Botswana faces widening gender divides despite advances in education and law reform

The World Bank’s 2025 report, developed with Botswana’s research institutes, finds that while Botswana has advanced in education and legal reforms, deep gender gaps persist in health, economic participation, politics, and protection from violence. It warns that without bold action to empower women and girls, the country risks entrenching inequality and undermining inclusive growth.

A new World Bank report, produced in collaboration with the Botswana Institute for Policy Development and Analysis and the Centre for Gender and Development Studies at the University of Botswana, warns that while Botswana has made notable progress in education and legislative reform, the country continues to face deep-seated gender inequalities that undermine inclusive growth. The report portrays a nation that has reached upper-middle-income status but remains one of the most unequal societies in the world, with women and marginalized groups carrying the heaviest burdens.

Education Achievements Overshadowed by Dropouts

Botswana has achieved near-universal primary education and reached gender parity in enrollment across most levels of schooling. Girls consistently outperform boys in examinations, and women now outnumber men in universities. Yet, progress falters when education is interrupted by social and economic realities. Boys are more likely to drop out to contribute to household income, while girls face setbacks from adolescent pregnancy and rigid re-entry policies that require young mothers to wait months before returning. Many never make it back, burdened by stigma and childcare responsibilities. For children in minority-language households, those living with disabilities, or students from remote communities, barriers are even higher. While a new language policy now allows instruction in ten local languages, uptake remains inconsistent, and boarding schools often disconnect children from their families and culture.

Maternal Health and HIV Still Cast Long Shadows

In healthcare, Botswana's paradox is striking. Almost all births take place in health facilities, yet maternal mortality remains alarmingly high at 130 deaths per 100,000 live births, nearly double global targets and far worse than comparable economies. Unsafe abortion, hemorrhage, and poor emergency obstetric care remain major contributors, with restrictive laws exposing poor and rural women to disproportionate risks. Meanwhile, HIV remains a highly gendered epidemic. One in four women between the ages of 15 and 64 is HIV-positive, compared to 15 percent of men, with adolescent girls nearly twice as affected as boys. Women also bear the brunt of unpaid care for HIV-positive relatives, further restricting their economic participation. Life expectancy has improved, but women continue to face higher rates of chronic illness, with obesity and cervical cancer adding to the dual burden of infectious and non-communicable diseases.

Workplaces Remain Unequal Despite Legal Reforms

Economic participation illustrates another contradiction. Despite legal reforms such as the Abolition of Marital Power Act (2004) and expanded land ownership rights in 2015, women remain underrepresented in the labor force at 63 percent, compared with 73 percent of men. Among youth, the gender divide is particularly stark: 40 percent of young women are neither in education, employment, nor training, compared with 35 percent of young men. Even when employed, women earn just 88 percent of male wages, and occupational segregation confines them to lower-paying service and informal jobs while men dominate higher-paid industrial sectors. Women entrepreneurs are plentiful but concentrated in microenterprises with little access to finance or markets. Structural inequalities in workplace policies exacerbate the problem: maternity leave costs are borne entirely by employers, discouraging the hiring of women, while the absence of paternity leave entrenches caregiving roles. The COVID-19 pandemic deepened these divides, erasing women's jobs and incomes in tourism and informal sectors, and climate change now threatens livelihoods where women are least equipped to adapt.

Politics and Power Out of Reach for Most Women

Representation in politics and traditional leadership remains one of Botswana's weakest areas. After the 2024 elections, women occupied only six of 69 parliamentary seats, just nine percent, and held only 15 percent of positions in local councils. In traditional structures, exclusion is even more pronounced: just two of 34 tribal chiefs in the Ntlo ya Dikgosi are women. Customary law continues to regulate inheritance and family matters, often reinforcing discrimination despite court interventions. Gender-based violence is widespread, with nearly four in ten women reporting abuse and a third of men admitting to perpetrating it. Reporting rates are low and survivor services are fragmented, leaving women without adequate protection. The report urges Botswana to treat gender-based violence as a "national epidemic," echoing the mobilization once seen in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

A Call for Bold Action and Inclusive Growth

The World Bank and its research partners conclude that Botswana faces a decisive choice. They recommend bold measures to open political space for women, including the introduction of quotas in Parliament and councils, alongside legal reforms to address discriminatory customary practices. They call for mainstreaming gender-responsive budgeting across ministries and strengthening the National Gender Commission. Confronting gender-based violence through prevention campaigns, coordinated services, and stronger referral systems is described as urgent, as is greater investment in human capital, ranging from early childhood development and adolescent health to maternal care and comprehensive sexuality education. Closing economic gaps will require expanding childcare, encouraging flexible work, enforcing equal pay, steering women into STEM careers, and improving access to finance and climate-resilient technologies.

The report warns that if Botswana fails to act decisively, inequalities will deepen, undermining its demographic dividend and slowing growth. Yet it also emphasizes that empowerment of women and girls could unlock powerful new engines of prosperity, resilience, and cohesion. Botswana, it argues, is at a crossroads: having laid the foundations of gender equality, the next step is to translate commitments into change that transforms the everyday lives of women. Whether in classrooms, clinics, workplaces, or parliaments, the decisions made now will determine whether gender equality remains an aspiration or becomes a lived reality.