Grassroots interventions necessary in GBV fight

Cavin Kanoko | Friday November 20, 2020 18:14

France Ambassador to Botswana,Laurence Beau said equality between women and men is a priority of the French government. Hence it has been declared the great cause of President Emmanuel Macron’s mandate and “the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs has been promoting this commitment internationally through its feminist diplomacy for many years now”.

She also said in Botswana, they are striving to translate feminist diplomacy into concrete actions on the ground, in collaboration with public institutions, development partners and civil society.

Beau pointed out that 2020 was supposed to be a special year for the fight towards greater gender equality since the Equality Generation Forum was to be organised by UN Women and co-chaired by France and Mexico. Unfortunately, it had to be postponed like most major international events, due to the health crisis brought about by COVID-19.

She said the idea was to start the dialogues in July this year but were stopped by Covid-19 thus they had to opt for a completely different, bolder option, and took the opportunity of International Men’s Day to discuss GBV.

Meanwhile, Kgosi Thwane from Artesia was the moderator for the debate with men from different sectors discussing the issues surrounding GBV and its cause. Kgosi Thwane emphasised the need for proper grassroots development of character in males in order to reduce GBV in the country.

He urged men to set priories when they deal with their counterparts and also discard the belief that men are better than women. During the discussion, the issue of norms and customs was highlighted as one of the instruments that have allowed men to abuse women