Quote of the week
Universal adult suffrage on a common voters roll is one of the foundational values of our entire constitutional order. The achievement of the franchise has historically been important both for the acquisition of the rights of full and effective citizenship by all South Africans regardless of race, and for the accomplishment of an all-embracing nationhood. The universality of the franchise is important not only for nationhood and democracy. The vote of each and every citizen is a badge of dignity and of personhood. Quite literally, it says that everybody counts. In a country of great disparities of wealth and power it declares that whoever we are, whether rich or poor, exalted or disgraced, we all belong to the same democratic South African nation; that our destinies are intertwined in a single interactive polity.
August and Another v Electoral Commission and Others (CCT8/99) [1999] ZACC 3
Press conference to announce unprecedented global UN public education campaign on gay and lesbian equality
Press conference to announce unprecedented global United Nations public education campaign for LGBT equality with
High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Justice Edwin Cameron
WHEN: Friday, 26 July 2013, from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
WHO: Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu
Justice Edwin Cameron, South African Constitutional Court
WHAT: Press conference announcing the launch of Free & Equal, an unprecedented United Nations global public education campaign for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality. A project of the United Nations Human Rights Office being implemented in partnership with the Purpose Foundation, Free & Equal will raise awareness of homophobic and transphobic violence and discrimination, and encourage greater respect for the rights of LGBT people. This timely and significant campaign will engage millions people around the world in conversations that will help promote the fair treatment of LGBT people everywhere.
WHERE: The Pavilion Conference Centre, Clock Tower Centre, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa
WHY: In December 2011, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published the first official UN report on violence and discrimination against LGBT persons. The report documented widespread human rights abuses. More than 76 countries still criminalize consensual, same-sex relationships, while in many more, discrimination against LGBT people is widespread – including in the workplace and in the education and health sectors. Hate-motivated violence against LGBT people, including physical assault, sexual violence, and targeted killings, has been recorded in all regions. This special event will focus on the need for both legal reforms and public education to counter homophobia and transphobia.
Note to broadcasters: The event will be recorded and footage made available through UNifeed.
Please confirm attendance with Sudeshan Reddy at sudeshan.reddy@unic.org
Media contacts:
Jackie Yodashkin, Free & Equal, 917-620-4502, info@unfe.org
Sudeshan Reddy, sudeshan.reddy@unic.org , +27 (0)82 563 5286
