Gender equality should not to be championed by women only - Skelemani
The low representation of women in Botswana’s political landscape highlights the importance and urgency of the need to promote gender equality by ensuring that Botswana Parliament is gender sensitive.
In his recent address in Kigali, Rwanda at the 14th Inter-Parliamentary Assembly Speaker of Parliament Phandu Skelemani said that while gender equality is pivotal to the development of Botswana it is important to “walk the talk”.
He said that modern democracies face the challenge of inclusion of women representatives in Parliament, and there is need to proactively work towards the equal representation of men and women in politics.
Skelemani cited the 2012 and 2017 IPU Plan of Action for Gender Sensitive government’s roadmap which notes that women face great obstacles entering politics, including prejudice and cultural perceptions about the roles of women in society, violence against women in politics, and lack of financial resources. The study report indicates that the upside is that when they do become involved, women parliamentarians bring new perspectives and priorities to the decision-making process, placing women’s concerns in the parliamentary agenda. Its findings also showed that many Parliaments in Africa are not generally gendersensitive institutions.Skelemani said that Parliaments should however be safe spaces for all men and women in
political leadership and policy making, adding that championing the rights of women is not the preserve of women only, and men also have a duty to play an active role in gender empowerment by supporting women in their political duties and contributing to making the political environment conducive for them to thrive.
“We should proclaim with a single voice that gone are the days when advocacy and defence of women’s rights and gender equality was championed by women political leaders only. All MPs and politicians should shoulder that burden regardless of gender because Parliament is an institution that represents all citizens.” The Constitution of Botswana makes no recommendations for quotas on gender representation but various political parties have set their own quotas on the number of women
to be included in positions of leadership, in continued efforts to encourage gender representation and inclusion.
Furthermore, institutions such as Democracy Works and Gender Links have both in previous years rolled out training mentorship for both aspirant and established female politicians in Botswana, to capacitate them in political literacy, leadership skills, how to find resources and build positive networks in the political landscape.
Representation of women in the Botswana Parliament increased by just one percentage point from 11 percent in 2019. Only seven women made it to the Botswana Parliament following the general elections in 2019; three women were elected from the 57 seats and the additional four out of six were appointed and confirmed as Specially Elected MPs.