malheurde perdre son compagnon quelques années à peine après leur union.Plutôt que de pleurer sur son sort, Marie-Michelle Leprédour se laisse guider par AndréRadegonde, activiste religieux de la Cité Mangalkhan, région périphérique de Curepipe,qui l’encourage à se mettre au service des autres et à faire sienne la devise «Travaillerpour le bien-être de la cité. » C’est ainsi qu’elle prend la présidence du comité dequartier de la Cité Mangalkhan avant de fonder et de présider l’organisation non-

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gouvernementale Fam Arkansiel. Fondée en 1999, cette association regroupe quelquesfemmes volontaires de la cité. Leur objectif est d’éradiquer les maux sociaux quirongent leur localité.Non satisfaite, il lui en faut toujours plus. Elle vise alors la présidence du ‘ProtectionChild Committee’ tombant sous l’égide du ministère de la Femme, rebaptisé depuisministère de l’Egalité du Genre. Comme elle s’investit énormément dans tout ce qu’elletouche, elle est bientôt nommée vice-présidente du ‘Women’s Regional Committee’(WRC), dont les membres militent pour l’autonomisation de la femme afin que l’égalitédu genre devienne une réalité. Le WRC permet aussi aux associations féminines des’occuper de tous les autres problèmes affectant la Mauricienne.Après plusieurs années dans le social, Marie-Michelle Leprédour rejoint le ‘Pre-SchoolTrust Fund’ à Mare Tabac et agit comme puéricultrice. Son dernier emploi estcoordonnateur à Terre de Paix, une expérience qui lui a beaucoup apporté. « Malgrétous ces engagements, je ressentais toujours un vide en moi, » raconte-t-elle. Ellevoulait se prouver qu’elle peut faire davantage malgré ce qu’en pensait son défuntpère. Elle se souvient encore des paroles de ce dernier qui disait «qu’une fille ne peutêtre infirmière car elle ne doit pas sortir le soir. Elle peut travailler comme enseignanteou être femme au foyer. » Ayant toujours voulu faire de la politique et ayant admiréles quelques rares femmes qui avaient réussi à se hisser dans cet univers masculin,Marie-Michelle Leprédour songe finalement à se lancer. Le coup de pouceencourageant vient de Gender Links.Cette organisation non-gouvernementale de l’Afrique australe anime justement desformations destinées à encourager les femmes à faire de la politique active. Marie-Michelle Leprédour est de toutes les formations et de tous les ateliers de travaildestinés à autonomiser les femmes en politique. « Grace à Gender Links, j’ai eu del’assurance et j’ai appris à mieux m’exprimer en public, » raconte-t-elle.Forte des formations reçues, elle monte aussi le projet Lakaz Zenfan chapeauté parFam Arkensiel. Il s’agit d’un projet d’encadrement des jeunes dont les parents sont endéphasage. Elle n’y serait pas parvenue sans le soutien financier d’un parrain anonymedont elle ne tarit pas d’éloges.Même si le social occupe une bonne partie de sa vie, Marie-Michelle Leprédour n’a pasrangé pour autant ses ambitions politiques au placard. «Avec les formations reçues deGender Links, j’ai pu assurer ma campagne politique.» Elle est consciente de lacontribution de cette organisation non-gouvernementale de l’Afrique australe dans lesamendements au Local Government Act de 2011 permettant aux partis politiquesd’aligner au moins 33% de candidats des deux sexes. Ce qui a permis à plus de 28%de femmes d’être élues. « Ces amendements ont permis aux femmes de rattraper leurretard en politique et d’être plus présentes sur la scène publique puisqu’un grandnombre d’entre elles ont été élues conseillères de districts et de villages.» C’est par cebiais qu’elle a été élue conseillère municipale à Curepipe.Si Marie-Michelle Leprédour se voit transformée sur le plan personnel et professionnel,son quartier en a grandement bénéficié également. Elle révèle, avec fierté, qu’il y a euune progression considérable au niveau des résultats du Certificate of PrimaryEducation chez les jeunes de la Cité Mangalkhan, preuve qu’un encadrement adéquatet soutenu, aide au développement de l’enfant. « A présent, il y a moins d’enfants quitraînent les rues. Les travailleurs sociaux sont là pour les prendre en main. »L’année butoir pour l’application des dispositions du Protocole de la SADC sur le Genreet le Développement, qui encourage les Etats membres à faire avancer la parité danstoutes les sphères de la vie publique et privée, est 2015. Mais beaucoup reste encoreà être fait. Marie-Michelle Leprédour dont le regard est tourné vers le futur, voit unchangement certain pour les femmes en politique car 2015, c’est l’année des élections

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générales. « On dit que les femmes ont les même droits que les hommes. Alorspourquoi n’y a-t-il toujours pas d’égalité au Parlement ? »Idéaliste, elle ose rêver de voir une femme occuper le poste de Premier Ministre après2015. « Il ne faut pas se laisser abattre. Au contraire, il faut se battre pour notreparticipation. Alor lev lame lao e kriye pou nou plas*.» Alors levons nos mains tout haut et crions pour notre place dans la société.

Priscilla Bignoux : The amazing Councillor from Savanne who is empoweringother female councillors. District Council who is doing so much for the ladycouncellors.

During a GL workshop on about violence against women at Souillac, I learned aboutthe various actions we as women can actually take to stop this malpractice. I heardabout various actions that can be undertaken but in depth that was the first time Irealized that each and every woman can help contribute to end this ill. Then at anotherworkshop in Rose Belle, a survivor of Violence came and talked about her experience.I was shocked. I never thought someday someone would come forward and explainin so much details the nightmare s/he has been through.

At the council, we have an active “service d’ecoute” where we lend our ears to peoplewho need to talk. I am also responsible for a kindergarten.

Through GL, I have come to know the depth of the problem in real. I then decided tostart writing stories about them as way of sharing their pain.

The day I listened to the woman talk about her experience had been a life-changinginstance for me.By nature, I am very empathetic person. With GL, I have come to see things andpersons especially victims of violence differently. I have learned to say “Non” and Ihave learned and I firmly believe that we can come out of anything we want to , be itviolence, drugs or alcohol.When you’ve gone through the experience, you cannot but change. Furthermore, GLprovided us the tools and made the way out easier. Only dumb people wouldn’t wantto come out.

I would give GL full credit for this transformation. Had they not provided me the tools,had they not listened to me, I would have never been able to become this person Iam now.

I have been able to communicate well with my family, most importantly listen andthen react.How do these close relations respond to the change? Please quote them if possible.My kids respond better and the behavior of my husband has changed drastically.

Now that I have understood the importance of listening and being listened to, I wantedto give back. I thus engaged myself in an active “service d’ecoute”.The main challenge has been culture. Not everyone can speak out. It’s not easy at all.People are scared of their family and relatives and they prefer suffer in silence ratherthan speak out in public and be the attention. Listening to someone and providingadvice without judging is not an easy task.

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Way Forward

Residential Study visit for all localities for peer learning, sharing of best practices,implementation of the Gender Action Plan and the Gender Based Violence Action Plan

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Analysis of Mauritius Local Government Gender mainstreaming work 2013

Council

Population

% offemalecouncillors

%womenemployees

%womenmanagers

Baseline score

Progressscore

Judgesscore

GenderstructuresExamples

Genderactionplan

Examples ofgenderspecificprogrammes

Examples ofgendermainstreamed inprogrammes

Genderspecificbudgetallocationsexamples

Gendermainstreamed inbudgets -examples

1 Beau-Bassin/RoseHill

110,363

33.3%

(9% -beforeNewAct)

23% 16.5% 56% 65% Did notpresentatSummit

GenderFocalPerson/GenderChampions

Yes EconomicEmpowermentofwomenCyberdialogue

16days ofactivismIncrease ofwomencouncillors

Rs50,000

Rs50000

2 BlackRiver

70,046 21%

(14%beforeNewAct)

21.3% 25% 72% 77% 68% GenderFocalPerson/GenderChampions/GenderSteering

Yes Cyberdialogues toraiseGBVawareness.Mushroomplanting

16days ofactivismIncrease ofwomencouncillorsCouncilbuildin

Rs50000

Rs75000

24

Committee

Recyclingprojectonwastematerials.

gsbeingupgraded toaccommodatepeoplelivingwithdisabilities

3 Curepipe

84,200 47%(18%beforenewact)

12.5% 33.3% 82% 79% 71.7% GenderFocalPerson/GenderChampions/GenderSteeringCommittee

Yes ClimatechangeCyberdialogueHotlines

16days ofactivismIncrease ofwomencouncillorsCouncilPlacesforwomeninmarkets

yes yes

4

Moka

81,288 6%(4%withFlacq

60% 77% Did notpresentat

GenderFocalPerson/Gende

Yes Economicempowerment

Breakingstereot

Rs50000

Rs50000

25

beforeAct)

Summit

rChampions

ofwomen

ypes insports

5 GrandPort

115,391

11.%

(6%withSavannebeforeAct)

17.8% 33.3% 63% 97% 77% GenderFocalPerson/GenderChampions/GenderSteeringCommittee

Yes EconomicEmpowermentofwomenCyberdialogueCompost bins

16days ofactivismIncrease ofwomencouncillorsCouncilPlacesforwomeninmarketsClimatechange

Rs75000

Rs50000

6 Pam/Riv.du R

138,339

10%(6%withR.dRbeforeAct)

15.8% 50% 29% 42% 27.7% GenderFocalPerson/GenderChampions

Yes Education ofwomen

Rs50000

Rs50000

7 PortLouis

155,226

25%(9%before

17.6% 27.6% 47% NA NA GenderFocalperson

Yes Clean-up

ClimateChange

Rs30000

Rs30000

26

NewAct)

campaignClimatechange

8 QuatreBornes

90,810 53%

(17%beforeNewAct)

15.1% 21.4% 63% 69% Did notpresentatSummit

Genderfocalperson

Yes Bins toallhouseholds

LEDProgrammeongenderfor theyear

Rs10000

Rs20000

9 Vacoas-Phoenix

105,559

28%(8%beforeNewAct)

15.2% 54% 69% 60.7% GenderFocalPerson/GenderChampions

Yes Compost binsLEDClimatechange

Compost binsLEDClimatechangeRainwaterharvesting

Rs65000

Rs30000

Total 138% 207.1%

526% 575% 305.1%

Average of9councils

26.1%

17.3%(8councils)

29.6% (7councils)

58.4%

71.9% (7councils)

61%(5councils)

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Gender Links worked with 5 council for the empowerment programme

Background

GL is in the process of training GBV survivors on entrepreneurship in the 100 councilsin ten countries and link them to local economic development. Through theentrepreneurship training GL is testing the hypothesis that economic empowermentwill increase women’s agency and self-realisation thereby increasing their ability tonegotiate safe relationships or to leave abusive relationships. The training will focuson a combination of:

Life skills including confidence building; writing; public speaking; decisionmaking.

Business skills such as IT; developing business plans and applying for tenders. Networking such as developing joint proposals; working as collective to access

tenders from local government.

Participants will write their personal accounts or “I” stories at the inception andconclusion of the project as one ways of documenting the changes in their livesthrough the training and related activities.

ObjectivesThe purpose of the training is as follows:

To increase women’s agency and independence empowering them toparticipate fully in all aspects of their personal and public lives.

To explore and document the link between economic empowerment and GBV. To link women in the communities with local economic opportunities in the COE

councils in ten Southern African countries. Create agency and improve GBV survivor’s economic status.

Key component of the training programmeThe training is divided into two phases. The first inception or foundation phasefollowed business planning and financing in phase two and growing your business inphase three. A description of each phase follows.

PHASE ONE: INCEPTION (FIVE DAYS)

Day one: Growing agency· List methods for building positive self-image· Explain ways that self-concepts are destroyed and built· Understand personal values· Identify and evaluate personal strengths

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Day two: Business basics· Understand the link between GBV and economic development· Elements of economic development (including local economic

development and social entrepreneurship)· Recognise personal strengths and weaknesses as entrepreneur· Identify a business ideas

Day three: Markets and money· Recognise the importance of business planning· Understand market research· Understand Financial planning basics· Recognise important aspects of costing for a small business

Day four and five: IT for entrepreneurship· Computer basics· Microsoft Word· Microsoft Excel· Internet and email

PHASE TWO: BUSINESS PLANNING AND FINANCING (THREE DAYS)

Day one: Interventions from the council on opportunitiesDay two: Growing your business and accessing business opportunitiesDay three: Finalising business plans.

AcknowledgementGender Links would like to send their gratitude to the village council of Grand Port forwelcoming the participants and staff warmly. The council staffs were all very helpfuland offered tea and cakes for the morning and afternoon breaks to all the participants.Gender Links would also like to thank the NEF who provided one social worker and atrainer who co-facilitated the workshop

The WorkshopThe workshop started on the 16th September with a participation of 26 ladies and onthe 2nd day we had 26 people, on the 3rd day 23 people, the forth day 24 people andon the 5th day, the 20th September, there were 25 people. All the ladies are GBVsurvivors undergoing mainly physical/psychological violence.Materials used were:

Each participant had a bag with their manual, (a file with puncheddocuments) a pen, a writing pad and a name tag

Colouring pencil were also used

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Through the workshop participants engaged with all the materials and wereencouraged to stop the facilitators if they had questions, queries or needed furtherinformation and help.Prior to the start of the workshop counseling was given to couple of ladies who werekatagelophobic. They were in tears and petrified to be in the course. Anushka spentsome time talking to them and made them feel comfortable and spent a good part ofthe first day with them until a huge smile appeared on their face.

Anushka introduced herself and talked about the project and the objectives. Each ladywas then asked to introduce themselves and they were thrilled to speak in amicrophone and a few said that it was the first time that this happened to them. Duringthe introduction a few ladies talked said that they were very happy to get out of thehouse and meet new friends, Cindy Trevedy, who gave permission to use her realname is a former substance abuser who is now on methadone, said that she wantedto share her story as this might empower the other ladies to come out of any abusiverelationship they have. Cindy explained how by sheer determination she is slowlycoming out of her addiction; she is now working with an NGO and helping people outof GBV. The poignant story of Cindy was an eye opener to the other ladies.

We also had a few children with us in the workshop and GL team organized a ‘KidsCorner’ for them and they were delighted to have so many people caring for them.The parents were extremely pleased that they could bring along their children as thisallowed them to stay the whole day for 1 week and not worry about babysitters.

The use of Pictionary for the session on Gender and Sex was very appreciated as 34%of the ladies could neither read nor write. This session was very lively and participantscontributed actively and were very engaged to what was taught. When the conceptwas clear, a few ladies used the terms openly during the rest of the day. The conceptwas reiterated during the week to ensure that it was second nature to use the term.All key definitions were translated in Creole and that made it very effective forexplanation. The text was read to them and questions were asked.Mary’s story was translated in creole and was read to the participants. The ladiesenjoyed the story and there was an instant uproar in the room as they could connectto the story one way or another. That session was very lively and nearly all participantswanted to share their story. It was a very poignant moment as there was anger, hurtand deep sadness. It took some time to get them back to the next topic as they neededtime to evacuate everything. Couple of very shy ladies who would not talk at firstfinally took the microphone and shared their stories.The fact that all the ladies shared their story, compassion and love was oozing in theroom. This helped with the group synergy and made group works very lively andenriching. The group was even spoilt by a lady who did a drawing for the group.

On the second day GL staff welcomed 2 new participants in the course as they wereinvited by 2 of our participants. Both ladies were undergoing physical abuse, so GLstaff ensured that they were well taken care of. One of them was homeless and hada baby and the solidarity of the participants were fantastic as she got shelter from aparticipant and help from a social worker who was present in the session on who tocontact and the kind of help she could get.The Growing Agency topic came as a blast. The ladies suddenly realized that they wereworth something in life that they should be respected. The tree of life exercise waswelcomed and they all shared their trees to the class. The feedback the GL staff got

30

from the ladies was that they feel they were living again and they will now changetheir lives for the better.

All the ladies completed their business plan and were excited to start working on thecomputers. Part of the work was done in the garden as they were feeling tired in aroom. The collaboration between the ladies were so much strengthened that the oneswho could read and write were helping other to write their business plan.Below are a few pictures as they speak for themselves.

At the end of the training each participant and their babies got a certificate ofattendance.

Challenges/recommendations Limited time to translate/adapt materials in creole and it is imperative to have

the case studies and fact sheets in local language as materials are read aloud. A lady had an accident while coming to the training and Anushka too her to

the hospital. GL staff should follow a First Aid course. In cases where there are people going through GBV, GL staff need to know all

the numbers and process to take to help the victims Facilitator had difficulty to grasp the different concepts. Would recommend that

a GL staff is there to help with the training. Training should be done for one locality at any one time as logistics and help

they can get vary from one locality to the other.

Way forward Continuous work to be done with all the 12 councils The scorecards should be done differently during the meetings and the councils

should be contacted two months before the start of the verification process. The Drivers of change should be done throughout the year and not concentrate

during the Summit Case studies and articles of all the winners should be done right after the

summit Devise a new system to facilitate the task of the judges during the scoring and

assessment and verifications. The power points presentations should be shorter as presenter cannot do all in

10 mins of presentation Including Climate Change and food security in the training we are doing. Further training should be done in municipal councils like Port Louis and District

council like Flacq, Pamplemousses, Moka Village training and more access on Climate Change and Food security and

carry with GBV GBV indicator in Grand port in 2015 GBV indicator in Port Louis the capital in 2017 Entrepreneurship group 2015 to 2016 – do more of a national one and identify

mentors from the beginning of the project. Training Academy – to dispense paid courses and working in close collaboration

with main stakeholders and private sectoro Leadership and professional development

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o Mentoring and counselingo Finance and administrationso Story writingo Journalismo Advanced entrepreneurship for group of Ladies we trained who need

specific trainingso Get GL academy get an accreditation from a University

Have yearly study visits in different councils to learn from each other have anAction plan to monitor change

Climate change, food security and alleviation of poverty training similar to theEntrepreneurship training

MOU with University of Mauritius and the University of technology for GIME Media training in universities and colleges

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Annex A

PROGRESS SCORE CARDGENDER SCORECARD FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTNAME OF COUNTRY: MAURITIUS NAME OF COUNCIL: Rose-HillDate of Verification – Tuesday 5th February 2013SCORE OUT OF FOUR WHERE 0=none; 1=POOR; 2=SATISFACTORY; 3=GOOD; 4=VERY GOOD

INDICATORS MEANS OFVERIFICATION

PROGRESS REPORTEDIN 2013

PROGRESSREPORTED IN 2014

SCORE2012

SCORE2013

SCORE2014

POLICYFRAMEWORK1. There is a

gender policyand action planthat incorporatesthe SADCGender Protocoland otherrelevant targets.It is well knownand has a highprofile championwithin thecouncil.

Existence ofplan

Plan signed andadopted

Plan sharedwith Counciland Community

Plan integrated Public events on

gender egInternationalWomen’s Day

Action Plan willbe adopted andcirculated

Activitiesorganised forInternationalWomen’s Day;quite a fewactivities ongender issuesand records andpictures kept

The Council hasactivities planned forwomen.

The Council is takingthe MOU intoconsideration

The council has asignificant budgetearmarked for women

Same as last year andmore progress.Improve on numberand quality ofactivities. Set updifferent plans forwomen well ness andself-defence coursesfor women. Startedwith 7 women and isnow 100 pax

1 3 4

GOVERNANCERepresentation2. There are equal

numbers ofwomen and men

No of mencouncillors = 13

No of womencouncillors =3

The DeputyMayor is a Ladyand the Councilhad a WomenMayor

The percentage numberof councillors hasmoved up from 23.3%to 33.3%

The number is 33.3 %6 on 18

2 3 3

33




SCORE2012

SCORE2013

SCORE2014

councillors in theCouncil.

3. There are equalnumbers ofwomen and menin decision-making positionsin Council,Mayoralcommittee,chairs ofcommittees etc.

Mayor/Chair ofCommittee =M/F

Deputymayor/deputychair ofcommittee =M/F

No ofcommitteeschaired bywomen =

No ofcommitteeschaired by men=

No equal representationin decision makingposition.

1 woman as decisionmakers, 2 deputychair person. They arein sub committees andour of the 18 peopleas councillors 6 arewomen

1 1 2

Participation4. Women and men

participateequally inCouncil meetingsand influencedecisions takenby the Council.

Examples ofissues raised bywomen inCouncil andwhat differencethese havemade.

No women in thecouncil

Newly appointedwomen are welcome tobring new ideas for theAgenda.

Out of 7 departmentsonly in Library andWelfare that women areheads.

Participation of thewomen has gone up,women make theirvoices heard. Womenare closer to thepopulation and bringtheir motions to thecommittee. They areknowledgeable.

2 2 3

Publicparticipation

34




SCORE2012

SCORE2013

SCORE2014

5. There is equalparticipation ofwomen and menat publicmeetings andevents.

Examples oftypes ofmeetings held,representation/participation bywomen andmen

More womenattend publicmeetings andevents

More women than menparticipate in publicgatherings and they arevery helpful

More women thanmen are there o helpout in differentactivities and theymake a difference. Forthe elderly there isequal participation

3 4 4

6. The Council hasa local economicdevelopmentplan that targetswomenentrepreneurs askey beneficiaries

Market placesdesigned andno of standsallocated towomen.

Local financeschemes ofcouncil, no ofwomen andmen who havebenefited.

Local financeschemes linkedto Council, noof women andmen who havebenefited.

StallsoccupiedbyWomen:126Men: 510

There is a market inBarkley where womenare given the chance toexpose their products.

No rigid laws on theissuing of permits.

The Council also givesthe opportunity toRodrigues women toexpose their products.

Most of the stalls infairs are occupied bywomen

Economicdevelopment plan.Sewing project, theywomen will get theopportunity to go intofares with thecollaboration of thecouncil. Opportunityto sell their project inthe fairs. They aregetting known. Thereare different centresmade available forthem

3 3 4

7. Women and menbenefit equallyfrom jobs

No of women injobs created byCouncils

Same post meanssame salary

There is nodiscrimination inrecruitment.

Scavengers arewomen and there aremore attendants

2 2 3

35




SCORE2012

SCORE2013

SCORE2014

created by thecouncil.

No of men injobs created bycouncils

Evidence ofwomen andmen beingemployed innon-traditionalareas

women, officeattendants

Procurement8. The Council

keeps genderdisaggregateddata onprocurement andhas set a targetfor increasingthe number andvalue ofcontractsreceived bywomen.

No of ownedcompanies thathave receivedcontracts in thelast year.

No of menownedcompanies thathave rcvdcontracts in thelast year.

- Unknown- An estimate ofabout 90% as percontracts signed.There are nodiscrimination on thatfront. The Council willgive a contract toanyone offering thebest opportunities.

Women doingcatering and TheCouncil will give acontract to anyoneoffering the bestopportunities.

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9. The Council isaware of climatechange and itsdifferentialeffects onwomen andmen. Women

Existence of apolicy onclimate changehow gender isintegrated intothis.

Extent to whichpolicy has been

Climate changeawareness

The council doessegregation of wasteand Compostage.

Energy saving bulb inthe locality are given

Work with NGOs toget help and theycome train theparticipants, AREUhelping to educateparticipants

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and men areconsultedequally onmeasures to betaken.

canvassed;involvement ofwomen andmen.

Campaign among theyouth to make themmore environmentallyaware.

Bulky waste campaign10.Women are

equallyconsulted andinvolved in wastemanagement,and benefit fromeconomicopportunitiesarising from this.

How wastemanagement ishandled.

How womenare involved.

Proportion ofwomen inwaste projects

There arewomenscavengers inthe councilwhich was a jobreserved formen.

10 out of 150 wastecollectors are women.

The council has womenwho are streetsweepers

Half of the attendantstaff is women

… out of …. Wastecollector are womenSame as last year

3 3 3

Land and housing11.The Council

keeps sexdisaggregateddata on titledeeds andhousing, and ispromotingwomen’s equalaccess

How gender isintegrated intoallocation ofland andhouses

No of womenallocated landand housing bycouncil

No of menallocated landand housing byCouncil.

The Council facilitatesprocedures for thoseunder the NationalEmpowerment Fundand most of these arewomen

There is nodiscrimination withinthe council

The council is settingup of an informationdesk for housingauthorities. Womenwill get moreinformation

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Water andsanitation12.Women are

involved in theplanning,managementandmaintenance ofwater andsanitation.

No of womenonwater/sanitation committees

No of men onwater/sanitation committees

No of womenchairing thesecommittees/total no ofcommittees

Examples of thedifferencewomen havemade

Cleaning of the drainsthroughout the locality.

Women are indirectlyinvolved in this process

Cleaning of drains,cleaning gardening.More acceptance andcollaboration fromwomen

2 2 3

Environmental health13.Women are

equally involvedin preventivehealthcampaigns

Types ofcampaigns

Involvement bywomen

- Councildistributespamphlets onwastecollectionthrough16municipalcentresand to

Screening of HIV/AIDS

Regular talks ondiseases

The council has offereda hall, Raymon Chal,specifically for health.Distribution ofpamplets, blooddonation etc are donefor free

Screening,sensitisationcampaign. Talks,distribution ofpamphlet, blooddonation, visits ofhealth experts.Dispensary forTrefles.Hours of work haschanged andrescheduled to fit

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households thoughcollectionof wastesystem.

A dental primary care isoffered for free at thelocal dispensary-JaqueRougeot.

activities. Empowerthe people and give aspace at a very lowprice to help peopleget a decent place todo their personalactivities

HIV/AIDS and care work14.The Council has

a gender awareHIV and AIDSpolicy that isimplementedand monitored.

Existence ofpolicy

Messagesunderscoreunequal powerrelationsbetweenwomen andmen;

Prevention ofparent to childtransmission

Men areencouraged togo for VCT

Women andmen have equalaccess totreatment

Council initiatesAwarenessCampaign only.

Provides venuefacilities toNGO’s andMinistries.

The Council has signedan MOU with LEAD(LeadershipEmpowerment actionand development) andfully support theiractivities.

The Council supportthe NGO which dealswith HIV/AIDS

HIV and AIDS.Rehabilitation work.Working with prisonofficers and puttingresources at theirdisposition. SignedMOU with Lead,candle light memorialthat has beenearmarked ….%Centre de solidaritythat there is anamount earmarked atthe municipality forthem

4 4 4

15.The Councilsupports care forthose living with

Existence ofcare workprojects

Logistics supportto Ministry of

The Council will offersupport and logistics

Jardin Bharati,upgrade done andthe people taking

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HIV and AIDSand men areencouraged tobe involved incare work.

supported byCouncil or inwhich Council isa partner.

Remuneration/training/supportfor care giversin theseprojects

No of women,no of meninvolved in carework

Health for theiractivities.

facilities to anycaregivers

methadone has abetter place.More of a greenenvironment andlighting to helppeople at night

Socialdevelopment16.Social and

recreationalfacilities aregender awareand responsive

Types offacilities forsports andrecreation,extent to whichthese cater tothe needs ofwomen andmen.

No of women,no of men whomake use offacilities

Courses indifferentdisciplines forwomen.- Mostly womenwho attendrecreationalevents- 350 women areinvolved.

The Council is verysport oriented.A variety of sportsare offered by thecouncil like Tai chi,Aerobic, Zumba andfootball for girls.

To add a self-defenceand line dancing, andwellness courses.Rekhi classes, how tolearn about spiritualawareness. Footballetc the numberpleaseWalks on thesynthetic tracks in theRH stadium.Promenade RoladArmand upgradedlighting planningbenches etc.footballgrounds are available

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GENDER SPECIFIC PROGRAMMESGender based violence (GBV)flagship plan17.There is

sufficient lightingon streets and inpublic spaces; allstreets arenamed clearly,and names aregender aware

Existence ofstreet lights

No of streetsnamed

No of streetsnamed afterwomen

No of streetsnamed aftermen

- 99% streets arelighted- Most streets arenamed

There are 7500 lightingpoints around thecouncil.

95% of them useenergy saving bulbs

The streets are nownamed after flowersand birds.

Same as last year 4 4 4

Public awareness campaigns18.The Council

participates incampaigns toraise awarenesson gender-based violence(GBV), such asthe Sixteen daysof activism.

Campaignslaunchedduring theSixteen Days

Budget fromCouncil forcampaigns

Other resourcesmobilised

Follow up tocampaigns

Resultsachieved

Talks,conferences,cyber dialogueson the themegender violenceare held.

Children whom parentsjust came out ofprisons go tokindergarten for free.

Free nursery isprovided for youngsingle mothers

The Council organisescampaigns and talks onGender based violence.

Each year the counciltakes part in 16 days

Ongoing programmeand working withwomen associations.A part time lawyer tobe set up shortly tohelp people with GBV

Union des femmesdes villes soeurs, helpthe NGO.

Training to helpwomen with self-defense, giving freenurseries. Giving free

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campaign program ofGender Links.

care to babies ofprison inmates

Response andcoordination19.There is a good

workingrelationshipbetween thepolice andcommunity,especiallywomen. Womenare equallyrepresented incommunitypolicing forums.

How theCouncil workswith the policeon GBV

Existence ofcommittees onGBV

No of womenand no of menon thesecommittees

Council isrepresented inCommunityPolicingorganised by thePolice Force inall the regions ofthe Town

Regular meetings withthe police

Give infrastructure forcommunity policing

The council made anexhibition on publicsafety with thecollaboration of thepolice for thecommunity

Community policing.Staff to attend closemonitoring. Convenethe NGOs. Listen tothe people anditemise of therequests and reportback and follow-up

4 4 4

Selection and recruitment20.Women and men

are employed inequal numbersacross jobs,grades and inmanagementpositions and areequallyremunerated forequal work.

No ofwomen inmanagement

No of meninmanagement

CEO/headof

Women form partin non-traditionalareas-HealthInspectors, TownEngineer andmany womenattendants andgardeners.

There is only onewoman head ofdepartment but womenare across alldepartments.

There is a man who isa teacher the Council’skindergarten

Increase of womenrecruit in middlemanagement andoperational and lowergrades

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There is anaffirmativeaction policy forensuring 50% by2015.

administration =M/F

Examples ofwomen innontraditionalareas ofdecision-making egfinance

Remuneration dependson merit. So both menand women stand anequal chance.

Capacity building21.Gender training

is provided forboth women andmen in thecouncil, at alllevels and isdone in asystematic way.

Gender trainingconducted aspart of COE’s

Changing livesas a result ofgender training

Training isprovidedirrespective ofanydiscrimination.

The council providecomputer courses forlocals.

Cooking and sewingcourses are offered towomen in particular

Computer courses areoffered several times ayear to both men andwomen

Participation ofwomen in differenttrainings.Same as last year.More courses to bedone. Follow ups ofmeeting for thebenefits of women.Line dancing cooking,sewing, gardening etc

2 2 4

Working conditions and environment22.The work place is

family friendly;there is a sexualharassmentpolicy that isenforced.

Maternity andpaternity leave

Flexi time Family days Sexual

harassmentpolicy

Maternity andpartnershipleaves aregranted.No specific sexualharassment policy

All is done according tolaw and the PRBReport.

Meet for lunch,workplace is familyfriendly. Family andsports day. A staffclub go out foroutings, residential

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How sexualharassmentcases are dealtwith

In any case of Sexualharassment, severeactions will be taken.

GENDER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMGender structures23. The Council has

set up a genderstructure,including agender focalperson that isempowered todo its work.Gender is writteninto the jobdescriptions ofkeyfunctionaries.

Gender focalpoint – whoand what level

Gendercommittee-who and howoften does itmeet

The Council has agender focal person inthe person of the newlyelected Karen Fookyun,who is ready to takeactions concerninggender.

An HR officer playsseveral roles andactions are taken

1 2 2

Budgets24.A share of

expenditure isexplicitlytargeted atpromotinggender equality.Women and menbenefit from the

Specific budgetline for gender– whatproportion ofbudget

Genderreflected inmainstreambudget

No specificbudgetearmarked butthere are fundsin Welfare codeto empowerwomen andreduce genderinequality .

A budget of Rs300,000is earmarked forwomen only.

Union des femmes desvillesoeurs ensure thatthis budget is wellspread out.

An increase in thebudget. Calendar ofactivities and ensurean equal participationof members.Empowerment ofwomen

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mainstreambudget

Monitoring and evaluation A25.There is an M

and E system inplace for gender;it is used fortracing reportingpurposes

Regular reportsto managementon genderaction plan.

Correctiveaction taken.

Score card usedforbenchmarking.

Monitoring andevaluation onGender relatedissues is done bythe departmentof the Council(WelfareDepartment).Welfare Officersare involved intheimplementationof gender linkedactivities andreport

A good system ofmonitoring is put intoplace. The council asall its records for futureneed.

PMS (performanceManagement System)legal system andhave to abide by it.Records are kept

3 3 4

TOTAL 56 63 83%

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GENDER SCORECARD FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTNAME OF COUNTRY: MauritiusNAME OF COUNCIL: Grand Port DCSCORE OUT OF FOUR WHERE 0=NONE; 1=POOR; 2=SATISFACTORY; 3=GOOD; 4=VERY GOODDATE:


PROGRESS DURINGVERIFICATION IN2013

PROGRESSREPORTED IN2014

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POLICYFRAMEWORK1. There is a gender

policy and actionplan thatincorporates theSADC GenderProtocol and otherrelevant targets. Itis well known andhas a high profilechampion withinthe council.

Existence of plan Plan signed and

adopted Plan shared with

Council andCommunity

Plan integrated Public events on

gender egInternationalWomen’s Day

Copy of thegenderpolicy/actionplan

Copy of theCouncilstrategy/workplan

Minutes andrecords ofmeetings

Photos Media coverage

There is an Action Plan.The Action Plan wasapproved by Council.There are Notes ofMinutes. A SteeringCommittee has been setup.The Plan integrates eventsand gender activitiesAll activities are recordedin the Notes of Meeting.Pictures are available aswell as clippingsCouncil agreed to a mockcouncil meeting to givefurther training to womenafter the course thatGender Links facilitated

An Action planthat was approvedin the council.There is a steeringcommittee thatwas set up andthere are a vastmajority of womenin it.Notes of meetingand collection s ofclippings asevidence.Women are indifferentcommittees andtheir voices areheard

3 4 4

GOVERNANCERepresentation

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2. There are equalnumbers ofwomen and mencouncillors in theCouncil.

No of mencouncillors = 25

No of womencouncillors = 3

Official records Before the local electionsof 2012 there were nowomen on the Council andfrom 0 it is now 3.

25 men and 3womencounsellors andthere are nowmore women inleadership position

0 2 3

3. There are equalnumbers ofwomen and menin decision-makingpositions inCouncil, Mayoralcommittee, chairsof committees etc.

Mayor/Chair ofCommittee =M

Deputymayor/deputychair ofcommittee = F

No of committeeschaired bywomen =

No of committeeschaired by men =

Official records A woman is on theExecutive Committee.Although women chairsCommittee they are staffand not councillors.A woman chairs thePermits and LicenceCommittee

The chairperson ofnearly allcommittees arewomen. There aremore womenchairs than men

3 2 2

Participation4. Women and men

participate equallyin Councilmeetings andinfluence decisionstaken by theCouncil.

Examples ofissues raised bywomen in Counciland whatdifference thesehave made.

Council minutes Women participate equallywith men and what theysay are taken intoconsideration. These areall in Minutes. Womenraise issues of securityand anything that has todo with the society.Women in the Council arevocal and have goodcapacity to talk. Womenargue to get their viewsaccepted

Women participateequally with men.Women aredecision makersand takers.Women are theeyes of society.

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Public participation5. There is equal

participation ofwomen and menat public meetingsand events.

Examples oftypes of meetingsheld,representation/participation bywomen and men

PhotosMedia coverageMinutes

There are normally morewomen in meetings,events and campaigns.Wide range of meetingsand activities includingawareness campaigns onHIV and AIDS; literacycourse; Local EconomicDevelopment; back yardcomposting, etc.

The women areadvocates ofchange. They willvoice out theiropinion and wouldraise issue onhealth, economicempowerment ofwomen and alsothe environment

3 4 4

MAINSTREAMING GENDER INTO EXISTING PROGRAMMES6. The Council has a

local economicdevelopment planthat targetswomenentrepreneurs askey beneficiaries

Market placesdesigned and noof standsallocated towomen.

Local financeschemes ofcouncil, no ofwomen and menwho havebenefited.

Local financeschemes linked toCouncil, no ofwomen and menwho havebenefited.

LED plans, howgender reflectedStatistics on financeschemesWomen hold morepermits than menCouncil space givento women for saleof handicrafts.

A LED was approved byCouncil to help women tostart their own businesses.NGOs were invited toparticipate. This was donein collaboration with theSmall and MediumEnterprises DevelopmentAuthority (SMEDA). TheCouncil gave all logisticsfor free and received inkind support as well

Anentrepreneurshipprogramme wasput together tohelp women witha SME. Workshopswere given to helpwith theapplication ofpermits. A caravande l’entreprenariatvisits the councilregularly to givefree training towomen.

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7. Women and menbenefit equallyfrom jobs createdby the council.

No of women injobs created byCouncils

No of men in jobscreated bycouncils

Evidence ofwomen and menbeing employedin non-traditionalareas

Council employmentstatistics by sectorand area of workWomen do activitiesat Council leve, e.g.scavenging, preporimry school,sewing classes

Council does not createjobs. All vacancies have togo through the LocalGovernment ServiceCommission (LGSC). Thereis no gender discriminationbut Equal chances aregiven to both women andmen. The Head ofPlanning is a woman.There is a womanInspector and HealthInspectors are women.The Assistance Secretariesare also women

Council does notcreate jobs. Allvacancies have togo through theLocal GovernmentServiceCommission(LGSC).No discriminationthere are .morewomen than menin the council.Head of PlanningInspector andHealth Inspectorsare women. TheAssistanceSecretaries arealso women

2 4 4

Procurement8. The Council keeps

genderdisaggregateddata onprocurement andhas set a target forincreasing thenumber and valueof contracts

No of ownedcompanies thathave receivedcontracts in thelast year.

No of men ownedcompanies thathave rcvdcontracts in thelast year.

Gendermainstreamed inprocurementTenders areallocated tosuccessful bidders

This is regulated by law.There is a bid evaluationcommittee. This consist ofthree stages:1.Making sure that thequality has been respectedaccording to specifications2.Look for the lowest price3. Then names are lookedinto.

In addition towhat was therelast year on bidevaluation(quality, lowestprice and names).The council hasput women assecurity guards, asthe responsibleperson for the

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received bywomen.

All is transparent and bothwomen and men haveequal chances

cleaning of themarket.

Climate change and sustainable development9. The Council is

aware of climatechange and itsdifferential effectson women andmen. Women andmen are consultedequally onmeasures to betaken.

Existence of apolicy on climatechange howgender isintegrated intothis.

Extent to whichpolicy has beencanvassed;involvement ofwomen and men.

Climate changepolicyCyclone committeeSensitisationcampaign onlandslide, tsunamiand another naturaldisasters. Refugeecentre for victimsRecords of meetingsPhotos/videoScan from pressconference

The Council is aware ofClimate Change. There isa project for rainharvesting in the market.There is a project to train1000 women to start theirown composting

Projects are: rainharvesting, Ecopoints (recyclingof plastic andglass bottles),composting, andsegregation ofwaste, planting of+5000 trees lastyear and 5000trees this year.

3 4 4

10. Women areequally consultedand involved inwastemanagement, andbenefit fromeconomicopportunitiesarising from this.

How wastemanagement ishandled.

How women areinvolved.

Proportion ofwomen in wasteprojects

Waste managementplansGender statistics onwaste managementPhotos; video

Composting from domesticwaste. The reduction ofgarbage

Women are beingtrained on point 9above and alsoencouraged to dotheir owncomposting andthis is helping thecouncil a lot withreduction of wasteand amount ofperishables thatneeds to becollected

3 4 4

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11. The Council keepssex disaggregateddata on title deedsand housing, andis promotingwomen’s equalaccess

How gender isintegrated intoallocation of landand houses

No of womenallocated landand housing bycouncil

No of menallocated landand housing byCouncil.

Policy on land andhousingPermits processedon a weekly basis.40% women

There is a fast track fromall applications for lowcost housing where peopleare given permits. Goodcollaboration between theMinistry of SocialIntegration and theNational EmpowermentFund.The Council participate inthe distribution of keys toowners who receive theselow cost housing

Work with NEFand they makeuse of very goodcollaboration toensure that afamily who hasless than Rs6000 amonth will gethelp from theprogramme.

3 4 4

Water andsanitation12. Women are

involved in theplanning,management andmaintenance ofwater andsanitation.

No of women onwater/sanitationcommittees

No of men onwater/sanitationcommittees

No of womenchairing thesecommittees/totalno of committees

Examples of thedifference womenhave made

Policy on water andsanitation – howgender is integratedinto thisGenderdisaggregatedstatisticsRecord of meetingsPhotos/videoWater SanitationCommittee.More womeninvolved insanitationWomen are trainedto sort out waste

The Planning and Healthas well the SafetyDepartments are run mywomen. They are notafraid to go on theground. Make sure alllogistics are workingincluding lorries.Women do make adifference as they arecommitted to do their jobswell

Women have beengiven key roles inthe council. Theylook after theHealth and safetydepartment,sensitisationcampaigns atschool, wastecollection

2 4 4

Environmental health

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13. Women areequally involved inpreventive healthcampaigns

Types ofcampaigns

Involvement bywomen

Records ofcampaignsPhotos/videoRegular fogging.The priority ofCouncil is to combatviruses

Regular campaigns onhow to eradicateChikungunya; mosquitoesThere is a vectormanagement system.Work in close collaborationwith the Ministry ofEnvironment.Cleaning of bare lands aredone regularlyFogging done regularlyWith climate changewomen are more affectedby water and hence goodsystem in place

Chikungunyacampaigns vectorcontrol/management, drain cleaning(5 million rupeesspent last year)Work in closecollaboration withthe Ministry ofEnvironment.Cleaning of barelands are doneregularly

3 4 4

HIV/AIDS and care work14. The Council has a

gender aware HIVand AIDS policythat isimplemented andmonitored.

Existence ofpolicy

Messagesunderscoreunequal powerrelations betweenwomen and men;

Prevention ofparent to childtransmission

Men areencouraged to gofor VCT

Women and menhave equal accessto treatment

HIV and AIDS policy– genderdimensions

The HIV and AIDS policyforms part of the GenderAction Plan.HIV and AIDS issues are

taken seriously by CouncilWorkshops have takenplace on HIV and AIDS

ARV is free in Mauritiusand there are goodprogrammes byGovernment to HIVpositive people

Working withNatresa parastatalorganisationThe HIV and AIDSpolicy forms partof the GenderAction Plan.Counselling andsensitisationcampaignsAsking Drs todeliver talks

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15. The Councilsupports care forthose living withHIV and AIDS andmen areencouraged to beinvolved in carework.

Existence of carework projectssupported byCouncil or inwhich Council is apartner.

Remuneration/training/support forcare givers inthese projects

No of women, noof men involvedin care work

Records of projectsExamples of whatthese have achievedPhotos, videos

The Council has an itemcalled Social aid in thebudget and give fullsupport to all those inneed. Consider positivelyall hardship cases.The Council organisesregular cancer screeningand blood donationcampaign

Regular checksare done throughthe Ministry ofhealth.Close follow up of2 medical checkup yearly, Inviteministries andhospitals to helpout whennecessary. Casesknown are givenall support

0 2 4

Social development16. Social and

recreationalfacilities aregender aware andresponsive

Types of facilitiesfor sports andrecreation, extentto which thesecater to theneeds of womenand men.

No of women, noof men who makeuse of facilities

Records of facilitiesGenderdisaggregated dataThere are footbasllgrounds in villagesand women areencouraged to playfootball. There is awoman footballteam

A variety of sports facilitiesincluding football, netball,basketball, petanguepitches for both womenand men.Lighting has been put inall pitches so that womencan do their jogging earlyin the morning or late atnight without any worry.The Council has adopted anew concept called greenspace for health. Theregymnasiums in villagehalls as well

A wide variety ofsports and leasureactivities available.35 footballgrounds, 37 greenspaces for footingand jogging.Activities like Yogaand aerobic is alsoavailable

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Gender based violence (GBV) flagshipplan17. There is sufficient

lighting on streetsand in publicspaces; all streetsare named clearly,and names aregender aware

Existence ofstreet lights

No of streetsnamed

No of streetsnamed afterwomen

No of streetsnamed after men

GBV due to darkstreetsStreets withoutnamesNames given tostreets90% street lightingand streets withnames

Names plates areobligatoryAll streets are lightedStreets do not bear thenames of people but offlowers and fruitsRs. 20 million isearmarked for scavengingper year

Same as last yearand there is aconstantmonitoring toensure thateverything is inproper workingorder. Namesplates areobligatoryAll streets arelightedStreets do notbear the names ofpeople but offlowers and fruitsRs. 20 million isearmarked forscavenging peryear

4 4 4

Public awareness campaigns

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18. The Councilparticipates incampaigns to raiseawareness ongender- basedviolence (GBV),such as theSixteen days ofactivism.

Campaignslaunched duringthe Sixteen Days

Budget fromCouncil forcampaigns

Other resourcesmobilised

Follow up tocampaigns

Results achieved

ReportsPhotosVideoBudgetTalks andconferences afterGL workshops.Participated in the16 days campaign

When the Action plan wasapproved by Council abudget of Rs.75,000 wasapproved for activities.There is a budget forGender Links for the 16days campaign. TheLibrarian of the Council dida cyber-dialogue trainingand participated in the 16days campaign on the GBVindicators. There talks onGBV in villages by NGOsincluding Brahma Kumari,Rotary Club.Follow up is done andproblems areas are solved

The councilparticipated fullyin the GL 16 dayscampaign andthey are makingsure that it is 365days campaign.They got inspiredby the slogan ofpeace begins atHome to haveeach village havea world todescribe it (villageof peace, integrity,happiness…) ThereligiousmovementBrahma Kumari isalso helping thecouncil achievethis goal

2 4 4

Response andcoordination19. There is a good

workingrelationshipbetween the policeand community,especially women.Women are

How the Councilworks with thepolice on GBV

Existence ofcommittees onGBV

RecordsPhotosVideoNotes of Meeting

Good collaboration withthe police. There is acommunity policing andCouncils work with themRecords can be obtainedfrom the police

Excellent workingrelationship withthe police andthere iscommunitypolicing andneighbour watch

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equallyrepresented incommunitypolicing forums.

No of women andno of men onthese committees

EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES AND ENVIRONMENTSelection and recruitment20. Women and men

are employed inequal numbersacross jobs,grades and inmanagementpositions and areequallyremunerated forequal work. Thereis an affirmativeaction policy forensuring 50% by2015.

No of womeninmanagement

No of men inmanagement

CEO/head ofadministration=M

Examples ofwomen in nontraditionalareas ofdecision-making egfinance

Council employmentstatistics

The CEO is a male but theDeputy CEO is a female,The head of Planning,Head of Health andSafety, The AssistantPlanner and the HR are allwomen

Women havemostly top jobs inthe council andmore and moreopenings aregiven to them(security, maincleaning inmarkets,inspectors)

3 3 4

Capacity building21. Gender training is

provided for bothwomen and menin the council, atall levels and isdone in asystematic way.

Gender trainingconducted as partof COE’s

Changing lives asa result of gendertraining

COE reportsChanging livesprofilesTraining is provided

Staff participate in allgender training. NGOs areinvited to talk in thedifferent social centresGender Links gave trainingfor develop the GenderAction Plan as well asWomen in Politics

Regular trainingsare given to menand women byGender Links,other NGOs, bythe police, healthministry

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The Council has sinceorganise a Mock CouncilMeeting which was a greatsuccess.The Council also has aGender Links LibraryFour changing lives weredone for this locality andthey are on GL website

The Council alsohas a GenderLinks LibraryFour changinglives were donefor this localityand they are onGL website

Working conditions and environment22. The work place is

family friendly;there is a sexualharassment policythat is enforced.

Maternity andpaternity leave

Flexi time Family days Sexual

harassment policy How sexual

harassment casesare dealt with

Work place policiesNo Sexualharassment policyand there has beenno case of sexualharassment

Maternity and paternityleave are given accordingto law. They do exist andstaff know their rights.There is a breast feedingpolicy.There has been no case ofsexual harassmentrecorded and Council hasnot thought of having aSexual Harassment Policybut is prepared to do onewith the help of GenderLinks.Family Days are organisedregularly in villages

The points fromlast year aremonitored andmaintained andthere also familydays that areorganised, there isa registered staffclub,The council haspurchased pooltables and thereare yoga andaerobic classes.Outings and teambuildings areorganised

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23. The Council hasset up a genderstructure,including a genderfocal person that isempowered to doits work. Gender iswritten into thejob descriptions ofkey functionaries.

Gender focalpoint – who andwhat level

Gendercommittee- whoand how oftendoes it meet

COE and councilrecordsThere is a GenderSteering Committeewith job description

There is gender championand a gender focal point.There is also a SteeringCommittee on gender andall decisions are sent toCouncil.

There is a genderChampion and thegender Focalpoint.The executivesencourage thestaff to think outof the box

4 4 4

Budgets24. A share of

expenditure isexplicitly targetedat promotinggender equality.Women and menbenefit from themainstreambudget

Specific budgetline for gender –what proportionof budget

Gender reflectedin mainstreambudget

BudgetGender ismainstream in thebudget

There is a specific budgetfor gender issues andworkshops.This budget was approvedafter the Gender ActionPlan went to Council.

60% of welfarebudget is genderorientated and atGrand Port theycall it GenderLinks budget. Thisbudget wasapproved after theGender ActionPlan went toCouncil.

0 4 4

Monitoring and evaluation25. There is an M and

E system in placefor gender; it is

Regular reports tomanagement ongender actionplan.

All reports go toCouncil

The Gender SteeringCommittee makes regularreview on the genderaction plan

Steeringcommittee, woulddiscuss about theobjectives andensure that they

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used for tracingreporting purposes

Corrective actiontaken.

Score card usedforbenchmarking.

have been met. Adetailed analysisof issues notcovered would bediscussed tounderstand theway forward

TOTAL 60 90 96