Empowering women

From a historical perspective, Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa, and for a long time, many men from Lesotho usually migrated to South Africa to work in the mines, while the sisters and wives stayed at home. In addition, when the boys became a bit bigger, many went to work in the mines or went out to look after the animals, while the sisters went to school.

Because of this cultural background, Lesotho has more girls educated than boys, whereas in many African countries, girls are disadvantaged in terms of education and many other things. It is the opposite in Lesotho. But that gap is now closing, because of the changing times. That’s also why now Lesotho has more than a 90 percent literacy rate because men and women are equally educated. When it comes to jobs, Lesotho never makes any distinction between men and women, and there’s no discrimination. It’s equal pay for equal jobs. That’s the tradition in Lesotho.

However, when it comes to politics, women are still left behind. They are scared of going out