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Presentation Outline. Budget, policy and strategy Challenges Role-players and stakeholders Overview of mandates Policy priorities Key strategies Focus areas. South African Human Rights Commission Budget 2014. SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION.

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Presentation Outline

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  1. Presentation Outline • Budget, policy and strategy • Challenges • Role-players and stakeholders • Overview of mandates • Policy priorities • Key strategies • Focus areas South African Human Rights Commission Budget 2014

  2. SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION • 7 commissioners (5 full time and 2 part-time) • Strategic focus: • 2011-2014: The Commission underwent a three-year organisational restructuring and renewal process. It strengthened its protection mandate by improving the dysfunctional complaints handling system.The Commission’s performance has improved significantly over the past four years from meeting 52% of its targets in 2009/10 to 84% in 2012/13. • 2014-2017: The Commission will focus on advocacy and outreach (promotion mandate) in poor and marginalised communities. Improve outreach through collaboration with stakeholders who already have existing networks in rural and peri-urban areas. Use of mobile human rights clinics will be explored. • During 2014/15 the human rights theme is Business and human rights. The agriculture and mining sectors have been identified as the most critical areas requiring attention.

  3. SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION Cont’d • Budget: the Commission identifies chronic underfunding as a severe challenge to fulfilling its broad mandate. • The Commissions budget for 2014/15 is R128.1 million (which shows a slight real increase of 1.14 per cent from 2013/14). • In 2013 the Commission argued that limited resources were forcing it to scale back on its work: lack of a travel budget for the Commissioners had limited their ability to travel to rural areas; funding pressures also meant an increasing reliance on pro-bono legal services; the institution had to consider closing three provincial offices, namely, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the North West office, or freezing thirteen posts. • Other cost saving measures under consideration included a proposal to share office space with other Chapter 9 institutions. It is unclear how far this proposal was developed.

  4. SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION Cont’d • The Portfolio Committee supported requests for additional funding of R16.5 million for 2014/15. Treasury provided additional allocations of R3 million in 2014/15; R4 million in 2015/16 and R5 million in 2016/17 for increased capacity in the commission’s human rights protection and promotion programme. • Three programmes: • Administration programme (finance, corporate services and internal audit) receives 48 per cent (R62 million) of the budget allocation. • Promotion and Protection of Human Rights programme (the Commissioners programme; legal services and human rights advocacy) is allocated 40 per cent (R51 million) of the Commissions budget for 2014/15 which shows a real increase of 5.8 percent from the 2013/14 allocation.

  5. SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION Cont’d • the smallest allocation (12 per cent of the total budget) is used for the Research, Monitoring and Evaluation programme (research, PAIA and strategic support and governance). The R14.6 million allocated to this programme for 2014/15 shows a real decrease of 5.15 per cent and does not show any real significant increase over the medium term. • R78 million (or 61.2 per cent) of the Commissions 2014/15 budget is spent on compensation of employees. The Commission has an establishment of 180 posts, all of which are funded. According to the 2014 ENE the vacancy rate is at 11 per cent (as at November 2013). • Challenges: • The Commission received a qualified audit opinion from the Auditor General in 2012/13.

  6. SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION Cont’d • The impact of budget constraints on operations and decisions taken around the pursuit of donor funding/ fundraising. The Commission reports in its 2014-2017 Strategic Plan that ongoing budget constraints will mean it may need to consider a ‘fundraising strategy’ that would include donor funding. • The Commissions relationship with the Office for Institutions Supporting Democracy (OISD). • The impact of new legislation (the South African Human Rights Commission Act 40 of 2013.) • Implementation of the resolutions of the Forum of Institutions Supporting Democracy (FISD). • Develop a focus on specific areas of human rights protection, monitoring and promotion not covered by the mandates of any other existing constitutional bodies.

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