11 Mar 2018

Government is fully committed to intensive implementation of programmes and projects that provide and promote equal opportunities for the remote area communities.

Minister of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs, Mr Edwin Batshu said this during the commemoration of the International Women’s Day themed Time is Now, Activists Transforming Rural Women’s Lives held in Mokatse in the Kgatleng District.

To firm this commitment, government developed an Affirmative Action Framework for Remote Area Communities under the coordination of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, he said.

The minister noted that government had not only developed the Framework, but had committed about P2.8 billion for implementing the 10-year Affirmative Action Plan in the local government ministry.

Mr Batshu also underscored that ‘the empowerment of rural women does not only remain the responsibility of government, but all critical players, particularly the activists’.

The minister urged civil society organisations to rise up to the challenge and ensure the promotion of social inclusion of people living in recognised remote area settlements, facilitate remote area communities to build sustainable livelihoods, promote self-reliance and sustainable utilisation of natural resources.

He said the significant contribution of the civil society in development continued to create an enabling environment for them to thrive.

‘That is why Parliament in 2012 adopted the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Policy, which was followed by the establishment of the NGO Council in 2013,’ he said.

Mr Batshu said it had been the vision of government to create a society in which women and men were equal and had equal access to basic services and opportunities aimed at transforming their lives.

He called on all activists who work towards the development of this country to actively contribute to the transformation of rural women’s lives, by ensuring that development programmes, policies and activities have mainstreamed gender.

The minister said government was convinced that harnessing the productive potential of women was one of the options that guaranteed sustainable economic development.

Furthermore, Mr Batshu said the theme was aligned to the United Nations Sixty Second Commission on the status of women as well as Botswana’s key priority areas for development.

He said the theme underscored the important contribution of activists in empowering rural women in all spheres of life, adding that it was imperative to stress that women’s struggle for equality remained the responsibility of all people who care about human rights whether in rural and urban settings.

For his part, permanent secretary in the Ministry, Ms Banny Molosiwa said the objective of the commemoration was to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who had played an extraordinary role in the communities they live in.

Ms Molosiwa said in 1975, the United Nations agreed that March 8 would be the day to celebrate women and Botswana also joined later as it saw the significance of the day.

She further said women had played a critical role in building communities and continued to do so, hence the need to appreciate them for the hard work they had put in.

She added that the ability of a woman to multi-task and raised children alone sets her apart for the tremendous job ‘she does on her own’.

Ms Molosiwa said the time was now for women in the rural communities to be empowered and assisted to have better livelihoods.

The UNDP Resident representative, Ms Jacinta Barrins commended Minister Batshu for his tireless efforts in spearheading gender equality issues in Botswana.

She said she grew up giving the word activist negative connotation, a word that caused trouble until she got to know what it really meant to be an activist.

She saluted all the women who started women empowerment movement, a journey which still continues today, adding that they were the true activists.

Ms Barrins encouraged women to help one another occupy senior positions, especially the political office by choosing a woman to stand for political office during the general elections next year.

She said women in Botswana have different platforms, where they could empower and learn from one another and encouraged them to take advantage of them.

In his welcoming remarks, Kgosi Fanuel Mokalake said they were happy that women in rural communities had been remembered and this would ultimately lead to their empowerment. He said it was common knowledge that mostly women in rural areas were not given a chance to prove themselves as compared to those who live in cities who occupy high positions.

Kgosi Mokalake said this would change the thinking that ‘they do not qualify’, adding that through empowerment, they had a chance to prove themselves. Ends