Brussels, 18th February 2023: The Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Botswana, Mr Moffatt Lubinda, led a delegation on a study tour which took place from 13-17 February 2023 in Brussels, Belgium. The purpose of the study tour was to meet with various stakeholders in Belgium and the Netherlands to benchmark on issues of gender mainstreaming in the justice system.
The study tour is part of a project under the Botswana-EU Policy Dialogue on Gender Mainstreaming within the justice system. The delegation is part of a Task Force from various stakeholders in Botswana, led by the Ministry of Justice, including the Ministry of Defence and Security, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, the Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sports and Culture and the Botswana Institute for Policy Analysis (BIDPA) among others. The delegation held meetings with strategic partners at the European Commission, the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the Belgian Federal Public Service Justice and included a visit to a Prison facility and Police station in Brussels, Belgium.
The discussions focused on gender equality, gender-based discrimination, policies and regulations that guide the integration of a gender perspective in the justice system. The Task Force has been created to make recommendations to the Government of Botswana on reform and capacity building in the justice system with a particular emphasis on strengthening the human rights enforcement mechanisms and gender mainstreaming with a deliberate bias towards uplifting vulnerable members of society in Botswana.
