Nthatuoa Koeshe
HER Majesty, Queen Masenate Mohato Seeiso, has called on the wives of principal chiefs to work together towards eradicating gender-based violence, child marriage and other social-ills affecting the country.
Queen ‘Masenate said this on Wednesday at a meeting which was organised by the Ministry of Social Development to review the social and economic challenges faced by the various communities in the country.
The ministry recently nominated Her Majesty’s daughter, Princess Senate, as Lesotho’s Champion against Child Marriage, in an effort to strengthen the fight against the scourge.
The meeting also sought to discuss solutions that can help end challenges including child marriages, abuse of the elderly and the plight of orphans and vulnerable children. “Our country is facing some challenges that seriously impact negatively on our social fabric. As community leaders we should work hand-in-glove with our community members and other stakeholders to come up with solutions to effectively protect vulnerable groups and for us to have a healthy and progressive society and nation,” Queen ‘Masenate said.
She said the wives of principal chiefs had an important role to play of educating communities on the risks associated with child marriage, particularly as this contributed to the high level of maternal and child mortality, among other negative social and economic factors.
Her Majesty also expressed concern over the rapid increase in the number of children who lost their parents due to diseases such as AIDS, cancer, diabetes and other non-communicable ailments.
“The increasing number of orphans in our country has presented tremendous pressure on orphanages. That is why we should consider other options such as community-based care,” she said.
Referring to the rampant abuse of the elderly, she urged the participants to ensure their protection, particularly in the face of limited facilities that accommodate and provides care for the elderly people.
“The abuse of our elderly people, in particular the sexual assault of women, is indeed a new phenomenon which is disturbing. I believe this can be prevented if we as community leaders can work with all relevant government structures and the civil society to ensure their protection,” Queen ‘Masenate said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, the Minister of Social Development, ‘Matebatso Doti said her ministry has an immense task, which include cooperating with community leaders and other actors to prevent crimes and conditions that impact socially on the wellbeing of the country. The appointment of Princess Senate as Lesotho’s Champion Against Child Marriage, she said, also aimed to bolster the fight and to make the Princess a role model for all the girls in Lesotho.
She emphasized the need to strengthen systems that prevent social ills to help reduce vulnerabilities that would then exert pressure to take corrective measures.
“I will give an example of the issue of child marriages, it is the responsibility of the parents, the schools, the communities and the police to enforce the law to make sure that the girls are protected and they remain in school. Any form of weakness within the system will then create vulnerable young mothers who are uneducated and of poor health; and orphans when the young mother dies during child birth. We need to work together to strengthen these systems for them to respond to the situation we are facing,” Minister Doti said.
She said the community leaders can help to create conditions that promote healthy societies and contribute to efforts aiming to end poverty.
“There are certain steps we have to take to deal with the social challenges we are facing and these include ensuring we take care of the economic challenges that, for example, see some children staying on the streets. We need to have community outreach programmes that seek to strengthen knowledge and understanding that marrying your daughter off does not solve problems but rather creates a chain of problems. The girls too need to be empowered to say “No to early marriage” and to know they can report to the police when pressured into marriage. A continued loss of women in pregnancy related ailments associated with a girl getting pregnant before the body is not fully developed, impacts negatively on the country.”
Minister Doti said the need to tackle underlying causes of the social problems bedeviling the country can provide lasting solutions and help to create a better Lesotho.
A wife of one of the principal chiefs, ‘Mabereng Seeiso shared the plight of children with disability from her community saying those from poor families were failing to access medical treatment and special education.
She said while primary education in public schools was free, there was need to introduce more schools catering for the children with disability and making free the special primary and secondary education.