11 Dec 2022

Artists have joined hands to fight social ills  bedevelling the society by displaying arts and crafts creations geared to raise awareness and resolve the challenges brought about by such ills.

They did this through The Nna Le Seabe HIV/AIDS Awareness Exhibition held at national art gallery, which opened its doors to the patrons on Friday.

Officially opening the exhibition, Assistant Minister of Youth, Gender, Sports and Culture Buti Billy said the event was in recognition of many social ills affecting the nation such as HIV/AIDS, alcohol and substance abuse, Gender Based Violence (GBV) and COVID-19 pandemic.

“This day presents an opportunity for artists, such as practitioners from other sectors, to lend a hand to the difficult task of playing a role in tackling the many challenges in our society,” he said.

Such social ills, he said included GBV, which was one of the most prevalent human rights violations in the world.

Therefore, he said the exhibition was an opportunity for artists to stand in solidarity with people who were affected and impacted by the social ills.

The assistant minister said Botswana had not been an exception in suffering from the negative effects of pandemics such as HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 nor had the country been an exception to issues around GBV and substance abuse.

Therefore, he said the exhibition was a social commentary and a social reflection by artists.

He also said the exhibition recognised the positive milestones that the country achieved and added that more was needed to be done to advance the fight against all social ills.

Billy stated that Botswana had been globally listed as one of the countries mostly affected by GBV.

The country, he said was also leading on rape cases globally and further added that researchers and experts had observed that the outbreak of COVID-19 increased the level of GBV in the country.

He said a total of 3 549 cases were recorded by Botswana police in the first quarter of 2022 compared with 2 000 cases recorded in the last quarter of 2021.

“This was and is a need for more counselling and other social support actions clearly with regards to this matter,” he said.

At the end of the exhibition Fighters Fanakiso won the exhibition first price and walked away with P10 000, Kebalepile Bantshwanetse  scooped second and won P8 000 while Oteng Letere bagged P6 000 in third place.

Fanakiso encouraged Batswana to refrain from gender based violence. ENDS