31 Jul 2014

Government has over a few decades steadily transformed the country’s economy by upgrading it to the middle income status, says the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs.

Speaking at the launch of the United Nations (UN) Joint Programmes on Gender Mainstreaming and Gender Based Violence in Botswana, Mr Edwin Batshu said the achievement was a result of the sound economic and political governance characterised by an effective and transparent economic planning and management led by accountable and capable institutions.

“We thus acknowledge the contribution of the UN system in this achievement,” he said. Talking about the launch of the gender programme, Minister Batshu said government was fully committed to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

He indicated that it was demonstrated through Botswana’s commitment to International, Regional and National Gender Equality Instruments and their follow up processes.

“The 2013 Global Gender Gap report ranks Botswana at 85 out of 135 countries with a Gender Gap Index score of 0.675,” said the minister. Mr Batshu said government acknowledges that there was still work to be done with issues of gender.

He said despite government’s efforts to scale up on social services, the steady growth had been accompanied by unemployment and persistent poverty, adding that gender inequality was among the key challenges faced by the country.

The minister added that there still remains a great divide between legislation and reality on the ground. “Men still dominate the political landscape, violence against women and girls is of great concern and the socially and culturally constructed norms and roles have shaped the gender relations leading to unequal power relations,” he said.

He indicated that the Botswana Gender Based Violence (GBV) Indicators study for 2012 jointly conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs and Gender Links revealed that over two thirds of women in Botswana (67 percent) had experienced some form of GBV in their lifetime and about three in every five women (62 percent) had experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime.“The police also continue to register increasing cases of rape,” he said.

Mr Batshu said with the responsibility of the promotion of gender equality and women’s rights falling within his ministry, he called on other stakeholders to make the extermination of gender inequality, including GBV a top priority in order to safeguard the lives of women, men, girls and boys.

He further said the UN and the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs had developed two joint gender programmes on gender mainstreaming and gender based violence.

“These programmes will provide the UN in Botswana with an opportunity to harmonize and coordinate its support to the government of Botswana; all under the current government of Botswana-United Nations programme Operational plan,” said Minister Batshu.

Minister Batshu applauded the UN system in Botswana for taking a step in mobilising their resources to support gender programmes in Botswana. Ends