Tourism

Mozambique, August 2015

Katutura, 7 May: Feeling discontent and constrained, Anna Mafwila left home at age 15 to make a life for herself. At age 30, despite pebbles in her path, she peddled to success and is now the owner of a unique bicycle tours business. She opened the business in 2011 and it is fast amassing mileage amongst tourists visiting Namibia.
Mafwila realised that the majority of tour operators do not take visitors to the grassroots of the country where they can rub shoulders with locals, engage in conversation, taste traditional cuisine and get in touch with Namibian lifestyle. She began to see that high tour buses and vehicle windows create a barrier between tourists and locals, hindering any chance of meaningful interaction. It was this realisation and her innovation that propelled Mafwila to gear up Katutours.
“I was born in exile and the first time I came to my country I felt like a tourist. Tourism is not only about nature and the wild; it’s also about the people, the diverse culture behind all the ethnic groups living in Namibia. There was nothing in the tourism sector selling the cultural market. I wanted to bridge that gap…the bicycle tours would allow the visitor to see the social vibrancy of Katutura,À explains Mafwila.

Recent studies by Gender Links Botswana has revealed that ovr two thirds of women in Botswana (67) experience some form of gender violence in their life time.
The study says 44% of men admit to perpetrating violence against women . Roos van Dorp , Gender Links Program Officer told Global Post that while Botswana is doing enough to eliminate gender based violence , statistics still show that violence is still high and prevalent in the country.

« La plupart du temps les entreprises recherchent des gens avec de l’expérience. Et la ou il y a de la place, il y a de la compétition » constate Divyani Subban, jeune diplôme de l’école hôtelière pour trouver très vite de l’emploi dans le secteur qui subi le contrecoup de la crise ?
Vasant Bunwaree, Ministre de l’Education, Roland Dubois et Ashvin Ramdin, directeur et président du Mauritius Institute of Training and Development (MITD), sont unanime Á  dire que l’écrasante majorité des diplômés avaient déjÁ  un emploi, avant la cérémonie de remise de diplômes. Ceremonie qui s’est tenu vendredi a l’institution d’Ébène.
Les élèves des quatre promotions qui ont obtenu leur diplôme sont toutefois plus nuances. Divyani Subban, détenteur d’un Higher National Diploma(HND) en hospitality Management confie : « Je cherche et j’attendais le diplôme. Je ne vais pas vraiment vers les hôtels, mais vers les compagnies privées, dans les départements des ressources humaines. Vu tous les diplômés qui arrivent sur le marche, il y a beaucoup de compétition. Vous le voyez surtout quand vous postulez en ligne. Comme il y a aussi les diplômés de l’université de Maurice, qui sont nos compétiteurs, ce n’est pas facile. »Il s’agit sans doute de pousser la porte, comme Sheetal Gokool, qui est actuellement Management Trainee au Constance Prince Maurice. C’est grâce a un job fair qu’elle a trouvé cette occasion. C’est après deux ans peut-être qu’elle compte entamer un Masters in Hospitality Management. Pour elle, ‘tout dépend de la motivation du jeune diplôme.’

The euphoria of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa seems to persist, albeit as faded, scraggy remnants of flags hanging precariously on aerials and the side view mirrors of cars. The cacophony around this event has died. Shakira has left the stage. However the debate about the gendered impact of the FIFA World Cup still remains. This special issue of Agenda, maps out some of the key features of the debate, as we question whether women’s perception in sport has been significant and whether international sporting events can make a substantive difference in women’s lives.
The joy, elation and fervour of the movement seemed to be epitomised in the effervescent, omnipresent buzz of the vuvuzela. It seemed that, for a moment, the FIFA World Cup has helped us realise “A better life for allÀ. But did the 2010 FIFA World Cup realise the promise of development for all in a substantive way? And can we look to these mega celebrations of masculine prowess in international sports in future, to impel economics and social development, and recognise the rights of the most vulnerable sectors of our population? This issue questions the gender impact of the FIFA World Cup and its benefits and consequences for marginalised sectors of South African women. We ask what difference the 2010 World Cup event has made in the lives of women sex workers, informal women street vendors and for raising the profile of women’s sport. We use the FIFA World Cup as the organising trope, to reflect critically on a number of gendered developmental issues in South Africa.

The Gender Links Score a Goal for Gender Equality! Campaign was officially launched on December 10th, 2009, Human Rights Day, and the final day of the 16 Days of Activism. This campaign looks at the ways in which Soccer 2010 impacts on gender, most notably: economic empowerment, sex work, trafficking, women and sport and gender, media and sport.

The campaign is supported by various communication efforts including radio, print, and IT as well as advocacy and outreach initiatives, such as seminars and debates.

This is enhanced though the Gender and Media Diversity Journal 8: Gender and Soccer 2010 and the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service.

As all eyes are on South Africa during the 2010 World Cup, it is essential that we know what those eyes are seeing and what their views are.We seek inputs from students, academics, activists, and anyone with a perspective on how 2010 has affected them and the communities around them.

If there is anything that rouses the passion, emotion
and excitement of people it is soccer, and the stage
is set for fireworks come the 2010 World Cup – but
has the media done its part to make sure no one
gets burned?

An international child trafficking expert has warned that the government needs to take urgent steps now to prevent child trafficking and sexual exploitation during the 2010 world cup.