Mbabane – Government reiterated her efforts to ensure that women play a central role in the country’s environmental governance when the Eswatini National Trust Commission (ENTC) and the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs hosted a Consultative Breakfast Meeting with the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus at the Hilton Garden Inn.
This engagement came at the time Eswatini is working on its third National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP 3.0), which is being aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The process places strong emphasis on gender equality, recognising that women, youth, and rural communities rely heavily on biodiversity yet remain underrepresented in decisions that shape its management.
Minister of Tourism and Environment Affairs Jane Mkhonta-Simelane said the session is an important step in ensuring that gender is not treated as an afterthought in the biodiversity sector. She said the country’s natural heritage is facing growing pressure from climate change and poor land-use practices.
“Our biodiversity is the living fabric of this nation. It feeds us, protects us, and defines who we are. If we are to safeguard it, gender equality must be built into the core of our policies,” she said. The minister added that the Gender Plan of Action under development must guarantee that women’s voices are reflected in national decisions.
Senate President Lindiwe Gwebu-Dlamini applauded the initiative. She said women have always been at the forefront of protecting the country’s natural resources as in many communities, women serve as farmers, educators, healers, and custodians of traditional knowledge, however she noted that their perspectives are often overlooked when environmental policies are drafted.
“This Forum gives us the opportunity to correct that imbalance,” said the Senate president. She also pledged the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus’s support for strengthening the biodiversity agenda.
Gwebu-Dlamini further commended the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs for translating global environmental commitments into practical national measures, noting that a well-informed Gender Plan would help guide work across the biodiversity sector.
Discussion about this post