Women in sports Pitso this weekend
Women and Sport Botswana (WASBO) is expected to host the women in Sport Pitso 2020 this coming weekend in Gaborone.
WASBO Secretary General, Keenese Katisenge says the Sport Pitso will be held under the theme ‘Elevating women and Girl child participation in sport through inclusive policies.’
The Pitso is meant to discuss issues affecting women in sports and come up with resolutions for the development and growth of the girl child in sport.
“The Pitso is built around high level interactive presentations and deliberations with leaders in sport, athletes, media, non governmental organizations, Corporates and the community,” she said.
The event will run for two days, starting with a physical event on the 5th September 2020 at Protea Hotel. The event will be restricted to 50 attendees only and will last for two hours; this she said will
be in compliance with the Covid-19 rules and regulations.
A virtual version of the event will then follow the next day to allow for maximum participation. The online session will have two panel discussions and will allow all interested sports people and other stakeholders to interact with the panelists online and also provide their input on the discussions.
Panelists of the two- day event will include the likes of Elsie Magdaline, a Director at PuttingWomenFirst Trust, and a development and Gender Consultant.
There is also Game Mothibi who is IWG-Women and Sport, Global Executive Member, Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) Chairperson , Marumo Morule and his assistant, Tebogo Lebotse- Sebego.
Adding to the list is Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) president Botsang Tshenyego, Botswana Netball Association (BONA) president Malebo Raditladi Nkgakile and Unaswi Matebu of Botswana Hockey Association.
Athletes have also been invited to the event with Women Fide Master (WFM) Besa Masaiti forming part of the panel.
Katisenge said they intend to assess and gauge the implementation progress of the nation as well as that of local sport associations in enforcing the International Working Group on Women and Sport (IWG) Declaration commitments.
Botswana hosted the 7th IWG conference in 2018 with over a thousand participants coming from all corners of the world. The conference also discussed a wide range of issues that affect women in sport globally.
Ahead of the 2018 conference, many local sporting codes had signed the Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration, which promotes the participation of girls and women in sport.
“We will not just be talking but making a follow up and assessments of what we have done to this end. We will also be identifying what is lacking and the way forward.”
Katisenge said the theme was also a deliberate indication that there are limited to no policies on women sport in the country. This she said is one of the many reasons why women are seemingly just talking and brain storming ideas butwith no enforced action.
She added that they would also be presenting the sexual harassment policy, which has been drafted by WASBO; this will be part of the consultations before the policy can be approved. She assured that they will be doing all they can to ensure that they commit to the IWG legacy in Botswana saying hosting an event of such magnitude requires unquestionable change when it comes to women and sport.