'Sharing The Caring Of A Nation'

Speaking at a panel discussion marking the beginning of IWD celebrations, Khin-Sandi Lwin, UN Resident Coordinator, explained that the burden could be caring for children who are the future productive citizens of the country or for those who are ill and affected by HIV/AIDS in home-based care. 

"As we have been saying for years, 'the burden of care' is on the shoulders of women. 

The call is to have men take an equal share of the burden, just as there are programmes such as the role of men in reproductive care which one of the UN agencies, UNFPA, is supporting the government to implement," she said.

She revealed that much progress has been made in Botswana on ratifying conventions and in policies and legislation. "So the enabling environment is strong in the country to address gender equality and gender based violence. We realise that we now need to move from words to action," she said.

In that light, the UN system in Botswana commissioned a desk analysis of available data on gender based violence as revealed by Lwin. She stated that the Situation Analysis on Violence Against Women in Botswana is yet to be released.

Lwing pointed out that in the broader dimensions of gender equality, the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals highlight this fundamental development challenge.  All the MDGs address or are linked to MDG 3 - to promote gender equality and empower women.  

She revealed that when it comes to MDG 1 on eradicating extreme poverty, women headed households are among the poorest and most vulnerable for hunger and poverty.

She explained further that for MDG2 on universal primary education, girls' education remains the biggest challenge in many countries around the world, though not in Botswana. 

The same applies to MDG3 on reducing child mortality where in many countries girls tend to suffer from higher levels of morbidity and mortality, she said, adding that MDG5 focuses on women's health as mothers with very high maternal mortality rates. She indicated that MDG6 on HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, is also very relevant since women have higher risks for HIV infection. 

Where environmental sustainability is concerned in MDG7, women are the ones who have to fetch water and firewood from long distances. Global partnerships called for in MDG8 are certainly urgently needed for gender equality and women's empowerment.

For her part, Elsie Alexander, the vice chairperson of the Gender Policy and Programme Committee at the University of Botswana said it is the cultural dimensions that have entrenched violence on women.

"It is the issues of moral values, customs, issues of roles in the family with the man coming out as the decision maker and head of the family. The bottom line is that we need to ask what are the cultural dimensions," Alexander said.

She stated that in most cases, people who practice the culture of silence are women themselves. "They never speak out because they have been raised to respect their husbands and behave in a certain way," she said.

Shirley Keoagile, the vice chairperson of People Living With Disabilities, revealed that people with disabilities are always left out in such discussions, even though they face the same challenges as able-bodied women. "Women with disabilities have been excluded from all the activities that will be on-going the whole of this week," she said.

Keoagile said it is time the government looks at ways to empower women with disabilities and nurture their talents. "Look at how Annafiki the musician has been exploited by people who promised to assist her," she said.

IWD will be launched in Maun on Sunday. According to the Director of the Women's Affairs Department (WAD), Matty Legwaila, Maun was chosen so that they could interact with women from all over the country. The theme of this year is "Sharing the Caring of the Nation."