Eswatini Launches International Women's Month

This month of March, we continue to celebrate the incredible women of Eswatini and the world!

On Wednesday, 9th March 2022, the Principal Secretary at the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, H.E. the EU Ambassador, representative of the Head of Office at UNFPA Eswatini and representative of CANGO Gender Consortium, launched Eswatini's International Women's Month, which will focus on the impact of climate change on women and girls.

Climate change is impacting women in a disproportionate manner.

As women are more likely than men to live in poverty, have less access to basic human rights, including to acquire land, and face systematic violence which escalates during periods of instability, such as drought and health pandemics, climate change is an immense threat to the prosperity of women around the world.

With over 70 percent of emaSwati living in rural areas, women and girls in Eswatini, in particular, are exceptionally vulnerable to the impact of climate change.

In collaboration with the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, the European Union, Eswatini Gender Consortium, and the United Nations; Eswatini’s Women’s Month celebrations will include a community engagement and panel discussion with women of all ages and background, on Wednesday, 16th March 2022, to identify the intrinsic issues encountered, and solutions made and used by women and girls to combat the impact of climate change.

The United Nations Family and partners, committed to the realisation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5; Gender Equality, and in turn Agenda 2030 for the SDGs, are seeking to empower women and girls throughout Eswatini through programmes and initiatives such as the Women’s Forum, Business Eswatini’s Vukani BoMake Project, and the Smart Innovative Youth Tunnel Project, through which young women farmers, including women with disabilities, are empowered to farm sustainably and earn an income using climate smart technologies and training in agri-business.