Summit 2018: North East District Council

The North East District Council is in the Masunga North East of Botswana. The Masunga village is the Headquarters of the North East District. The language spoken in the North East Region is Kalanga.

The council has exercised a number of gender-related policies to guide its work. The district council consist of 19 male councillors and 4 female councillors. The council aims to expand its percentage of female councillors from 17%. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the council are females.

The council is made up of 14 committees, two of which are chaired by women. There are more women employed than men in their Workforce of the council.

Young people, people living with disabilities (PWD) and community members participate in community-based planning projects and meetings. Between 51 and 75 percent, women participate in public consultations.

The total workforce of the council employees consist of 60 percent women, 24 percent youth and one percent people with disabilities. Women are only 11 of management. The accounting and revenue officers are women. The Council amended the recruitment, selection and promotion policies to increase the proportion of women in the workforce. the council has an open door policy when it comes to hiring and there is no special decompensation for females.

There are provisions for maternity leave but none for paternity leave. The council does not have a sexual harassment policy. In cases related to Sexual harassment, the council uses Government policies and acts in dealing with sexual harassment.

The North East District Council allocates a substantial budget to gender-related projects, these amounts have increased from 2017 to 2018.

As part of the of the Council’s local economic development plan, the council has newly built market stall which are going to be leased to the community. Women and Youth enrolled in economic empowerment programs are going to be allocated 50% of the stalls as a way of providing market for their products and services. There are 7 623  beneficiaries benefiting from jobs created by the council, 6 462  women and 1 161 men.

Women, men, PWD, and youth are involved in the planning, management, and maintenance of water and sanitation. There is a total of 11  water and sanitation committees. There is 4 women and 7 men on the committees.

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