‘Batswana are too sexist’

Biased access to resources between women and men is hampering economic and social development of the country.

When compared to other upper middle-income countries, Botswana’s poverty rate is at a high of 17.6 percent and gender experts cited persistent gender inequalities among the major causes.

Presenting during the high-level policy dialogue on gender and socio-economic policy in Botswana, Chief Gender Equality and Women in Development, Africa Centre for Gender, ECA Ngone Diop said Gender Inequality Index rated Botswana in position 102 out of 146 countries. Diop said based on the life expectancy, education, and income Botswana is ranked at the bottom and that the living conditions of the country’s people are not pleasing.

The Human Development Index (HDI) of the country stands at 0.6555, placing the country at position 118 out of 187 countries. “This goes a long way to show that gender equality is a political, social and economic issue,” she said. She pointed out that what is holding Africa back from achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is persistent and pervasive gender inequality.

She added that in countries where development is lagging behind women and girls are not shown light of day and a chance to be active in development. “We need to shift the focus of development economics from national income accounting to people-centred policies,” she said, adding that economic growth does not automatically lead to gender equality.

“Analysing the statistics of the country, they show that women and girls are left behind in the development process.” Diop said the real purpose of inclusion of gender in policymaking is to ensure that there is equal access to resources and employment opportunities. Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Edwin Batshu said inclusion of gender in development policies could go a long way in eradicating poverty. He said government budget generally appears to be gender neutral because it is presented in financial aggregates, without specification to men and women, when it is not gender neutral. “We know that revenue and expenditure decisions have different impacts on men and women,” he said.

Batshu said the country is committed to adhering to the Beijing Platform for Action in 2000, which stresses the importance of paying attention to gender equality goals at national, regional and international level. He said the country upholds the importance of financing for gender equality and empowerment of women as an integral part of development.

“To accomplish sustainable and deep rooted change, financing for gender equality must also entail the design and implementation of economic policies that give men and women equal access to resources,” he said. Batshu said the main issue is finding a way of shifting budget allocations from the imbalances in development opportunities due to lack of inclusion of gender analysis.