Mauritius: District Council of Savanne

The District Council of Savanne is located in the south of Mauritius. Currently, there are 18 male councillors and 1 female councillor who sits at the District Level meetings. The mayor in the council is male and the deputy mayor is female.

Of the 5 committees, the Permits and Licence is chaired by a woman. The Council’s CEO is a woman who actively participates in committees. The Council also works closely with other female village councillors. Young people, people with disabilities and community members are engaged in public meetings and events. Between 0 and 25 percent, women participate in public consultations. These include district council and welfare committee meetings

Of the total workforce, the council employs 43 percent women and 14 percent youth. The management consists of 5 women. The Finance Manager and Refuse Collector are women. There are now more women who are working in fields and at lower management.

There are provisions both for maternity leave and paternity leave, each of a duration of 3 months and less than a month respectively. The Council has a Sexual Harassment policy and sexual harassment cases are reported to the CEO and the president. The Council aims at creating a safe and friendly workplace. It plans activities during family responsibility days.

The District Council of Savanne allocates a substantial budget to gender-related projects.

The Council is aware of the impact of climate change and has set up several projects, for example rain harvesting. It has initiated a project to train 1000 women on how to do composting. 2 men and 2 women handle these climate change projects

The Council has set up a gender caucus group and works according to its Gender Action plan. The Council has been working on the Neighbourhood Watch projects. It also works in collaboration with Gender Links and has been offering gender training to both men and women.