And while we had an opportunity, we asked the executive members of the BNTU about their position on the much discussed Gender Policy.
They told us that they don't have one because there are too many ambiguities in the document in its currently form.
They say that GOB must clear up their reference to the word "gender", which apparently doesn't mean male and female anymore:
Endeavora Jorgenson
"We're still seeking clarity because clarity isn't quite here. In their definition in glossary of terms it says 'Gender - the socially constructive roles allocated respectively women and men in society'. We have been in many meetings and in different presentations and the union is concerned about certain things happening here and one of our question is the document prepared so that we can get international funding? We're not sure, we're told NO. We look at certain areas and it says the role of international development partner - that implies funding, not what I said - implies. When it comes to the old issue of gender - they are not spelling it out too clearly and that is our problem. When I was growing up, gender was male or female - now this tells me that the social constructive roles allocated respectively to women and men, as a lawyer said - 90% is very good but it's those areas that we're not too sure about. So we cannot state a clear position because it's not clear so we're trying to find that clarity yet."
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