Lutsango Day and the Forward March: Celebrating Women, Upholding Their Rights

The month of March carries great significance in the calendar of national and global advocacy for women’s rights and gender equality, beginning with the women’s labour and peace movements of the early 1900s.

On 11 March, I was privileged to join Eswatini’s commemoration of International Women’s Day (IWD) which is celebrated on 8 March globally. For two weeks every March, representatives of UN Member States, civil society organizations and UN entities gather at UN headquarters under the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to review progress and gaps in the implementation of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the key global policy document on gender equality. The 2026 CSW is currently ongoing in New York.

Here in Eswatini, Lutsango Day adds a jewel to March’s crown. Commanded by His Majesty King Mswati III to honour the strength, unity, dignity, and enduring contributions of emaSwati women, the day lends a uniquely powerful and grounded expression of a national recognition and celebration of women and their power. His Majesty’s declaration of Lutsango Day aligns with the 1977 resolution of the United Nations General Assembly which invited Member States to "proclaim in accordance with their historical and national traditions and customs, any day of the year as United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace".

At its core, Lutsango Day recognizes the central role that women play as custodians of culture, values, identity, education and social continuity. Lutsango Day also affirms women as a key pillar of all aspects of social, political and economic life. 

Taking Stock of the Global Reality

This year’s CSW focuses on ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers.

Across the world, progress toward gender equality has been meaningful but uneven. Women today have greater access to education, employment, and public life than in previous generations. Yet the pace of change remains slower than global aspirations.

Globally, women represent just over 26 percent of parliamentarians and hold fewer than one in three managerial positions. Women continue to earn, on average, about 20 percent less than men, while many remain excluded from equal access to land, finance, markets, and digital opportunities.

As United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has noted, women worldwide still enjoy of the legal rights available to men, with discriminatory laws and social norms continuing to limit women’s opportunities and participation. As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reminded us in this year’s message on IWD, worldwide, women hold only about two-thirds of the legal rights enjoyed by men, continue to face legal discrimination in more than 40 countries where marital rape is not recognized as a crime, while other laws restrict women’s ability to pass on citizenship to their children.

Across Africa, encouraging strides have been made in increasing women’s representation in politics. However, women still hold only around a quarter of parliamentary seats on average and remain underrepresented in senior political and economic decision-making roles.

Women at the Heart of Eswatini’s Forward March 

Lutsango Day must serve to remind us that women’s strength, resilience, and leadership have always been central to the life of the nation. In Eswatini, women represent 50.4 percent of the population, and the country has achieved near gender parity in educational attainment. From agriculture and informal trade to emerging enterprises, public and private sector leadership, to political representation, women contribute significantly to Eswatini’s progress.

Across homes, communities, institutions, and the economy, emaSwati women support livelihoods, strengthen social cohesion, lead corporations and departments, and contribute to national progress, often under challenging circumstances and always with remarkable dedication.

Girls record higher completion rates than boys at both primary and lower secondary levels, reflecting sustained investments in education and human development.

Encouraging progress has also been made in women’s representation in Parliament following the most recent elections, bringing Eswatini closer to the 30 percent representation threshold and toward the SADC aspiration of parity. His Majesty King Mswati III’s continued advocacy for greater participation of women in leadership has played an important role in advancing these gains.

Yet important challenges and structural barriers remain. Women continue to face disproportionate levels of poverty, unemployment, while structural barriers limit their participation in economic and political life.

Gender inequality in Eswatini is shaped by disparities in access to assets, land, and financial services, contributing to a high Gini coefficient of 54.6. Despite their contributions to agriculture, the informal economy, and household care, women continue to shoulder a disproportionate share of unpaid care work, limiting their ability to participate fully in the formal economy. 

Addressing these structural barriers is therefore essential for unlocking Eswatini’s full human and economic potential.

GBV: A March in the Wrong Direction that we Must Stop

Gender-based violence remains a blight in our society. It is in counter purpose with all our aspirations as a nation. We must call it what it is: It is terror against our women and girls, the very people that we celebrate this month. Every day, our newspaper headlines unfailingly carry stories of this horror. Many others go unreported. 

Yet, we have the means to change this unacceptable reality. Lutsango Day reminds us of something that I have come to treasure here in Eswatini: the kingdom is a well- structured, ordered society, made up of well-organised regiments, and built on the enduring values of inhlonipho (respect), unity, dignity, cohesion, and pride in national identity. 

At the head of this beautifully ordered society are Their Majesties, the iNgwenyama and the iNdlovukazi. In a society structured around discipline, respect, and collective responsibility, Their Majesties’ word is a command to all regiments and society. 

His Majesty King Mswati III has spoken clearly, consistently and repeatedly, asking the nation to end violence against women and girls, most ecently, in this year’s Speech from the Throne. 

What remains is for every liSwati to honour this command. All our structures – from our traditional structures, schools, churches, law enforcement, workplaces, municipalities – everyone must align to this purpose. The country’s inspired push against HIV/AIDS is well admired worldwide. The progress is attributed to the convergence of leadership from the top, community mobilisation through all available structures, and strong and effective partnerships. We must do it again for our women and girls.

Respecting women and advancing their rights is a matter of justice. It is also fundamental to our vision of a prosperous nation. We must turn around and march in the right direction.

Happy Lutsango Day!