Introductory Remarks of the UN Resident Coordinator, Ms Nathalie Ndongo-Seh, at the Women’s Forum Meeting

Members of the Women’s Forum,

UN colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Brothers and sisters,

A very good morning to you all; my sisters, mothers and friends who have since become an irreplaceable part of our UN Family. A very warm welcome to today’s Women’s Forum meeting. I am humbled and truly delighted to be with you today, for our story has been filled with obstacles, sadness, joy and success; such which have led us to this momentous moment.

As I reflect on our last in-person meeting in December 2019, my heart is filled with a sense of nostalgia when I recall the 300 faces of courageous and committed women from all works of life, gathered with a common sense of purpose: to address the challenges and identify opportunities for empowerment of women and girls in our beautiful nation, as we seek to achieve Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.

I remember feeling my spirit come alive during that meeting as I soaked up the passion in the room. We heard from marginalised and vulnerable women from rural areas and informal settlements, as well as women from urban areas and civil society organisations, as we shared conversations about the socio-economic and political context for women and girls in the Kingdom of Eswatini.

As a result of this meeting, and under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator, the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, UN Women, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and partners, the Women’s Forum was established. The Forum aimed to identify ways in which our girls and women might be empowered in all aspects of their lives. Little did we understand the significance of these conversations in 2019, for what unravelled in the years to follow is nothing but bewildering.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has rocked the lives of our women and girls: those who are already vulnerable from birth. In our home continent, rural women are truly bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is estimated that the pandemic will likely push 47 million more women into poverty, reversing decades of progress.

Violence against women and girls has increased dramatically as lockdown measures left many women trapped at home or in their communities with their abusers, struggling to access services affected by cuts and restrictions. During the pandemic, calls to helplines increased five-fold, reporting cases of intimate partner violence.

In our Eswatini, 1 in 3 girls experience sexual violence before age 18, as are 87 of every 1,000 girls falling pregnant and in turn, losing their education and at times, their lives to pregnancy and birth complications. After the global lockdowns, one million girls are expected never to return to school due to early teenage pregnancy. One girl losing her education and life to early teenage pregnancy is one too many.

The physical and psychological consequences of violence against women are devastating: not only does violence undermine the health, dignity, security and autonomy of its victims, but it happens in a culture of silence. Less than 10 percent of women report incidences of violence to the police. We cannot afford to remain silent a moment longer.

I have no doubt that there are survivors of violence in this room: you are significant and matter to us all. I assure you that we are doing all that we can to ensure that your precious daughters do not experience the same violence.

However, despite the immense number of obstacles that our beautiful women and girls face, together, we have shown incredible courage, strength and resilience as we have fight on the frontlines of the battle against COVID-19 in many ways: not only as mothers, caretakers and bread-winners at home; community leaders; peacekeepers in war zones and soldiers, but also as nurses, doctors, healthcare and essential workers. I am proud to be a women, but mostly, I am proud to be amongst the women in this room. I find your everyday bravery simply overwhelming and I encourage to take it with you wherever you go.

On this note, I am delighted to have with us today, Ms Tizie Maphalala and women representatives, who will share with us women’s perspectives on the current situation in Eswatini. As am I grateful for expert UN colleagues from around the world, namely: Mr Clever Nyathi, Political Advisor; and Ms Adwoa Kufuor-Owusu, Human Rights Advisor, who have joined the UNRCO team to share expert guidance and conduct analysis on Eswatini’s socio-economic context, including that regarding women and girls. I am also thankful to have with us Ms Antoinette Manana, our dedicated colleague and Gender Analyst whom you know very well, as well as Mr Mamba; our RCO Economist. I encourage you to feel very comfortable to ask all questions that you might have, for we are in a safe space amongst family.

Today’s agenda will look at the developments, challenges and achievements in women’s empowerment since our last in-person gathering in December 2019: notably, the conducting of the Common Country Analysis (CCA) and the development and implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2021-2025.

Furthermore, we will look at the recent developments in the Kingdom of Eswatini regarding the impacts of COVID-19 and indeed, the civil unrest on women and girls. The recent civil unrest has since left our women, many of whom work in the informal sector, more vulnerable than ever before with job losses, business slowdown, inflated prices and growing fears of food insecurity threatening to push more of our family into poverty.

With these ever-increasing challenges, we face a blank canvas to draw on the wonderful opportunities that this tumultuous period has presented. As witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, women have gathered and shared their skills, producing essential masks, hand sanitizers and PPE, as well as much more. Their vision, innovative thinking, humanity and leadership have helped to transform the lives of so many others across this beautiful nation. 

We will work hard today to identify the many opportunities before our EmaSwati sisters and mothers, pledging to grasp them with both hands, and heart and mind. We cannot afford to wait a moment longer to paint our canvas in a spectacular manner; one in which our girls and women are painted as equal to men and boys and indeed, the strong and resilient fighters that we are.

I am truly thankful for your time, efforts and noticeable dedication to the journey of women empowerment in the Kingdom of Eswatini. In the powerful words of the late Kofi Annan: “There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.”  I look forward to today’s brilliant discussions and open sessions, with the full belief that we will take a significant step forward.

May the good Lord bless you.

I thank you.