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Empowering women to empower the Sahel

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Lesotho

Lesotho

The Right Honourable, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho made a commitment for Lesotho to be a champion country during the Generation Equality Conference in Paris on 1 July 2021.

This commitment was further reaffirmed during the High-Level Breakfast Meeting in Maseru on 30 November 2021. It was confirmed by the Honourable Minister of Education and Training during the national launch under the theme β€˜Access, Retention and Completion of Secondary Education for Gender Equality and Wellbeing’ on 11 August 2022 in Maseru. The Minister of Health, the UNAIDS Regional Director, and other senior UN and government officials, as well as over 400 participants, including young people, attended the launch.

Unlike most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Lesotho is unique in that boys have been excluded from education at higher rates than girls. However, adolescent girls and young women shoulder the brunt of gender inequality in other spheres of life, including gender-based violence, participation in unpaid domestic and care work, vulnerable employment, and political positions of leadership. This unequal burden is most pronounced when it comes to HIV prevalence among adolescent girls and young women.

Β· In 2019, HIV infections among young women were nearly three times that of young men.
Β· The cost of education accounted for the high dropout rate among adolescent girls in 2019, with 7 in 10 girls in rural areas and 6 in 10 girls in urban areas dropping out of school.

Lesotho

The cost of education accounted for the high dropout rate among adolescent girls in 2019, with 7 in 10 girls in rural areas and 6 in 10 girls in urban areas dropping out of school.

Upcoming Activities

October 11, 2023

October 11, International Day of the Girl Child

October 12, 2023

October 11-12β€―, 2023 Global Forum for Adolescents (GFA)

December 4, 2023

International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA)