South Africa’s governance perspective on the Indian Ocean Rim Association’s (IORA) focus area on women’s economic empowerment

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abstract The Indian Ocean Rim Association’s (IORA) focus area on women’s economic empowerment in the development of ocean economies in the region favours the evolution of the status of women. This is to say that the IORA has committed itself to gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in pursuing its ocean development objectives. For those African states that are members of the IORA, the latter’s agenda reinforces the African Union’s (AU) position on advancing gender parity in its development objectives (AU Agenda 2063, 2015), which includes utilising its adjacent ocean spaces to contribute to the continent’s transformation and growth. In this regard, as a member state to the above organisations, and as far as developing an ocean economy is concerned, South Africa has made some strides in aligning with, among others, the IORA. This article, following an analysis and discussion of the global, continental, regional and domestic development instruments relevant to women’s economic empowerment, sheds light on South Africa’s governance perspective on the IORA’s focus area on women’s economic empowerment. The article recommends that in further developing its ocean economy policy framework, which currently positions skills and capacity building as one of its enablers, South Africa expressly prioritise women. This can include involving its Ministry for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, which is housed in South Africa’s Presidency, to facilitate the inclusion of women’s perspectives. The Ministry’s framework of thinking demonstrates cognisance of those elements that undermine the substantive equality of women, thus aptly placing it in a position to inspire the converse. In so doing, it is submitted, South Africa will be giving effect to those governance instruments that broadly provide for the economic empowerment of women, as well as operating within the ambit of its constitutional jurisprudence.