21 Jun 2023

Botswana has become the 15^th African  country to join the Education Plus (Edu Plus) Initiative, a collaboration with United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

The initiative, through which the Ministry of Education and Skills Development will collaborate with UNAIDS, seeks to advocate for gender responsive reforms in polices, laws and practices to guarantee the education, health and other social and economic rights of adolescents and young people. Launching the initiative in Gaborone on Monday, First Lady, Ms Neo Masisi said schooling was one experience that children had in common. 

“It is a means by which society prepares their young ones for the future, nurturing and developing their potential for enriched livelihood,” stated Ms Masisi.

She said it was critical for societies to pay attention to gender parity in enrolment and performance as education was one of the greatest equalisers for individuals.

Ms Masisi said education was an enabling right hence it would not be right on girls to not experience equity of educational access as boys.  Botswana learners like their peers around the world, she said, experienced challenges of gender based violence, peer pressure, substance abuse and other factors that affected their learning.

Child sexual abuse remained the greatest pain and that required  urgent measures, Ms Masisi said, adding that the 2016 HIV survey study indicated that HIV prevalence among adolescent was directly linked to sexual exploitation and abuse, while poverty and cultural expectations promoted men’s power over women, factors identified as key drivers.

Ms Masisi said it was because of such realities that the girl-child in particular experienced consequences ranging from low self-esteem, unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections such as HIV .

She said the new HIV infection trend to girls and young women continued to threaten the country’s hope of ending HIV/AIDS by 2030 as the group was left unattended. 

“We know the issues driving these numbers, it is the same issues that are deterrent to ending HIV/AIDS, therefore our collective efforts are required urgently to close on gaps that expose our young ones to HIV infections and other social ills,” stated Ms Masisi adding that preventative measures should also work effectively.

The First Lady applauded the education ministry together with UNAIDS for the Education Plus initiative, saying it would holistically address issues affecting out of school young people and learners. 

She noted that through the initiative, young people would improve their livelihoods by mitigating the challenges they faced besides reversal of HIV infections amongst themselves.

Ms Masisi further said the initiative advocated for high level commitment and collective efforts in scaling up multi-sectoral policies such as official plans and resourcing of interventions that every adolescent girl and young woman and other young people were entitled to, as a transition to adulthood. 

“The government through ministry of education cannot realise these desired results on their own. In order to achieve the desired outcomes, it would need support from political leadership, communities, parents, traditional leaders, faith based leaders and leadership of other stakeholders to contribute to the wellness of young people,” stated Ms Masisi.

Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Ms Nnaniki Makwinja said the initiative would assist in augmenting programmes in schools. 

She said the initiative targeted over 351 000 learners at primary schools, over 182 000 learners at secondary schools, over 7 000 students in brigades and more than 2 000 at technical colleges while 1 046 students were targeted at institute of health sciences and 1 268 at colleges of education.

“We understand that Education Plus is a gender based responsive advocacy and empowerment initiative seeking to urgently respond to the challenges that adolescent girls of secondary schools experiences,” said Ms Makwinja.

UNAIDS Regional director, Ms Annie Githuku-Shongwe said they were delighted that Botswana was joining the Education Plus Initiative and therefore, were looking forward to work with all stakeholders including multi-lateral and development cooperation partners, to end the inequalities that put adolescent girls and young women at higher risk of HIV infection.

Ms Githuku-Shongwe stated that standing together with and for adolescent girls and young women, could end discriminatory laws and harmful social norms, pave way for healthy, educated and empowered young women in decision making to lead the country, region and the African continent. 

The Education Plus Initiative was launched under the theme: A Time for Education Plus; Every Adolescent Girl Completing Secondary School, Safe, Strong and Empowered.  ends