08 Mar 2017

Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Gladys Kokorwe says Botswana is forging ahead on women representation.
Speaking at a reception organised by the Chinese Embassy to mark commemoration of the International Women’s Day  in Gaborone on March 7, Ms Kokorwe said Botswana had reached the United Nations “Planet 50:50” target on the judiciary with representation of women at 50.3 per cent followed by the civil society at about 46 per cent, public sector at about 43 per cent of women in leadership positions.
In the parastatal, women representation stood at 29 per cent and 23 per cent in the private sector, she said.
While she was happy with the statistics, she was however worried about the low number of women representation in the political sphere as their representation in parliament was only eight per cent.
Ms Kokorwe said the International Women’s day commemoration themed “Be Bold for Change” carried historical significance as they reviewed the struggle for equality, how far it had come and achievements made.
She also said despite some achievements, they were still far behind and thus called on other women to continue to check the Beijing platform for Action and Sustainable Development goals which recognised women’s rights as human rights.
As a country, she said Botswana had sustained efforts to address issues affecting women, most of which were related to gender stereotype, discrimination, socio-cultural practices and the patriarchal system that tended to give males power and dominance over females.  
On the other hand, wife of the Chinese Ambassador to Botswana, Ms Mao Xuehong who was the host said as women, they always took dual roles both at work and in the family.
Ms Mao said at work they had to be as excellent as male colleagues in order to get jobs or positions, be diligent, hardworking and efficient to show their competitiveness.
She said at home, a woman had multiple roles, including being a daughter to her parents, a mother to her children and wife to her husband and she should look after them as well as managing all the housework.  
She said when she showed up in the public, a woman ought to be elegant and graceful and one could imagine what tension and stress women put up with. ENDS