BY KWANELE TSABEDZE
MBABANE – Eswatini is committed to end gender-based violence (GBV) in 5 years.
This was confirmed by the Principal Secretary in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office Melusi Masuku. Masuku was speaking in Mbabane yesterday when delivering a report on the Sub-Regional Gender-Based Violence Initiative, following its launch in Pretoria last week.
Speaking to stakeholders, Masuku confirmed that Eswatini was prioritising the alleviation of GBV instances in the country, with the help of the United Nations.
“It is notable that Gender-Based Violence rates are high in the country, so the United Nations met and concluded to assist the six countries to assist them in coming up with ways to address the issue,” said Masuku, citing the UN support to Southern African countries.
He further revealed that the programme will be supported by Spotlight Initiative, who have helped following their assessment of what programmes can help the country fight GBV.
“The financial support will be used for programmes which will be established to help women and girls who have been abused,” revealed Masuku.
According to the UNFPA, approximately 1 in 3 females having experienced some form of sexual abuse by age 18 years, and 48 per cent of women report to have experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetime. This has been improved by the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Bill of 2015 and the finalization of the National Strategy for Prevention and Response to Violence.
Other countries who are part of the five-year initiative are – Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia.
