BY PHESHEYA IAN KUNENE
MANZINI – No more policy in fancy file covers. The National Gender Policy is going grassroots, in siSwati, simplified, and straight to the people.
That was the powerful message delivered by Thandwa Sinenhlanhla Dlamini, Senior Gender Analyst at the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office (DPMO), as she officially opened the National Gender Policy (NGP) Simplification and Translation Workshop on Monday morning.
“The policy must not sit on shelves in government offices, it must live in the hearts and hands of our people,” Dlamini said, welcoming delegates to the workshop.
“We are here to make sure every Liswati, whether in a boardroom, a chiefdom, or a classroom, understands and owns this policy.”
Set to conclude on Wednesday, the three-day workshop is buzzing with energy and purpose at a packed venue in Ezulwini, where policy meets people.
The attendance is impressive, with high-level participation from various ministries including Education and Training, Economic Planning and Development, Natural Resources and Energy, ICT, and Health.
The private sector is also in the room, represented by giants such as Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC) and Business Eswatini, alongside passionate voices from civil society and NGOs, including Kwakha Indvodza, MenEngage Network, AWPDF, and Gender Consortium members. Academic institutions and grassroots leaders are also playing their part.
Dlamini used her opening remarks to outline the hard realities the nation faces, from rising gender-based violence and mental health struggles among men, to deep HIV inequalities, and gendered climate impacts.
“Gender equality is not a women’s issue, it is a national development issue,” she said.
“If our boys are dying in silence, if our girls are dropping out of school, if our women face cyber violence and our men can’t ask for help, then we all have a responsibility to act.”
She added that the workshop is part of a broader transformation plan, supported by the African Development Bank, which includes Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) and a Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (GEWE) Coordination Framework.
“These three pillars, policy, budgeting and coordination, are how we move from promises to actual progress,” she said.
Participants are unpacking the simplified English and siSwati versions of the 2023 policy, reviewing content, refining messaging, and developing easy-to-use policy briefs that will help bring the NGP to life in communities, institutions, and decision-making corridors.
Dlamini closed by thanking the Director of Gender and Family Issues for her leadership in developing the policy, and acknowledged UNDP, UNFPA, the European Union, and consultant Ms. Lomcebo Dlamini for their unwavering technical and financial support.
The workshop, facilitated by the DPMO, continues until Wednesday and is expected to result in tools that will translate policy into people’s daily lives, one school, clinic, workplace, and community at a time.
