Ministry of Gender

The Ministry of Gender and Youth, Sport and Recreation (MGYSR), through the Department of Gender, aims to reduce gender based violence (GBV) and aim to increase the participation of all people especially women and youth in development through social, economic and political empowerment programmes. The ministry conduct workshops, public gatherings and commemorate 16 days of activism against gender based violence (please refer to the attached videos, key activities and concept note). The ministry established Lapeng Care Centre in Maseru to accommodate women and children who need protection due to the gender based violence that they experienced. Moreover, at both national and district level the ministry forms partnership and works closely with relevant ministries and organizations to help people who are experiencing GBV. Thus, through its activities, the ministry aims to prevent and combat GBV, for instance, through empowering GBV survivors, etc. The ministry has many good practices but below I will only explicitly discuss one. In 2013 (Septemberâ € “November) and 2014 (Marchâ € “April), the ministry, in collaboration with Gender Links, conducted/piloted entrepreneurship phase one and phase two training for identified GBV survivors in the following 5 selected councils in five districts in Lesotho: Seate Community Council, Mokhotlong; Botha-Bothe Urban Community Council, Butha-Buthe; Berea Urban Community Council, Berea; Mazenod Community Council, Maseru; and Mohaleâ € ™s Hoek Urban Community Council, Mohaleâ € ™s Hoek Approximately 20 women GBV survivors actively participated in the phase one and two training. The training aimed to contribute to the targets of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development. It specifically addressed the following targets: Adopt integrated approaches, including institutional cross sector structures, with the aim of reducing current levels of gender based violence by half by 2015. Introduce measures to ensure that women benefit equally from economic opportunities, including those created through public procurement processes.

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