Post on 17-Feb-2022
September 2013
W elcome to the seventh issue of the
UN in Lesotho Newsletter! The UN
was created to be an agent of
change, not just an object of change. From its
inception, the UN has been an incubator of
ideas, a builder of norms, and an arbiter of
standards.
The month of September saw the start of
the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly.
This is where representatives of all Member
States find consensus on difficult issues;
initiate studies and make recommendations to
promote international political cooperation;
develop and codify international law; advocate for
the protection of human rights and fundamental
freedoms; and ensure international collaboration
in the economic, social, humanitarian, cultural,
educational and health fields.
In this issue, we focus on reducing hunger
and improving health while at the same time
protecting the environment. We are looking at
sustainable projects that have socio-economic
benefits as well as environmental awareness.
Effects of the African Armyworm outbreak
in late January 2013 left a bitter taste in the
mouths of many Basotho. Due to the outbreak,
the 2012/13 crop production has been at an
all-time low level thus, aggravating the prevailing
food crisis. Programmes such as Cash-for-
Assets, Child Grants and School Feeding help
mitigate the impact of the food crisis.
Social protection is one of the key priority
sectors in the National Strategic Development
Plan 2012-2017 (NSDP) and in the National
Social Development Policy finalized in 2013.
Maternal and child mortality for Lesotho
remains very high. This is so although the
country is implementing low cost evidence-
based interventions focussing on reducing
maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality.
We note that sexual and reproductive health-
related life skills are essential for marginalised
groups. As the country is currently off-track in
achieving health-related MDGs, the UN
supports the government plans to establish a
School of Medicine.
As the world celebrated the International Day of
Democracy, Lesotho reflected on the twenty years of
constitutional democratic rule.
With just over 800 days left to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it is
incumbent upon all of us to show renewed
urgency to accelerate the various development
efforts.
’
Inside this issue:
Steps towards establishment of School of Medicine Control and preparedness for armyworm
Social protection systems: Lesotho experience Celebrating population day
Sehlabathebe National Park given World Heritage status Linking environmental and health perspectives
Cash for Assets programme brings change Marking 20 years of democratic rule in Lesotho
Empowering youth from marginalized communities
UNITED NATIONS DELIVERING AS ONE IN LESOTHO
Number 7
The United Nations World Food
Programme (WFP) and an inter-ministerial
Lesotho Government delegation recently
travelled to Brazil to learn new skills for
managing the country’s school feeding
programme.
Lesotho Government ministers and
officials learnt about the Zero Hunger
strategy which originated in Brazil. The
Strategy is being developed at the WFP
Centre of Excellence Against Hunger,
established in the capital, Brasilia, in
partnership with the Government of Brazil.
The centre was set up in 2011 to
enable capacity development of national
Uniting for healthier school meals
The UN Resident
Coordinator’s Corner
World Food Programme supports 125,000 children each month with school meals in Lesotho.
(continued on page 2)
#6/2013 UNITED NATIONS LESOTHO
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2
Improving control and preparedness for armyworm
In response to the armyworm out-
break, which affected Lesotho in January
and February 2013, the Ministry of
Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS)
and the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) worked
hand-in-hand to strengthen, control
and provide preparedness capacities
to manage more effectively this
emerging risk for Lesotho.
The Government and FAO’s
response plan received financial
support from the European Commission
for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection
Directorate General (ECHO).
Eight districts of Lesotho including
lowlands and the Senqu Valley areas
registered nearly 35,000 hectares
on the 10th of September.
The Lesotho Meteorological
Services (LMS) collaborates in the
implementation of the EWS since rain
patterns are a major factor allowing
the reproduction of armyworm.
ECHO funding will also provide
the extension network with quality
equipment including over 300 sprayers,
400 personal protective equipment
kits, 1000 liters of chemicals, 100
pheromone traps and 100 rain gauges,
complementing both control and EWS
activities.
affected at different degrees with Maseru,
Berea, Leribe and Mafeteng making up
around 90per cent of the affected areas.
ECHO’s generous support amounted to
330,000 USD and will allow MAFS and
FAO to conduct training for extension
staff and communities in the functioning of
an Early Warning System (EWS) to detect
the presence of armyworms before they
multiply and reach devastating numbers
limiting their impact and the amount of
chemicals needed to control them in any
future potential outbreak.
Trainings for 250 participants are
being conducted by technical staff from
MAFS during the months of September
and October 2013. these trainings started
governments in the areas of school
feeding, nutrition, and food security.
While in Brazil on mission in August
2013, the Lesotho team visited national
institutions as well as schools, small
producers, members of civic society and
local government officials.
officials integrate school feeding into
broader national safety net policies
and poverty alleviation programmes,
and to support local agricultural
production.
For more information about the
Centre of Excellence Against Hunger
visit: http://www.wfp.org/centre-of-
excellence-hunger
Each year, some 125,000 children
living in mountainous and difficult-to-reach
areas of Lesotho receive a hot lunch
through the national School Meals
Programme. This programme is currently
managed by WFP.
The visit which is heralded as an exam-
ple of the South-South cooperation between
countries, is designed to help Lesotho
(Continued from page 1)
Uniting for healthier school meals
(Left) A healthy maize field before being attacked by armyworms in Leribe district; (right) The damaged maize field after armyworms
wreaked havoc leaving only stalks.
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Lesotho has made some significant
moves towards the establishment of its
School of Medicine through a project
that commenced in 2010 following a
feasibility study that was supported by
the United Nations World Health
Programme (WHO).
In the study, one of the proposals was
the arrangement of “sandwich training.”
A Memorandum of Understanding was
signed between the two governments
indicating how the training in the basic
sciences was to be conducted at the
College of Health Sciences in Zimbabwe
while the clinical training to be done in
Lesotho.
In preparation for this development,
a series of stakeholder meetings were
initiated to streamline the process during
the month of July.
On July 18th, a meeting took place at
the United Nations Building. The purpose
was for the Technical Working Group to
give an update on the project progress.
This was followed by agreement on
division of labor among the key players.
The following week, the project was
officially handed over to the Ministry of
Education for further development,
along with input from the Ministry of
Development Planning and Ministry of
Finance.
An enlightening meeting took place
in the following week with Professor
Midion Chidzonga, the Dean of the
University of Zimbabwe College of
Health Sciences. Topics discussed
included an update of training and
identification of gaps to be considered
by Columbia University.
It was proposed that clinical
training shall be conducted at Queen
‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital (QMMH)
as continuation of the training years 4
and 5 in Lesotho commencing from June
2014.
The Ministry of Health hosted a
delegation from Columbia University,
where the scope of support for the 1st
year of training was explored. Tentatively,
the first year training shall begin in
September 2014, being the start of the
full cycle of medical training from first
year to 5th year all done in Lesotho.
The readiness of QMMH, the
designated teaching hospital for the
students, in relation to clinical training
space, scope and staff, was discussed
in a meeting chaired by Dr. Karen Prins,
the Hospital Director.
The National Health Training Centre
(NHTC) agreed to the use of its lecture
rooms, office space, the library, laboratories,
staff houses, student residences and a
site.
The National University of Lesotho
through Professor Sharon Siverts, the
Vice-Chancellor, agreed to house the
School of Medicine within the Health
Science Faculty and to accredit the
degree and programme with the university
Senate and the Council on Higher
Education.
The clinical training is scheduled to
begin mid-2014 in Lesotho simultaneous
with the introduction of the first year
training of students in Lesotho.
Key steps towards establishment of School of Medicine
A photo of those who took part in the meeting at Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital on
30th July.
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Social protection systems: Lesotho experience
Socio-economic situation analysis in
Lesotho reveals that poverty, unemploy-
ment, HIV and AIDS and food insecurity
are the major threats to human well-
being in Lesotho.
A total of 57.1per cent of population
live below the poverty line. Poverty
situation is also characterized by high
inequalities with the Gini-Coefficient
(measure of equity of resources on a
scale of 0-1, with 1 being the worst) of
0.525.
Poverty is further exacerbated by
unexpected emergencies such as floods
and drought. For example, Lesotho has
experienced in 2012, more than 70 per cent
decline in domestic agricultural production
that has put more than 725,000 people,
over a third of the population, at serious
risk of food insecurity.
Moreover, the country has one of the
highest HIV prevalence rates in the world
(23per cent), and represents one of the
most pressing challenges for social
development in the country.
Why Social protection systems?
Social protection is one of the key
priority sectors in the National Strategic
Development Plan 2012-2017 (NSDP)
and in the National Social Development
Policy finalized in 2013. It represents at
least 4.6per cent of GDP which is well
above 1 to 2 per cent spent by most
developing countries.
There are currently ten different
social protection/assistance programmes
implemented in the country covering
Children, Education, Health, and Agriculture
sectors. The biggest are the Child Grants
Program (CGP), the Old Age Pension
(OAP), the Public Assistance (PA) and the
Orphans as well as the Vulnerable Chil-
dren (OVC) Bursary programs (see table
1, below).
A recent social safety nets review
supported by the World Bank in 2013
showed that in spite of the strong
commitment of Government of Lesotho,
there are some weaknesses in existing
social protection programmes that can
affect their impact and efficiency.
Most of the challenges highlighted
are the lack of coordination; lack of pro-
poor targeting for some programmes;
existence of the duplicated-spending on
tasks that can be shared between pro-
grammes and the existence of overlaps
and gaps in coverage.
That’s why; moving towards social
protection system is recognized by
national stakeholders to build to fight
effectively and in a sustainable manner
against poverty, vulnerability and social
exclusion. More specifically, it will
contribute to:
i) Strengthen coordination and
complementarity of social protection
interventions and enhance their align-
ment to the national poverty reduction
vision;
Beneficiaries queue to receive monthly Child Grants.
#6/2013 RE ‘MOHO UNITED NATIONS LESOTHO
5
S o m e f a c t s a b o u t s a n i t a t i o n
protection) and the World Bank to
support building the pillars;
Mobilization of Government
resources for social protection. As
a result since March 2013, the
Government takes over all benefit
cost of 20 000 Households and
50per cent of operational cost.
Government financial commitment
will cover 25 000 Households and
all operational cost by end of 2014.
Perspectives and way forward
UNICEF’s way forward to support
government vision to build social
protection systems will be focused on
three pronged interventions that are:
(i) Finalization of the national
social protection strategy which will
focus on building current system
(ii) Support national capacity
development to promote sustainability
of current CGP and for to move towards
the integration of social safety nets to
increase inclusiveness and efficiency
(iii) Development of NISSA as a
single registry of all social assistance
programme to promote pro-poor targeting
for all social protection programmes.
ii) Improve targeting by enhancing
pro-poor targeting and reducing
duplications
Iii) Promote efficiency and effective-
ness of government resources allocated
to social protection by creating
economies of scale.
Key achievements and role of UNICEF
The development of social protection
systems in Lesotho is supported by a
strong Government commitment.
In this regard, key strategic building
blocks for social protection system have
been developed or are currently under
development. These include:
Creation of a Ministry of Social
Development in 2012, as the government
structure responsible to coordinate
Government’s vision on social protection;
Development of a National Social
Protection Strategy (under formulation)
with a main focus on the development
of integrated social protection systems;
Movement towards a National
Information System for Social Assistance
(NISSA), to serve as a single national
registry for all social assistance
programs (Child Grant, OVC Bursary, Old
Age Pension and Public Assistance;
Development of a common targeting
criteria for social assistance programs
that moves from “OVC” to a wider/
comprehensive definition of vulnerability
(economic and social) which is still
under preparation;
Scaling –up of the Child Grant
Programme from 10,000 households
(initial pilot beneficiaries) to 25,000
household by 2014 totally covered by
national recurrent budget.
UNICEF, as leading partner of the
social protection sectors in Lesotho, has
played a major role during the past 5 years
in building these above mentioned pillars.
UNICEFs support contributed to the:
Provision of technical assistance,
guidance in implementation of social
protection initiative;
Support capacity building of the
newly created Ministry of Social
Development to realize this vision;
Development of strategic partner-
ships to mobilize key donors particularly
the European Union (EU contributed to
22 Million Euro since 2008 in social
Social Safety Network Programme Description
Child Grants Programme Poverty targeted non-conditional cash transfer programme for poor and vulnerable households caring for children below 18 years
Public Assistance Poverty targeted non-conditional cash transfer programme for poor and vulnerable households without regular income
Old Age Pension Universal pension fund for elderly people above 70 years
Orphaned and Vulnerable Children Bursary (Sec. Education)
Orphans and vulnerable children in Secondary Education
School Feeding, Public Work, etc. Several school feeding and public work programmes
Table 1: Main social protection programmes in Lesotho
#6/2013 UNITED NATIONS LESOTHO
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Mabeoana come in droves to celebrate population day
Very early in the morning, the Deputy
Minister of Finance, Mrs. ‘Matšepo
Ramakoae, was already at Ha Toloane
ready to lead a march which kicked off
activities for the day. She led the march,
accompanied by the District Administrator
for Maseru, Major General (retired)
Samuel Makoro.
The young and old came in droves to
the commemoration of the 2013 World
Population Day which was held in Morija.
Though the day is commemorated
globally on July 11, Lesotho celebrated
on August 15.
The main message for the day, which
kicked off with a march from Ha Toloane
to Morija, was Prevention of teenage
pregnancy — in line with the global theme
for this year, Adolescent Pregnancy.
As the main speaker for the day, the
Minister of Development Planning Dr.
Moeketsi Majoro emphasised the need for
breaking the cycle of adolescent pregnancy.
He also thanked the United Nations
for its unwavering support to Lesotho, in
particular, the United Nations Population
Fund (UNFPA) which, he said, is the biggest
partner for population and development
issues.
On behalf of UNFPA, the United Nations
Resident Coordinator in Lesotho, Ms. Karla
Robin Hershey, presented a message from
UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Babatunde
Osotimehin, who called for provision of a
comprehens ive and ag e -
appropriate sexuality education
for adolescents and youth so as
to develop the knowledge and
skills they need to protect their
health throughout their lives.
“Today, we call on governments,
the international community and
all stakeholders involved to take
measures that enable adolescent
girls to make responsible life choices
and to provide the necessary support
for them in cases when their
rights are threatened. Every
young girl, regardless of where
she lives, or her economic cir-
cumstances, has the right to fulfil
her human potential. Today, too
many girls are denied that right. We can
change that, and we must,” Ms. Hershey
added.
All speakers including a representative
of young people, Tabitha Sefoko, implored
on the youth to focus on their education
and abstain from sex so that they can
have a better future.
Mabeoana and Lijabatho (as the
people of this area are popularly known)
entertained the crowd with traditional
dances and songs.
World Population Day was established
by the Governing Council of the United
Nations Development Programme and the
United Nations Population Fund in 1989.
The day seeks to focus attention on the
urgency and importance of population
issues, particularly in the context of
overall development plans and
programmes and the need to find
solutions.
Lesotho has commemorated the day
at various areas around the country. Last
year, the theme was Universal Access to
Reproductive Health Services. As part of
the commemoration, outreach services
were provided in various areas around
the country where communities were
given health services such as ante-natal
clinic, immunization for children aged
under five years as well as HIV counseling
and testing.
Deputy Minister of Finance, Mrs. ‘Mats’epo Ramakoae
(first on the left) before the march started.
Principal Chief of Matsieng, Chief Seeiso
Bereng Seeiso.
School children and the public carry placards with messages on prevention of teenage pregnancy.
#6/2013 RE ‘MOHO UNITED NATIONS LESOTHO
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S o m e f a c t s a b o u t s a n i t a t i o n
For the first time in history, Lesotho is
recognized as a host to one of the World
Heritage Sites, the Sehlabathebe National
Park, listed by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO).
Situated in the Maloti Mountains in
Qacha’s Nek district, Sehlabathebe was
recognized on 22 June 2013 as a UN
World Heritage site, along with seven
others on a list at a meeting in Cambodia
that reviewed 32 proposed sites and
several already on the list.
Sehlabathebe National Park was
honoured by the UNESCO World Heritage
Committee as an extension to the
uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park in South
Africa, which is now to be named Maloti
Drakensberg Trans-boundary World
Heritage Site.
Committee members praised the
6,500 hectare Park’s "spectacularly
beautiful watershed area" that hosts
flora and fauna of scientific importance. It
is also home to three endangered species,
the Maloti Minnow (a species of fish
found only in the Park) as well as the
Cape and Bearded Vultures.
Sehlabathebe means the “Shield of
the Plateau”, mirroring the rolling grass-
lands, wild flowers and silence provide a
sense of complete isolation and peace. It
also hosts 117 bird species consisting of
29 vagrants, 18 visitors and 70 breeding
and probable breeding residents.
It is wonderfully peaceful, and yet
exciting with many small lakes, huge
rock overhangs and striking sandstone
formations, especially the many
“arches” which characterize this park.
It also features a record number of
65 rock art sites made by the Bushmen
(the San people) who had been living on
the site for 4 000 years and other forms
of previous habitation of the site. The
images depict animals and human
beings, and represent the spiritual life
of these people.
Established in 1969, Sehlabathebe
was added to the UNESCO World
Heritage Tentative List on 8th October,
2008 in the Mixed (Cultural + Natural)
category because it has both natural
and cultural elements.
Typical high altitude species endemic to
the Maloti Drakensberg region include
Drakensburg Siskin, Mountain Pipit and
the Orange-breasted Rock-Jumper.
Home to both striking biological
diversity as well as important cultural
heritage, the larger ecosystem as a
whole performs invaluable functions
including providing freshwater to Lesotho,
South Africa and Namibia.
Sehlabathebe National Park given World Heritage status
Sehlabathebe hosts a globally significant animal and plant biodiversity, with unique habitats and species found only in Lesotho. (Left) The
characteristic natural tunnels or arches of the park, (middle) the bearded vulture and, (right) breath-taking rock pools.
Situated at an average elevation of some 2,400 metres above sea level, the
Sehlabathebe National Park is home to various outstanding biodiversity species, some
of which are endemic and endangered.
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Linking environmental and health perspectives
The Ministries of Health and
Environment held a one day Stakeholders
Workshop on National Plans of Joint
Action in August 2013.
The purpose of the workshop was
to discuss and have the National Plans
of Joint Action (NPJA) for Lesotho
endorsed by the relevant stakeholders.
The NPJA is an initiative that
followed after the first inter-ministerial
conference for health and environment
that was held in Libreville, Gabon.
The Libreville Declaration on
Health and Environment Linkages in
Africa was signed by the Health and
Environment Ministers from 52 African
countries in August 2008.
The implementation framework of the
Libreville Declaration on Health and
Environment has three phases: Situation
Analysis and Needs Assessment,
Development of National Plans of Joint
Action and Implementation, Monitoring
and Evaluation.
The workshop was conducted under
the guidance of the multi-sectoral Country
Task Team (CTT), while United Nations
World Health Organization (WHO) facilitated
the process.
Mr. Stanley Damane, the Director of
Environment, thanked WHO for technical
and financial support in making this
process possible.
“This stage is only a mile stone in an
ongoing process. We are moving towards
the implementation stage. A clean
environment is essential for human
health and well-being”, he added.
World Health Organization Representative,
Dr. Jacob Mufunda, cited environment as
one of the contributing factors for Lesotho
being off track in some of the Millennium
Development Goals.
After the endorsement by the stake-
holders, the NPJA document will go
through all the authority levels until it is
approved by the cabinet as a National
Some of the participants at the Stakeholders Workshop on National Plans of Joint Action pose for a photo session at the end of the workshop.
Mr. Sam Theko, Chief Health Inspector,
giving closing remarks .
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S o m e f a c t s a b o u t s a n i t a t i o n
A pile of dirt which was originally
intended to be a vegetable garden is
now used as a barren playground for
Ntsoaki Semoko and her two year
old sister.
Nearly two years ago, Ntsoaki
suffered a terrible setback when she
lost her father to HIV/AIDS, and her
mother to the false promise of a better
life in South Africa, she hasn't been
heard from since.
Today, she and her sister live in a
100 year traditional stone house in the
Southern district of Mafeteng. They are
in the care of their 80 year old grand-
mother, Paile Semoko.
Paile had a smile which lightened
the sombre mood of her barren kitchen,
when WFP arrived at her home to check
on her family’s situation, it was clear to
see that they were struggling.
Although Paile’s will was strong, her
body has grown weak with age. She
received no assistance from other family
members which made life challenging
since she lacked the physical strength to
complete heavy tasks such as building a
vegetable garden. With no money for sim-
ple items like seeds, her vegetable garden
and cupboards remained bare. She lay
awake at night worried about how she
would feed her granddaughters.
Life changed for the Semoko family
when they were identified by the local
government and WFP as candidates for
support. Like many areas of Lesotho, her
village is struggling with drought and ero-
sion due to climate change. In fact only
10per cent of the land in Lesotho is ara-
ble and each year the country loses anoth-
er 1per cent due to erosion.
Paile has been enrolled in a special
programme called Cash for Assets which
works to reverse this damage. Paile works
12 days a month in exchange for
funds which she can use for food, veg-
etable seeds and other household
needs.
She works with a large group of
men and women from her area to
create community assets such as fruit
forests which secure topsoil, as well
as and stone walls which divert fast
flowing rain water away from farm
lands thus, reducing erosion.
Due to her age she has been giv-
en simple tasks, and she takes great
pride in earning an income for her
family, while creating a better environ-
ment for her community to grow food.
The Cash for Assets programme
aims to assist 145,000 people in
Lesotho.
Cash for Assets programme brings change
Ntsoaki (5), Lebohang (2), and Paile (80) used to live in fear of where their next meal would
come from, today they have the support of WFP.
Ntsoaki (5) now enjoys daily meals at
the WFP-supported pre-school.
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Marking 20 years of democratic rule in Lesotho
A clarion call by the United Nations
Resident Coordinator to Lesotho, Ms.
Karla Robin Hershey, for the UN system in
Lesotho to celebrate the International
Day for Democracy (IDD) this year was
received with a lot of enthusiasm by
agenc ies ; the Uni ted Nat ions
Development Programme (UNDP) and
United Nations Information Centre (UNIC)
collaborated with the Transformation
Resource Centre (TRC), a civil society
organization, in organizing the event.
Based on this year’s theme,
“Strengthening voices for democracy”,
UNDP hoped that this activity to mark
the International Day of Democracy
would promote democratic governance
and promote the voices of the people of
Lesotho to be heard.
The event was both an opportunity to
disseminate the United Nations Secretary
General’s message of the day as well as a
good platform to buttress the importance
of democratic governance and recognition
of marginalized groups in Lesotho.
On their part, the civil society organization
wanted to use the event to mark 20 years
of democratic rule in Lesotho.
This was seen as an opportunity to
talk about governance and democracy
issues at a time when the nation is at
peace and there is no crisis.
A high profile round table discussion
was therefore organized to reflect on the
20 year constitution and raise issues that
impede voices of ordinary people to be heard.
The dialogue was aimed to provide
Government of Lesotho, media and civil
society opportunity to share views on
successes that Lesotho has achieved
since its return to democracy in 1993.
It was also a reflection on potholes
which probably have created constraints
to the inclusion and strengthening of all
the voices for the democracy.
The event was attended by senior
government officials, the Speaker of the
National Assembly (who gave a key note
Participants at the International Day of Democracy high-level dialogue were drawn from the
Legislature, the Judiciary and the Executive — the three pillars of government.
Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr. Sephiri
Motanyane (MP) addresses participants.
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S o m e f a c t s a b o u t s a n i t a t i o n
address) and his Deputy, the Deputy
Prime Minister, His Lordship the Chief
Justice, Members of Parliament, Leader
of the Opposition in Parliament, Clerk of
the Senate, members of the diplomatic
community civil society leaders, the
media and general public.
When welcoming participants, TRC
Director – Mr Tšoeu Petlane recognized
IDD celebration as biggest opportunity
that Basotho should start processes of
discussion on Constitution because it
ties with 20 years return to democracy.
He was mindful of the fact that it is
rare in Lesotho that one can have
government and civil society together in
dialogue about democracy and Constitution.
The UN Secretary General’s message
was read by UNDP Governance Advisor,
Mr. Thabo Mosoeunyane, and was
captured by both state and private media.
Mr. Mosoeunyane also highlighted the
importance of celebrating Democracy Day
at a time when Lesotho is commemorating
two decades of commitment to democratic
values, guarantee of human rights and
development of democratic institutions.
He appealed to country’s leadership
to espouse tolerance and cultivation of
culture of dialogue as they had shown
in recent National Assembly’s 2012 Elec-
tions.
In his keynote address, Speaker of
the National Assembly, Hon. Mr. Sephiri
Motanyane, urged his fellow parliamen-
tarians to respect and listen to voices of
the people especially the marginalized.
He urged them to heed the call by the
UN Secretary General and learn from it.
In his closing remarks and giving a vote
of thanks on behalf of the government,
Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Mothejoa
Metsing, noted that “it requires every
one of us to demonstrate unwavering
commitment to democracy and all its
pillars and principles such as tolerance
towards others and to defend their right
to speak even when we disagree with
them”.
The DPM observed that “it would be
unfortunate if during these 20 years we
have also lapsed into authoritarianism
or oppression or any type of rule that
perpetuates tensions, suspicions,
mistrust and bitterness. I hope not.”
The DPM closed his remarks by
thanking development partners, civil
society organizations, and heads of
churches for standing together with
politicians through trying times.
Youth also took part and talked about how they can use their voices to not only take control of
their destiny, but to translate their desires and the desires of others into a better future for all
DELIVERING AS ONE WHAT’S HAPPENING?
UN Observances/ International Days
October
1 I.D. of Older Persons (UNDP)
2 I.D. of Non-Violence
3 World Habitat Day [1st Monday] (UN Habitat)
4-10 World Space Week
5 World Teachers’ Day (UNICEF/UNDP)
9 World Post Day (UNESCO)
10 World Mental Health Day (WHO)
12 I.D. for Natural Disaster Reduction [2nd Wednesday]
(UNDP)
15 I.D. of Rural Women (UNFPA)
16 World Food Day (FAO/WFP)
17 I.D. for the Eradication of Poverty (UNDP/FAO/WFP)
24 United Nations Day (ALL AGENCIES)
24 World Development Information Day
24-30 Disarmament Week
27 World Day for Audio-visual Heritage (UNESCO)
November
12 World Pneumonia Day (WHO)
14 World Diabetes Day (WHO)
16 I.D. of Tolerance (UNDP)
20 Universal Children’s Day (UNICEF)
20 Africa Industrialization Day (UNDP)
21 World Television Day (UNICEF/UNDP)
21 World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims
25 I.D. for the Elimination of Violence against Women (UNFPA)
December
1 World AIDS Day (UNAIDS)
2 I.D. for the Abolition of Slavery (UNDP/UNFPA)
3 I.D. of Disabled Persons (WHO)
5 International Volunteer Day (UNV)
7 International Civil Aviation Day (WFP/UNDP)
10 Human Rights Day (UNFPA/UNDP)
11 International Mountain Day (UNESCO)
18 International Migrants Day (UNDP/UNFPA)
UNITED NATIONS LESOTHO COMMUNICATIONS GROUP RESIDENT COORDINATOR’S OFFICE
UN House, UN Road, Box 301, Maseru, Lesotho. Tel: +266 2231 3790. Fax: +266 2231 0042
Comments and suggestions may be sent to the UN Communications Group through the
Communication Focal Points or to:
mamosa.ramakatane@undp.org
the Leribe district. She is now aged 26
and had a child when she was aged 23.
She says during their weekly village
meetings they talk about HIV transmission,
Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission
(PMTCT) of HIV, gender issues and peer
pressure. They also have an empowerment
programme.
“My peers are able to open up to me
about challenges relating to relationships
with their family members as most of
them have had children at a very young
age,” she says.
A young mother who has fallen
pregnant for the fourth time was finally
persuaded to attend antenatal clinic for
the first time.
In the same breath, young people
have been influenced to change their
behavior; some mentally disabled, some
physically challenged and others relegated
to being drug addicts without any future.
Youth Leadership Officer, Ms
‘Maseretse Ratiea and Lesotho Country
Director for Help Lesotho, Mr Shadrack
Mutembei attributed these successes to
the support they get from their partners,
among them the United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA).
With support from UNFPA, Help Lesotho
has been able to train out of school youth
on life skills including HIV, Sexual
Reproductive Health and gender equality.
As Ms Ratiea said, “We are very
grateful for the support we get so that we
can reach the marginalized children in
Lesotho with information and training
which help shape their lives and positive
youth development.”
So far, more than 600 youths in Leribe
and 400 in Thaba Tseka have been
trained on life skills.
Help Lesotho also facilitates monthly
meetings for young mothers to discuss
maternal health, sexual and reproductive
health and other live skills. They meet at
village level every week to talk about
challenges they encounter and help one
another, where possible.
They are led by young leaders such as
‘Mankoane Mohapi, based at Tsikoane in
Empowering youth in marginalized communities
Out of school youth from Thaba Tseka and Leribe trained on life skills by Help Lesotho