An Analysis of Gender Equality Provisions in Political Parties` Manifestos for Lesotho`s 2022 General Elections

Although Lesotho espouses gender equality in politics, women are continuously underrepresented. This article aims to enhance understanding of the extent to which political parties showed commitment to gender equality in their 2022 general elections` manifestos by examining the degree to which political parties identified gender inequality as a key challenge, pledged to facilitate gender equality in politics, vowed to introduce gender-specific policies, and mainstreamed gender. The paper is qualitative and uses secondary data from the manifestos of the selected political parties and published research papers. The findings point out that most parties did not consider gender equality as a key challenge for the country and consequently did not develop strategies to eradicate it. It is recommended that the electoral law should make it mandatory for the parties to include gender equality issues in their manifestos for them to qualify for public funding.