Gill, Derbby
Country Gender Analysis for Lesotho
Stockholm, Sweden: Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA)

This report compares the situation of women with men in Lesotho. It takes up economic, political, socio-cultural aspects as well as the policies and activities of other actors such as government, party, women's activist groups, research groups, NGOs and other donors.

Keywords: Country Profile; Gender
Source: Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA), S-105 25 Stockholm, Sweden.

Government of Lesotho, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare; WHO; UNDP; UNICEF and UNFPA
Lesotho Safe Motherhood Initiative (LSMI)
Maseru, Lesotho: Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, 1996

The Initiative aims to enhance the quality of life especially for women and children through the adoption of a combination of health and non-health strategies. However, the initiative places special emphasis on the need for better and more widely available maternal health services, the extension of family planning education and services, and effective measures aimed at improving the status of women.

Keywords: Women; Health
Source: Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, (MOHSW) P. Bag A116, 100 Maseru, Lesotho.

Government of Lesotho, Ministry of Rural Development, Cooperatives, Women and Youth Affairs, Women's Bureau
Seminar/Conference on the Evaluation of Lesotho Women's Achievements During the Women's Decade: Recommendation for Policies and Programmes for Lesotho Women, Maseru, November 12-15, 1985
Maseru, Lesotho: The Ministry of Rural Development, Cooperatives, Women and Youth Affairs, April 1986

The purpose of the paper was to review the women's integration in National Development in Lesotho during the UN Decade for Women which started in 1975.

Keywords: Health; Informal Sector; Agriculture; Policy
Source: The Women's Bureau, Ministry of Rural Development Cooperatives Women and Youth Affairs, Maseru, Lesotho.

International Labour Organisation - Inter - departmental Project on Equality for Women in Employment
Promoting Gender Equality in Employment in Lesotho: an Agenda for Action
Geneva, Switzerland: ILO, 1994

The report presents different elements that should constitute a multi-faceted and integrated policy for promoting gender equality in Lesotho's work situation. In doing so, it also shows the different strategies, targeted at the structural, strategic and practical needs, which should form an integral part of this policy. Priority areas for action are: law reform to remove the contradictions and obstacles to gender equality; intensified enforcement of gender equality provisions through legal literacy and also gender sensitization of relevant actors. Examples are labour and factory inspectors, trade unionists and employers in the enforcement of employment laws; preparation of code of practice; and the country's ratification and implementation of relevant international instruments, such as ILO Conventions: No. 100, Equal Remuneration Convention (1951); No. 111, Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) 1958; and the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Keywords: Economic Development; Inequality; Employment
Source: ILO, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland.
Email:edemp@ilo.org

Kishindo, Paul; Eldredge, Elizabeth; Epprecht, Marc
Women, Land and Agriculture in Lesotho; Women in Production: the Economic Role of Women in Nineteenth Century Lesotho; Marxism Versus the Patriarchy: Gender and Historical Materialism in Southern Africa
Roma, Lesotho: Institute of Southern African Studies, 1993.

The papers presented in this book are thought-provoking and intended to generate public debate. On the issue of land and agriculture, women are presented as toilers on the land that does not belong to them. Men are always away in South Africa employed as contract workers and seldom come home. Advocates that women are supposed to be empowered so that they can be also owners of the land they till.

Keywords: Production; Employment; Philosophy; Policy
Source: Institute of Southern African Studies, National University of Lesotho, P.O. 180, Roma, Lesotho.

Letuka, Puleng; Matashane, Keiso; Morolong, Bantu
Beyond Inequalities: Women in Lesotho
Maseru, Lesotho and Harare, Zimbabwe: Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) and SARDC-WIDSAA, 1997

This profile is part of the 13 part series of i.Beyond InequalitieslÈ publications which profile the status of women in Southern Africa. The series documents and analyses information along themes drawn from the critical areas of concern identified in the Beijing platform for action (PFA) and derived from what the countries of the region consider to be priorities. The policies and programmes discussed in the profile were taken form minister's speeches and various documents. The economy of the country is heavily dependent on South Africa. Food production in the agricultural sector is declining as population increases due to the decline in land quality. Migrant labour forms an important part of Lesotho's macro- economic structure. Women makeup the majority of Lesotho's population and are the majority of the unemployed as men are absorbed in the migrant labour system.
Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Trust (WLSA) is a research and education trust with offices in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. WLSA project combines legal research and legal activism for
women's rights. It carries out research in order to change womens' lives in southern Africa.

Keywords: Country Profile; Equal Rights
Source: WLSA Lesotho, P. O. Box 2078,Maseru, Lesotho and SARDC-WIDSAA, P.O. Box 5690, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Email:sardc@sardc.net, wlsales@ilesotho.com

Motsu, Mamosew Matseliso
Women Workers in Senior Administrative and Management Positions in the Public Service: the Case of Lesotho
Maseru, Lesotho: Women's Research Collective, 1993

The study describes the situation of Basotho women employed in the Public Service. Very few women are included in senior administrative and managerial positions. This happens despite the fact that women are generally better educated than men. This situation is unique to Lesotho. The study has attempted to analyse the factors that have helped and sustained the situation whereby relatively few women get involved in policy-making positions in the Public Service.

Keywords: Employment; Gender; Management; Administrative
Source: Women's Research Collective, P. Bag A47, 100 Maseru, Lesotho.

Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Trust(WLSA)
Maintenance in Lesotho (2 nd rev. ed.)
Maseru, Lesotho: Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Trust, 1997

Compares maintenance laws as experienced in practice, and discusses why women in particular do not choose to use laws. The study is concerned with whether women know and utilize maintenance laws and whether they have any maintenance problems. The aim of the study is to ascertain what maintenance problems exist in Lesotho, how these problems are dealt with in practice, why courts are underutilized in their resolution of cases and how courts deal with these.

Keywords: Maintenance; Law; Family; Custom; Divorce; Policy
Source: WLSA, P. B. A391, Maseru 100, Lesotho
Email: wlsales@ilesotho.com

Sweetman, Caroline (ed.)
Gender in Development Organisations
Oxford, UK, Oxfam (UK and Ireland), 1997

The book details how organisations working on development issues have taken an increasing interest in women's needs and rights over the past decade. Working on promoting awareness of women's marginalisation demands more than an equal opportunity policy. This book draws together the experience of organisations working to promote women's full participation in the development process in Lesotho.

Keywords: Women; Equal Rights
Source: Oxfam (UK and Ireland) 274 Banbury Road, OX2 7DZ,UK.