Botswana Centres of Excellence Roll Out, Measuring and Ending Gbv Concept Paper for Gender Mainstreaming in Local Authorities
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BOTSWANA CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE ROLL OUT, MEASURING AND ENDING GBV CONCEPT PAPER FOR GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN LOCAL AUTHORITIES 1 Synopsis This concept note concerns the cascading and strengthening at country level of pioneering work on Centres of Excellence (COE‟s) on Gender Mainstreaming in Local Government carried out by Gender Links (GL) in partnership with Botswana Association of Local Authorities (BALA) and the Women‟s Affairs Department (WAD). The Botswana roll out is part of a similar process in ten Southern African countries. Through this partnership, GL, BALA and WAD are involved in nationwide interventions on gender mainstreaming in local government. This is done through the Centre‟s of Excellence (COE) process, in which elected political representatives as well as their staff in local authorities are sensitised on gender mainstreaming and developing action plans to mainstream gender in their council‟s strategic plan. Furthermore, a nationwide research on gender based violence, the GBV Indicators Study, was conducted with WAD in 2011, to establish the extent and response to GBV in Botswana. This study contributes to the development of indicators to measure gender based violence in Southern Africa. Statistics Botswana was also a key partner in this project and the UN agencies (UNDP and UNFPA) provided financial support. The project was successfully completed in March 2012 and culminated in the launch of the Botswana GBV Indicators Study Report by the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Honourable Edwin J. Batshu. Building on this national research, GL, WAD and BALA agreed to extend this research to the district level, as there is a need to collect more in-depth and district-specific data on the extent, underlying factors, effects, response, support and prevention of GBV at a local level. At local government level, this project will create a concrete link between national policy initiatives and the practical implementation of strategies to address GBV in communities. Adapting the indicators methodology at district and local level is a more sustainable approach that will allow for detailed baselines on gender attitudes and GBV at community level. The result will be a more specific measurement and conclusions about GBV in a particular locality and the research findings will be used to inform prevention campaigns and programmes being implemented at district and local level. Objectives GL is canvassing the concept note with donors and partners to: Raise further support for annual in-country Gender Justice and Local Government Summit and Awards, leading to the regional annual summit in Johannesburg. Raise support for the roll out of the Botswana‟s COE‟s to all of the 29 councils in Botswana by 2015, the deadline for the achievement of the 28 targets of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development. To train the gender focal points of the local councils, gender champions, and WAD District Gender Officers to assist with the roll out of the COE process Popularise and enhance the SADC Gender Protocol through the village workshops that accompany the COEs and incorporating its targets in the local action plans. Cascade the GBV indicators study to the local level and use these to measure the impact of gender and local government initiatives, as well as build up data bases that can be 2 used to gauge the level of gender violence at national level. This information is vital for measuring the extent to which countries and communities reach the SADC target of halving gender violence by 2015. Background Gender Links (GL) is a Southern African NGO founded in 2001 that envisions a region in which women and men are able to participate equally in all aspects of public and private life in accordance with the provisions of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender and Development adopted in August 2008. This unique sub-regional instrument that GL and 40 partner organisations campaigned for is a global best practise of civil society engagement with a regional institution for which GL has won several awards. It provides a road map for the attainment of MDG 3 on gender equality by breaking this overarching goal into 28 specific targets by 2015. With its headquarters in Johannesburg, Changing lives: Zubeida Raphael: BALA South Africa, GL has satellite offices in Women’s Commission Coordinator Mauritius (covering Francophone countries) and Botswana (home of the SADC Secretariat), Mozambique (covering Lusophone countries) Lesotho and Madagascar; as well as project sites now being registered as full offices in Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. GL coordinates the work of the Southern African Gender Protocol Alliance that produces an annual barometer of performance by countries against gender protocol targets. GL has also integrated the Zubeida Raphael is the Coordinator of the BALA targets of the Protocol into its core Women Commission and a councillor at Boswelatlou governance, media and justice ward in Lobatse Town Council. Her first encounter programmes. With strong linkages from with GL in 2008, on developing the roll-out strategy for the local government work. She pointed out that local to national, to regional and although it was difficult to get through to people international level, GL works at the macro when she started it all became easier when they (policy) and micro (workplace and local) started going around councils and teaching people level to promote the empowerment of about GBV. “My light bulb moment was when I was women who constitute the majority of the giving vote of thanks at the National Gender Justice summit I felt very proud to be part of change taking poor, the unemployed and the place in the country,” she said. Raphael said GL is dispossessed in Southern Africa. responsible for her public speaking skills and the positive attitude that she has and how to counsel In 2009, Gender Links opened a satellite people with suffering abuse; “I am able to make all this change because I take advantage of every office in Botswana‟s capital city Gaborone, public gathering or pitso and bring up the subject of to cascade its regional programmes more GBV to get the message across”. in-depth on a local level and to be strategically positioned close to the headquarters of SADC. There are three full time staff members, Keabonye Ntsabane, Country manager and Roos van Dorp, Programme Officer and a field assistant, Vincent Galatlhwe. The mandate of the office includes strengthening GL profile in Botswana, providing national programme support in the areas of Gender and Media, Governance, and Justice at a local level and the efficient implementation of planned activities. Since its establishment, the office managed to create strategic partnerships with government ministries, local authorities as well as NGO‟s and other strategic partners. 3 Achievements Over the past 3 years, GL and BALA have been working with 23 COE councils and build partnerships that have been able to produce solid results, which include: Recognition and support to the programme by the Ministry of Local Government and Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs; through their participation in the starting of the process, attending workshops and participation in the National Summit they recognise GL‟s contribution to gender mainstreaming on the local COE representatives at the Botswana National Summit, 31 March level. There is now a strong network 2012 in Gaborone comprising of the Women‟s Affairs Department, BALA and Gender Links, through consultative meetings and the existing programmes on the ground. Successful first National Gender Justice and Local Government Summit and Awards in Botswana, which brought together 137 participants (56 men and 81 women) from all different councils and NGOs, showcasing 24 best practices in 8 categories. The summit received media coverage through Botswana Television‟s evening news and several newspapers. 8 winners represented Botswana in the Regional Summit in Johannesburg, where a delegation of 50 local government representatives, BALA, local government ministry and the women‟s affairs department joined them and participated in the regional summit. 14 local councils fundraised for the National Gender Justice and Local Government Summit Four councils have mainstreamed their gender action plans into their council‟s strategic plan, and formed a task forces that takes on the responsibility of monitoring implementation (Chobe District Council, Kgatleng District Council, Francistown City Council and Lobatse Town Council) Councils are now raising awareness on GBV and other gender issues in their council through the full council meetings, and in their communities through commemoration of the 16 Days of Activism Campaign BALA tasked their Women Commissioners to follow the draft gender action plans and track progress The summit inspired councillors to take initiative to share knowledge and capacitate others with their own resources, for example Rachel Jeremiah, the Council Secretary of Chobe District Council, after being a runner up at the regional summit, decided to visit other local authorities to share her experiences in the COE process and motivate them to take part in the process Through the network with the local councils, GL collected 50 „I Stories‟, personal testimonies from survivors of gender based violence Other local NGOs such as the Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA) and PCI have expressed interest to partner with GL GL managed to raise monetary as well as in-kind support from partners such as UNFPA, Women‟s Affairs Department, the American Embassy, FES, BALA and local authorities. 4 Gender Champion: Rachel Jeremiah, Council Secretary, Chobe District Council Rachel Jeremiah‟s first encounter with GL was in Sowa at the time when she was the council secretary there and they were developing the gender action plan for the council. She said that GL was helping them structure the plan and to find ways on how to adopt it into our work.