02 Aug 2015

Women in Francistown have been urged to join efforts to speed up elimination of gender inequity.

Officially opening the third women’s exposition and prize giving ceremony in Francistown recently, Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Mr Moiseraele Goya said gender equality could not be achieved by government alone, but through concerted efforts from all sectors.

He urged stakeholders in these major economic activities to deliberately engage women entrepreneurs in supplying some of the required goods and services.

Mr Goya said a government’s deliberate efforts such as the Citizen Economic Empowerment (CEE) and the Economic Diversification Drive (EDD) were beginning to bear fruit as women entrepreneurs were benefiting.

Mr Goya said government also recognised the persistent challenges of women entrepreneurs in accessing markets, hence continued to provide opportunities through expositions.

He highlighted that National Women’s exposition grew from 70 exhibitors in 1999 to 200 this year, while the northern women’s exposition had grown from 100 exhibitors in 2013 to 150 this year.

He said Botswana had registered significant progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, highlighting amongst others, their efforts to eradicate abject poverty and promotion of women’s economic empowerment, particularly targeting rural and remote area communities as well as people with disabilities.

Member of Parliament for Francistown South, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi appreciated the effort done by gender affairs department to empower women.

He said over the world, women were shattering glass ceilings and proving that they had what it took to be successful business leaders.

MP Mmolotsi said no matter what field the women were in, they were sure to be successful women who had paved the way for others.

He said perhaps the greatest concern for women in the business was how to balance work and family life, but urged them to balance work and family at all the time so that their lives were not strained. Ends