- The deputy minister of social development will host a series of dialogues over three days with short-statured South Africans.
- The series of dialogues will focus on sexual and reproductive health.
- The sessions will be hosted in Pretoria this week.
Deputy Minister of Social Development Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu is expected to host a series of dialogues on sexual and reproductive health and rights for short-statured South Africans over three days this week.
The dialogue will be held in Pretoria from Wednesday to Friday this week, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund.
In December 2019, Bogopane-Zulu held a session with short-statured people to deliberate on issues affecting their everyday lives. The department said short-statured people still experienced discrimination, exclusion and compounded marginalisation as part of an under-represented disability group.
In a statement, the department said the dialogue will highlight the challenges experienced by short-statured people.
"The prevalence of short-statured persons in South Africa has not been accurately documented. It is estimated to be around 3 to 5%, and the prevalence of growth hormone deficiency being around 1 in 4 000 persons," the department said in its statement.
"There is currently no data existing around sexual and reproductive health and rights for short-statured people. The impact of and services on HIV and AIDS and gender-based violence and femicide is the reason for continuous engagements and dialogue with short-statured South Africans to begin to build an information hub for the sector, which will inform government's programmes, policies and services for short-statured people.
"South Africa has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which has been domesticated through the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (WPRPD)," it added.