Projects

Plastic Waste Management Project

The Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture (MTEC) and UNDP in collaboration with the local stakeholders have a joint Plastic Waste Management (PWM) program. The overall goal of the project is to fight against plastic life cycle management and encourage behavioral change for responsible consumption patterns. The project was on the 14^th July 2021 by the Honorable Minister of MTEC. The observation the “Plastic Free Wednesday” was initiated on the same event. The expectation was that the single-use plastic shopping bags would not be made available to customers on Wednesdays in major retail stores.

UNDP Waste Management Exhibition Day

In collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture (MTEC) and NGOS, UNDP encourages the communities, schools, churches and the retailers to minimize use and disposal of plastic “Plastic Free Wednesday initiative”.

In particular, Trans Vanguard encourages schools in the cities to manage waste in their schools. It encourages the local CBOs and the local business particularly adolescents and youth to take waste as an opportunity for income generation. Some of the youths displayed their waste products (paving bricks, earing, mats, shoes, bags, hats, etc.).

World Toilet Day

Trans Vanguard celebrated World Toilet Day on the 19^th November 2021 with the support of UNDP by sensitizing public transport drivers and street vendors about waste management (the cleanness of their environment; opportunities on plastic recycling, etc.). Trans Vanguard volunteers/ambassadors lead the cleaning campaign at Seputana taxi rank. In 2021, the theme is ‘valuing toilets’. World Toilet Day is about taking action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.

These are some of the complains which were posed by the taxi drivers and street vendors:

There is no running water in their public toilets hence the use open road hole for waste disposal (grey water, urine, etc.).
Handwashing structure which was installed by UNDP during COVID- crisis is not due unavailability of water in the rank.
They are water pipes which are not supplying them with water.
They travel long distance to the public toilets into another taxi rank
Their environment is stinking of waste from different sources.
They need to take over the control and management of the taxi for their benefits, however, the government refused the proposal.

Eureka-Gie Courses Launch

On the 22^nd March 2022 Trans Vanguard launched scholarships for 23 Professional Diploma Courses tailored for African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries` students, professionals, skilled and unskilled workers by EUREKA-Groupement d’interet Economique (GIE).

EUREKA-GIE is an international body saddled with the responsibility to retrain and reskill Africans with online various courses from basic (Secondary school level) to intermediate (certificates, diplomas, Degree Holders and Professors) in order to check global challenges. In this effort EUREKA-GIE works with CIRPS (Interuniversity Research Centre for Sustainable Development – CENTRO INTERUNIVERSITARIO DI RICERCA PER LO SVILUPPO SOSTENIBILE (CIRPS). On the launch of the courses the local media was represented and following were the participants:

Trans Vanguard Officers
Local media representatives
Private Sector Foundation of Lesotho
Chief Thesele Maseribana (Lesotho Ambassador – Rome) online
Professor Martinho Mateus da Silva (EUREKA- GIE – Rome) online
Professor Alessandra Schettino (EUREKA- GIE – Rome) online
CIRPS representatives (Rome) online

Professional Diploma Courses

Man Up Event

Trans Vanguard joined the local and international NGOs and the business fraternity to Campaign Against Gender-Based Violence on the 10^th December 2021 (International Human Rights). The Campaign runs annually from 25 November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) to the 10^th December. Trans Vanguard and the stakeholders:

Mobilize individuals, communities, schools and churches to take collective responsibility to fight against GBV against women and girls including boys and men; and,
Create a social movement around the issue of GBV, with a wide reach and targeting new audiences, foster more dialogue and action in the communities, schools and churches.

Plastic Free Campaign With Street Kids

Trans Vanguard, New Hope Consultancy and Tunasafiri encouraging street kids, sex workers to crab plastic waste as one of income opportunities.

Smart Clubs Training Project

Maseru is one of the districts where implemented Trans Vanguard implemented Smart Club initiative. Trans Vanguard works in over 300 schools through these students’ clubs where it trains them on green entrepreneurship initiatives: climate smart agriculture, renewable energy, waste management skills. Trans Vanguard is working with schools’ student clubs to empower and engage them to be resilient against the challenges that they face daily around their schools and villages.

TRAINING OF SMART CLUBS

Against the above background, Trans Vanguard and REPSSI Lesotho (through its project: ECM project) have entered into a collaboration to conduct two-day awareness raising, orientation for 170 pupils from 17 schools all of whom have had previous orientation in one or more of the topics to be delivered during this week end engagement by student clubs. The training shall include the following concepts:

Early child marriage and pregnancy;
HIV and AIDS and Reproductive Health;
Human trafficking and GBV;
Climate smart initiatives; and,
Roles and responsibilities of clubs after the training

Menstrual Hygiene Day

Celebrating under the theme “Making Menstruation a normal fact of life by 2030” Lesotho held its first ever National Consultative Forum on Menstrual Health and Hygiene in Maseru yesterday.

The objectives of the Forum included discussing the status, bottlenecks and opportunities to accelerate menstrual health and hygiene in Lesotho as well as to discuss ways to develop strategic partnerships and synergies to accelerate menstrual health and hygiene in the country.

Speaking at the event, Her Majesty Queen ‘Masenate Mohato Seeiso said there are still women and girls who have no access to sanitary pads, clean water and toilets for privacy adding that many schools have no sanitation properties.

“Some communities in our country still practice discriminatory, harmful socio cultural norms, stigmas and taboos. This needs to change and we all need to commit to be part of the change including men and boys,” she said.

She said there has to be will to remove the obstacles, identify opportunities and strengthen efforts to accelerate access to menstrual health and hygiene services in Lesotho.

Meanwhile, speaking on behalf of the Minister of Health, Motlohi Maliehe who is the Minister of Public Service, said that Menstrual Hygiene Day aims at bringing together efforts by government agencies, partner NGOs, and individuals to promote good menstrual health and hygiene.

“This is an opportunity for us to break the silence, raise awareness and change the negative social norms around menstrual health and hygiene as well as creating a conducive environment where girls and women are able to manage menstrual cycle in a dignified and healthy manner,” he said.

Maliehe reaffirmed government’s commitment to promoting good menstrual management “…to effectively manage their menstruation women and girls require basic needs such as clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, affordable and appropriate hygiene products”.

He said, information, good practice and a supportive environment can help in management of menstruation without embarrassment and stigma.

N the other hand, Phehello Phera from the Ministry of Health stated that there are still barriers around menstrual health and hygiene including fact that there is still about 20% of the population that does not have access to improved water facilities as well as 27% with unimproved sanitation facilities.

“The data shows that half of the schools have no water supply and even worse are sanitation facilities as well as menstrual health management rules,” he said.

On behalf of the youth, Mpeo Mokherehloa, a visually impaired youth, said menstruation period is the most difficult time especially for visually impaired persons because they cannot even see what is going on with their bodies.

“Sometimes I have to be told by other people that I am on my periods because I cannot see. I appreciate efforts made to disseminate information to all people including men and boys. This helps to reduce stigma and they are also able to communicate to make us aware that we have to clean ourselves,” she said.

MAKING MENSTRUATION A NORMAL FACT OF LIFE BY 2030

Her Majesty Queen ‘Masenate Mohato Seeiso said there are still girls and women in many schools and communities who have no access to sanitary pads, clean water and toilets. On behalf of the Minister of Health, Honorable Motlohi Maliehe said that Menstrual Hygiene Day aims at bringing together efforts by government agencies, local and international NGOs, and individuals to promote good menstrual health and hygiene “this is an opportunity for us to break the silence, raise awareness and change the negative social norms around menstrual health and hygiene as well as creating a conducive environment where girls and women are able to manage menstrual cycle in a dignified and healthy manner,”.

Lesotho held its first ever National Consultative Forum on Menstrual Health and Hygiene in Maseru yesterday.