Activities in Botswana

Researching GBV in Botswana
The major research component of the Prevalence, Attitudes and Costing Survey will take place between May and June. The satellite office has made significant efforts in the collection of “IÀ stories from different locations of the country. Some of these are already in hand and need to be edited into final products. Consultants have been commissioned to conduct the administrative research and the political discourse analysis. The Botswana Report should be available by November 2011.

Gender to be mainstreamed in Ghanzi
A Gender Action Plan will soon be mainstreamed in Ghanzi District Council. GL and the Botswana Association of Local Authorities (BALA) team travelled to Ghanzi for the council’s management meeting and also to do a strategic analysis of how far the council has progressed with mainstreaming gender. Their aim was to ensure that the Gender Action Plan that was developed during a previous GL workshop was mainstreamed into the council’s strategic plan. At the meeting, GL briefed a group of new managers about our organisation and its activities. On 18 January, during the management meeting, Ghanzi District Council announced that the Gender Action Plan will be mainstreamed in the council’s strategic plan.

Botswana media publicises the GJLG Summit
The Botswana office began the New Year with a media frenzy to announce the GJLG Summit. GL received extensive media coverage on TV, radio and in newspapers. We also took the opportunity to brief the media on our other activities, such as the COE workshops, the GBV Indicators project and the Opinion and Commentary Service. Finally, we are urging the councils and community-based initiatives to submit their best practices ahead of the Summit.

GL commemorates women of the world
GL Botswana is supporting the Women’s Affairs Department in commemorating International Women’s Day on 8 March 2011 in Mochudi. The activities are being spearheaded by WAD to educate the public on matters relating to the status of women and to discuss the extent to which gender equality has been achieved in Botswana. Besides the government and NGO’s, the event will include participation of schools, higher learning institutions, private and parastatal bodies, churches and the business community.