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From 6 July 2006, a graphic version of the current edition is available at the Daily News Online web site.

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Speaking to BOPA during the girl empowerment workshop in Selebi-Phikwe, Botlhale said there was a need for the society and schools to find innovative ways and programmes to effectively deal with challenges faced by not only girls living in a male dominated town but all over the country.

Young girls in Phikwe want fast cash, and because the town is male dominated the cash is readily available. At the end of the day the girl is prone to HIV/AIDS infection because after being given the money they do not have a choice. Therefore, such workshops should be encouraged so that girls are empowered and shown that they also can venture into the male dominated fields and feel confident about it, she said.

Convenor and Selebi-Phikwe West MP Kavis Kario said his office saw it fit to organise the workshop after complaints and ideas from youngsters in the town. We were motivated by children from different schools who came up with different ideas and social problems. We decided to get in touch with UNICEF to help us organise a girl-empowerment workshop.

The other thing was the fact that this town is predominated by males, because of the mine. Therefore, we wanted to establish how men in Phikwe could be made to consider women and girls as sisters, not objects to be used for self gratification, he said.

Officiating at the workshop, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Festinah Bakwena, applauded the office of the MP for working with key stakeholders in ensuring that gender issues were discussed openly.

Bakwena said communities did not often initiate dialogue on such issues, adding that in most cases rural-urban migration and other mobile population influenced the lives of young people in urban centres.

For a girl this means interactions with different papulation, which in some instances place her in a vulnerable position that ultimately affects her schooling and her entire livelihood, she said.

Also, Bakwena said although the ministry had developed positive discrimination policy to support girls into learning programmes, it was critical to establish progress in the development of their education.

The ministry has developed equal opportunities policy, which promotes equal participation and gainful involvement of girls into technical and educational programmes.

Another policy is the re-admission policy, which allows and empowers girls to come back to school after six months following pregnancy, as opposed to one year.

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