20 Mar 2018

Socio-economic empowerment of women has been described as a gateway to bridge unequal power relations in Botswana.

This was said by the District Officer Administration, Ms Tebogo Gagoangwe in Mokobaxane on Tuesday during the international women’s day commemoration.

She said socio-economic empowerment was a mechanism for aiding and enabling women to participate in decision-making in both private and public spheres.

Ms Gagoangwe said empowerment of women stimulated economic independence and minimised vulnerability of gender based violence as well as risk to HIV/AIDS transmition.

The objective of International Women’s Day, she said was to create awareness on how the International Women’s Day came in to being and how it related to local situation. The aim, she said, was to discuss women’s past strengths and successes as well as their weaknesses and challenges with view to finding solutions to remove constraints.

Ms Gagoangwe noted that government had aligned her post 50 development agenda with that of the United Nations, sustainable development goals, including goal number five on promotion of gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls.

National Vision 2036 under pillar two on human and social development recognised gender as central to socio-economic, political and cultural development.

She said the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day commemoration was in synergy with aspirations and ideals of National Development framework, as it called for everyone, men and women to initiate activity, projects and programmes which would stimulate and accelerate gender parity.

Ms Gagoangwe said it was in fact a call for action to enhance efforts towards ending negative and harmful practices both in the urban and rural environments, which discriminated and marginalised women, thus bringing Botswana closer to the national ideal of attaining gender equity in Botswana.

The theme, he said, would therefore encourage communities and organisations in the urban and rural areas to work towards an inclusive and gender sensitive society as well as prompt them to cultivate new ways of doing business in the public or private arena.

Corporate affairs specialist - social performance at Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa Mines, Ms Ketsile Molokomme noted that the level of education among women had improved.

Ms Molokomme however expressed concern that decision-making in organisations was done by the male counterparts since leadership and influential roles were assumed by men.

Unemployment rate, she said, was more prevalent among women with high drop outs in schools among the girls, hence low economic level.

The girl child, she said, should be encouraged to do science and mathematics. 

Ms Teju Koka from District AIDS committee expressed concern that there was a low rate of HIV testing in Boteti, a low number of patients taking Anti-retrovirals and a high rates of women enrolled in Prevention of Mother to Child Transition (PMTCT).

She stated that 88 per cent of women enrolled for PMTCT, citing their target was 100 per cent.

Prevalence rate, she said was high, noting the high alcohol intake in Boteti, which she said was a challenge.

Boteti Men sector chairperson and Letlhakane station commander, Superintendent Michael Maphephu complained that women failed to report cases of grievous bodily harm to police, trying to protect their partners.

Supt Maphephu said women also abused men emotionally through use of abusive language. He encouraged mothers to give their children good names that did not have a negative connotations. ENDS