01 Dec 2022

Government is committed to ensuring access to the justice system for all Batswana but there are no implementation guidelines.

This was said by Ministry of Justice deputy permanent secretary, Mr Moffat Lubinda at the development of gender mainstreaming guidelines in the justice system project in Maun on Wednesday. 

The guidelines, he explained, would ensure that different actors were gender sensitive to guarantee a gender friendly environment to victims as well as service providers.

‘’There is need to beef up our justice system to be able to deliver our services effectively, which means all actors from police, prisons, social workers, prosecutors, civil societies need to be capacitated,’’ he said.

Mr Lubinda stated that upon completion, the guidelines would be cascaded to communities to attain an empowered people who understood what access to justice entailed.=He said the stakeholder consultations were meant to establish dialogue across sectors of gender, education, justice system, social protection in order to align their mandates to Sustainable Development Goals.

Views gathered from the consultations would be captured to inform the formulation of guidelines, Mr Lubinda said.

Policy dialogue and capacity building, he said, would harness efforts of public officers and civil society in addressing challenges at community, district and national level in ensuring that no one was left behind.

  Emphasising the importance of gender mainstreaming, Mr Lubinda said it created equal opportunities for both men and women.

In her remarks, Batawana regent Kgosi Kealetile Moremi raised concern about the alarming  increase in GBV cases across the country which she said required action from government, civil society and individuals.

‘’We need to engage extensively and assess what could be wrong so that we uproot this cancer called GBV but I am however thankful that all stakeholders concerned are here,’’ she said.

Kgosi Moremi said as the world commemorated 16 days of activism against GBV, all Batswana should walk the talk and ensure eradication of the scourge from their communities.

North West District Council chairperson, Mr Kebareeditse Ntsogotho said mechanisms and strategies to enable implementation of guidelines were imperative.

He emphasised that it was incumbent upon leaders to advocate for gender mainstreaming to foster equal distribution of resources to both men and women.

In addition, Mr Ntsogotlho said there was need for vigorous education at grassroots level to teach children that GBV was wrong.

Parents should desist from  expecting their children to be taught at school even the basic knowledge and skills that could be acquired at home. ENDS