Introducing the report, Permanent Representative of Botswana to the United Nations (UN) Office in Geneva, Boometswe Mokgothu, said that the report was the result of a wider consultative process that engaged various stakeholders. He said Botswana had undertaken several legislative, judicial, administrative and other measures to give effect to the provisions of the convention, including the review of 15 laws that had negatively affected women's status; an amendment of the definition of "discrimination", bringing the Constitution in line with the definition of the convention; and the removal of the concept of marital power through the abolition of the Marital Power Act of 2004.
The combined initial, second and third periodic report of Botswana (CEDAW/C/BOT/3) notes that Botswana, recognising the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, commissioned a review of all laws affecting the status of women in Botswana in 1998. The report recommended amendments to several national laws to align them with the convention and various laws, including the Penal Code, the Employment Act, the Marriage Act, and the Citizenship Act, have since been amended. These amendments have significantly contributed to policy measures leading to women's empowerment socially, economically and politically, and to the balancing of power relations and equity in decision-making under the jurisdiction of the Common Law. As for women's role in political and public life, the report stated that while there are no legal restrictions on women to stand for any elected public office, the reality is that there are many gender-related factors limiting women's advancement in political and all aspects of life, particularly in power-sharing and decision-making. However, the President has the prerogative of nominating four "specially elected" members of Parliament, and in the last general elections the President appointed three women out of the four Specially Elected members to ministerial positions.
