16 Nov 2016

The Minister of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs, Mr Edwin Batshu has asked parliament to approve P265 million as budget for National Development Plan (NDP) 11.  

Presenting proposals during the discussion of draft NDP 11 document on November 15, Mr Batshu said his ministry would tackle a number of strategies during the entire plan period amongst them improving security features of security documents, management of irregular migrants and combating gender based violence.

Talking about the security features, the minister said while success was achieved during NDP 10 in protecting national identity cards, passports, birth and death certificates, work and residence permits, there was need to continue to monitor the situation with a view to improve them.

He said security documents acquired fraudulently could facilitate criminal activities such as identity theft, organised trans-national crimes, human trafficking and terrorism.

Mr Batshu said during NDP 11 government would review the system of managing security documents to enhance their security features through the use of modern technology in order to make it difficult for them to be tampered with.

He said this would include, re-design and development of integrated systems, training of system users, piloting and rollout.

The minister further said measures to strengthen border control processes would also be included in the integrated system, adding the new integrated system would also cater for labour functions which were currently manual.

On management of irregular migrants, the minister said government would develop a Migration Policy during NDP 11.

“Considering the prevailing and emerging migration related opportunities and complexities, the Policy seeks to enhance and strengthen its capacity to better manage migration through the development of a comprehensive and proactive Migration Policy that supports national development goals, “ he said.

Mr Batshu said an increased knowledge and clear strategies approach on migration issues would contribute to the integration of migration into the NDP.

On issues related to irregular migrants, the Policy aims at initiating and implementing measures to prevent and contain irregular migration.

Talking about Gender Based Violence, Minister Batshu said a study conducted in 2012 indicated a 67 per cent prevalence rate of Gender Based Violence on women.

The minister said GBV remained a threat to sustainable development, hence the need for a multi-sectoral and multi-pronged approach for its elimination and prevention.

He said during NDP 11, gender mainstreaming would be intensified across sectors to inform gender-responsive planning and policy development thereby safeguarding equal and meaningful opportunities for women and men to participate in and benefit from socio-economic, cultural and political development initiatives of the country.

Talking about the amount his ministry needed for the entire plan period, Mr Batshu said out of the P265 million he needed, P230 million was for an integrated system.

The minister further requested P5 million for computerisation of border posts and installation of Public Key Directory (PKD).

Mr Batshu has also requested P4 million for Local Area Network (LAN) expansion, P5 million for empowerment of Non-State Actors and P18 million for establishment and strengthening of safe heavens, places of safety for housing and protection of victims and survivors of various cisrcumstances such as GBV and human trafficking.

The minister said P3 million was needed for Gender Mainstreaming Consultancies (Mid-Term Review of the National Policy on Gender and Development; Review of National Response Implementation Plan on Women, Girls and HIV/AIDS; Strengthen Gender and Development Monitoring and Evaluation and Periodic Gender and Development Research Studies).BOPA