LESTHO: MPHO MARATHANE


Date: September 5, 2018
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I first met Gender Links in Quthing District in Lesotho, when they invited me to deliver and facilitate at a workshop for empowering women in politics. I facilitated on Gender and Elections, as I was the District Voter Education Officer for Independent Electoral Commission in Quthing District then, who was so passionate about Gender issues more especially in Electoral processes and equal representation at all levels of decision making

Since then, I have been participating in Gender Links Lesotho activities, as a Judge during their SADC Gender protocol Summit and awards at the National level as well as Regional level (SADC) in Benoni, Johannesburg, South Africa and have learnt so much about gender issues my passion grew from stronger from those interactions.

I am now an independent Gender Consultant, carrying out gender audit in different departments, doing gender analysis, to inform government policies and programmes, actively participating voluntarily in National Gender Technical Committee, National Gender Based Violence (GBV) Steering Committee, National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP II) where I belong to the Governance Cluster, also advising them on Gender mainstreaming. I belong to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on State party Reporting, writing and submitting  the country state party reports to the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, on The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, as well as the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, on The Rights of Women in Africa (MAPUTO PROTOCOL, 2006).  I also belong to the Lesotho Technical Working Group of Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, HIV and AIDS and Governance.

Since interacting with GL My life has changed in so many level as now I personally and professionally highly recognized and appreciated by different Civil Society Organizations, and also Government Ministries and Departments, to an extend that they include me in many professional committees and clusters for different activities related to Gender issues in the country.

I have greatly influenced people at the community level, especially on empowering women to take up leadership positions at the political parties’ level, and also worked hard to influence men and engaging them constructively so that they have the buy-in and support women contesting elections for senior positions at the political parties’ level in their structures at different levels. So, I can say with confidence that to a very large extend, I have succeeded. A good example is that I have highly contributed in having a woman Secretary General of the Lesotho Alliance of Democrats Political Party, whereby I influenced and held workshops on voluntary basis as well as several meetings. My Main objective was to make people both men and men aware of gender issues, and the importance of electing women candidates to leadership and key strategic positions.

I  take  part  in  developing  the  Lesotho Draft  Domestic  Violence  Bill, which we are still advocating and lobbying for it to become a Bill and an ACT of Parliament. I also take part in the technical working group for the review of the National Gender and Development Policy (2003), Iam doing all these to push gender agenda and I cannot stop now to work hard and make sure that people know gender issues and how they affect our daily lives like other issues.

The major challenges are that;  Lesotho, like many other African countries, is highly patriarchal, and so, both men and women believe in superiority of males and inferiority of females, and therefore the expectation is that only male candidates are preferred and expected to be leaders of political parties, as well as Secretary Generals and Treasurers ( Executives ) of political parties and even most women themselves don’t think they can make it at those levels, or other levels of decision making

So, there is still a long way to go, in terms of sensitizing the communities even more, in gender transformation.