REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA COMBINED SECOND PERIODIC REPORT UNDER THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLE`S RIGHTS and INITIAL REPORT UNDER THE PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA Government. PALAMA is mandated to provide leadership training across the Public Service, including training on gender mainstreaming for senior management officials. The training programme was developed and institutionalized from 2005. To date some 2000-4000 public officials have been trained on this manual. 63. PALAMA has since October 2013 been renamed the National School of Government to assume the responsibility of leading public sector learning and development of programmes and related services, Government departments are using the gender mainstreaming approach, of the many, a few examples include:     The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has a Gender Directorate, which is responsible for gender mainstreaming in the Department. In 1998, the Department adopted a Gender Policy Statement, which places gender mainstreaming as an official operational paradigm upon which all decisions, plans and activities performed within the Department’s mandate should be based. The South African Police Services has established a women’s network to advocate for gender equality. The Department of Correctional Services has undertaken an audit to integrate gender equity into the Department’s strategy to accelerate the appointment of staff. The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, formerly known as the Department of Provincial and Local Government, has also mainstreamed gender into its operations. In 2007, the Department launched the Local Government Gender Policy Framework. This comprehensive policy is crucial in ensuring that the provisions relating to gender equality and equity find practical expression in local government core policies, planning processes, programmes, projects and budgets. The policy proposes mainstreaming as a strategy for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in the local government sphere. Furthermore, it advances a monitoring and evaluation framework to track progress. 64. The Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000297 also provides for mainstreaming gender in participation within municipal structures and provides the core principles, mechanisms and processes that are necessary to enable municipalities to move progressively towards the social and economic upliftment of local communities, and ensure universal access to essential services that are affordable to all. 65. Despite the many gains that have been made in this regard, challenges still exist. The Public Service Commission undertook an audit of gender mainstreaming in the Public Service in 2006. One of the findings shows that gender mainstreaming is not being fully implemented within the Public Service and furthermore that officials do not know how to mainstream gender into their day to day work. 66. The intervention to address the gender mainstreaming challenges should be the full implementation of existing legislation that protect and promote women’s rights, empower women and promote gender equality which are already in place. The legislation is also resourced 297 Act No. 32 of 2000 153