GOV.BW

The Department of Gender Affairs is mandated to facilitate the mainstreaming of gender issues in the development process.

In the past decade, women’s Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), and groups, have been active players in the social and economic development of Botswana. Following the United Nation’s (UN) Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, the need to empower women for their advancement in all spheres of development was identified. A major priority was the need for enough financial and human resources for the advancement of women.

As a way of empowering women’s NGOs, CBOs, and groups, the Government of Botswana allocates funds to the Department of Gender Affairs annually with the intention of assisting these organizations. The Department of Gender Affairs then helps women’s organizations and groups that are promoting gender issues, particularly those in line with areas of concern adopted by the Government of Botswana during the 1995 UN Forth World Conference on Women.

These priorities include:

•  Women and poverty, including economic empowerment.
•  Women in power and decision-making positions.
•  Education and training of women.
•  Women and health.
•  Violence against women, including women’s human rights.
•  The girl-child.

For the Government of Botswana to continue to provide financial support to women’s NGOs, CBOs and groups, a framework regarding the relationship between the Department of Gender Affairs and its beneficiaries was developed.

The “Policy Guideline for Financial Support for Women” seeks to strengthen administrative procedures and enhance both the efficiency and the effectiveness of the Department of Gender Affair’s support to women’s NGOs, CBOs, and groups.