Gender equality in Botswana elections

Botswana will hold its General elections on 23 October 2019. These will be both the Parliamentary and the Local Government elections.  Botswana, since independence has been using the First-past-the-post electoral system; where the winner needs a simple majority to win the election. Fifty-seven Constituencies will be contested for in October 2019 as well as 490 Local Government seats. Though some women have indicated their desire to contest these elections, the number will be confirmed after 26 September 2019 when nomination for national and local government will be done.

The electoral system used in Botswana; first-past the post electoral system has not worked for the marginalised groups including women; the country does not have a quota set for women’s representation in the National Assembly and Local Government. This is left to the will of different political parties.  Even within these parties, intra-party processes do not make it easy for women to contest for candidacy.

Through EU support, Gender Links Botswana trained aspiring women candidates, held Kgotla meetings to sensitise the public on why it is important to vote for women and held media awareness training on gender sensitivity.Read the 50-50 campaign in Botswana .

Read more about the Gender and elections 50-50 Campaign in Botswana 

Follow the 50-50 campaign on our social media as well on @GenderLinksBotswana