Paper short abstract:

For women and girls, the end of Botswana’s economic crisis was the beginning of a different crisis; of weaker support of their efforts towards emancipation from the grips of patriarchy.different crisis; of weaker support of their efforts towards emancipation from the grips of patriarchy.

Paper long abstract:

The results of the 'post crisis' donor flight from Botswana has reversed many of the gains made during the crisis. Whereas Botswana had a much celebrated maternal health care system by the late 1980s, the tables have turned such that we have some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Women's political representation is at its lowest in two decades. Gender-based violence and intimate partner homicide is also very high. Young girls remain the most affected by HIV and AIDS, and early motherhood remains worrisome. This paper links the reversal in the gains made for women and girls to reduced resource support from former development partners. It calls for a closer examination of the meaning of crisis - so that humanitarian crisis in brought by social inequalities are not given less attention than civil wars. In this way, we may be able to deepened our understanding of humanitarian crisis and not be quick to declare the end of crises.