GENDER LINKS WORKSHOPS JOURNOS ON WOMEN IN POLITICS
Gender Links Botswana recently held a three-day workshop to train journalists on reporting about women’s political participation in Botswana.
The workshop was held in Gaborone and facilitated by veteran journalist, Pamela Dube-Kelepang.
The involvement of women in politics has been identified as one of the most crucial arguments in the discussion of women empowerment. The training was aimed at sensitising and educating journalists on reporting about women in politics.
The training attracted different speakers who addressed various issues in line with the topic
including politicians and gender
activists. Speaking at the opening of the training workshop, Gender Links country manager Onneetse Makhumalo said, “We are implementing this project in Botswana and eSwatini in Southern Africa as part of the consortium and the aim of the workshop is that we enhance women’s political participation and in Botswana’s case one would wonder that we just came out of the elections in 2019.”
Makhumalo said the workshop was in response to concerns that as women organisations they try to train women in the period before elections when all electoral processes have been done at the time which they have decided to prepare in advance. She said they have commenced the preparations, which started with them meeting stakeholders.
Makhumalo said they had planned to start the national census, which would then lead the Delimitation exercise. She said they want to prepare women well in advance for the 2024 general elections.
Rona Malema from the Gender Affairs Department pointed out that there is a need for deliberate effort and concrete action required to change the status quo on women’s representation in politics. She said the lack of party funding and the traditional role of running the home, household chores and child bearing are some of the limiting factors for women’s political participation. “Today marks the beginning of a journey in which media practitioners can identify, advocate for and report sensitivily on issues with regard to women’s empowerment and women’s representation in decisionmaking positions, especially in politics,” she said.
Some of the recurring issues during the discussion were the role that the media plays in enabling women to join politics, challenges faced by women in politics and the role of legislation in the involvement of women in politics.
Speaking on the party initiatives, challenges and the roles of women in political parties, representatives from the local parties outlined structures put in place to empower women in the parties.