26 June, 2007

Gender activists congratulate the Finance Minister of Mauritius, Rama Sithanen, for making moves in the right direction with the 2007/2008 budget. The budget makes provision to close the gender gap and challenge gender stereotypes. While Mauritius has reformed its legislation and awareness, the budgets to back them up have so far missed.

For the first time in the history of Mauritius, a whole chapter in a budget speech covers breaking cultural barriers for women and challenging stereotypes. "This will help give a backbone to the organisations and individuals who are working hard to raise awareness about gender inequality," activists hope.

Over the past few years, Mauritian gender and media organisations have worked hard to achieve this goal by raising awareness. Local and regional activists such as the Mauritian Media Watch Organisation (MWO)-GEMSA have facilitated workshops on gender and such issues as violence, discrimination, the economy, and politics. Most recently, the organisation is spearheading the creation of a national action plan to end gender violence and gender discrimination. 

Full article available at http://www.afrol.com/articles/25889