Don't ignore the boy child - Molokome

GOTHATAONE MOENG
Staff Writer | Thursday March 1, 2012 00:00

 

She said this yesterday at a media briefing and panel discussion to launch this year's commemoration of the International Women's Day. The day is celebrated yearly on March 8, and will this year be commemorated in Serule, Central District.

Molokomme said efforts to 'connect girls and inspire them for the future' should not happen without the boy child. She admitted that there have been historical imbalances from the traditional socialisation of boys and girls under which the boy child was socialised to be more economically empowered.However, the pioneer gender activist warned against any attempts at tinkering with the status quo.

'I want us not to quarrel with this culture, we must appreciate it because after all a nation without a culture is a lost nation,' she said. She said society today should rather dissect the culture to examine whether it advantages or disadvantages the girl child. There is need to educate the girl child, and the right approach to this will nurture girls with the right self-esteem and resourcefulness, she said.

'For us to raise the girl child at the same level in rural and urban areas, we need to give them the chance to speak for themselves, to tell us what they need, their choices and what their visionary paths are,' she said.For her part, Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs' acting deputy permanent secretary Neo Lepang said the benefits of investing in girls far exceeds the cost of not doing so. She said it is urgent that action to emancipate illiterate families from vicious cycles of family and community poverty should be taken urgently.

'I am a strong proponent of the theory that empowerment of girls in intrinsically linked to the empowerment of their mothers. The connection is more than umbilical. Empowered girls grow up to be empowered women,' she said.Although she said Botswana has made strides in advancing the status of the girl child, she also admitted that there is a big gap between the spelt out visions for empowerment of women and girls and the budgets assigned to them.

'I would like to suggest that decision makers examine budgets for women and girls programme. How much money is specifically devoted to improving the lives of women and girls? That government, donors and civil society take a hard look at themselves and their institutions and reinvent themselves and seek out opportunities to benefit women and girls.'Other speakers included Game 'Zeus' Bantsi, who represented the I AM project, which deals with teaching young people to live a purpose-driven life, and Doreen Mooketsi from Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA).