Mokgethi gets award
Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Anna Mokgethi was on Wednesday handed an international ministerial achievement in gender and development issues award at the Phakalane Golf Estate.
This comes after she was nominated recipient of the 2022 Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand Up (DUSUSU) Foundation award based on her outstanding performance in issues of gender equality and development in Botswana whilst serving as the Minister of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs.
She was handed the award by DUSUSU Foundation founder, 20-year-old Zuriel Oduwole who is a global icon as she received various awards and gained international recognition for her input in girls education and gender development issues.
“The “Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand Up” program was first launched in March 2013, in Lagos, Nigeria at the Pan-Atlantic University, and in other schools in partnership with the
US Consulate in Lagos. I started advocating for girls education not only in my home country when I was 10-years-old where I met different Presidents from different countries. We have since done it in more than 13 countries including Nigeria, Malawi, Mexico, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, Ghana, South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Rwanda, Mozambique and Tanzania,” Oduwole said. “The aim is to encourage girls to stay in school and get the best education they can show parents what girls can achieve if given the opportunity, show other adults why it is important to focus on girls’ education, encourage leaders to help fight for the girl child development, use myself as an example of what girls can do, even at an early age if educated.” She stated that the award recognised the impact made by African First Ladies who are powerful forces behind Presidents, and African Gender Ministers the policy executors for Presidents who played an important role in the lives of a girl child and women. She said the award encourages them to do even more. She also pointed out that she previously gave the award to those women of prominence from above mentioned countries.
For her part, Mokgethi said Oduwole was listed on major global networks such as Forbes magazine and digitally on Yahoo! News. She added that she (Oduwole) presented with the Ban Ki- Moon Leadership Award by the eighth Secretary General of the United Nations. She said that she became the first girl, the first African American and the first person connected to the African continent by ancestry, to receive the award. Mokgethi also applauded her for her achievements at such a tender age. “It is my pleasure to receive this award and I would like to thank the Botswana Government leadership for the support they gave me during my time as the Minister responsible for Gender Affairs that culminated into the receiving of this award today. I wish to acknowledge with the same tone development partners and civil societies organisations for their unwavering efforts towards gender development in Botswana. We must acknowledge the hard work put in Gender Development however statistical data presented on a daily basis reflect that we need to develop robust mechanism in order to attain gender equality,” she said.
Sharing the achievements she attained while serving as the Minister of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs she stated the following; establishment of the inter-ministerial committee in December 2020, adoption of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act in 2021, adoption of the Sexual Offenders Registry Act in 2021 and establishment of GBV Special Courts.
Meanwhile, Minister of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture, Tumiso Rakgare said the recognition of Mokgethi by Dream Up, Speak Up, Stand Up (DUSUSU) was testimony of her commitment to the implementation of Government’s Gender Objectives as guided by the National Policy on Gender and Development and the National Strategy Towards Ending Gender Based Violence (GBV). He added that Botswana remained committed to improving the status of women and girls in all spheres of their lives.
“To this end, deliberate efforts have been made to address specific areas where women and girls are disadvantaged. Examples include; the promotion of Child Friendly Schools (CFS) where learner conditions are constantly reviewed and relaxed considering learners’ varying environment and challenges as well as mobilisation of girls to enrol into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).”
“Though the Gender Portfolio has been transferred to my Ministry, the gender equality journey continues. It is on this note that since May 2022, the Ministry launched the National Gender Commission, which comprises 16 members representing various sectors including Civil Society. The Commission has since commenced work and Members are currently engaging with various stakeholders in an effort to promote gender equality and zero tolhe erance on GBV,” said.