Nonhlanhla Dlamini
Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse ( SWAGAA)
Nonhlanhla Dlamini is the Executive Director at Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA), a strong advocate for women and children’s rights in Eswatini and a nurse by profession with a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) and currently pursuing a PhD
Having started her work career in Sexual and Reproductive Health with the Family Life Association of Swaziland (FLAS) in 1995 as a Program Officer. In 1998, she joined the Swaziland Action Group Abuse (SWAGAA) as the Program Manager for Education a position she held for 5 years. During her tenure she was instrumental in developing training manuals on gender, gender-based violence and basic counseling skills. She was also responsible for training of service providers such as the police, prosecutors, nurses, teachers and gatekeepers. She lobbied for change in the handling of survivors of Gender Based Violence and that yielded positive results through the establishment of the children’s court and the Domestic Violence and Child Protection Unit within the police.
In 2003 she was appointed the Executive Director at SWAGAA. During her tenure she initiated a number of programs including Lihlombe lekukhalela known as shoulder to cry on, a community-based response to Gender Based Violence, self -help group which is an economic empowerment project, Male Involvement Program and the Girls Empowerment Clubs. She was part of the team that drafted the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Bill (SODV) which is now an Act. After numerous years of advocating for law reform she took a bold decision to join the race to Parliament and became the first woman Member of Parliament under Ludzeludze Constituency. She was one of the most vibrant Members of Parliament and the Chairperson for the Women’s Caucus and the Health Portfolio Committee.
In 2014 she joined Abt Associates as the Chief of Party (COP) where she was responsible for health system strengthening and supported the Ministry of Health and the Department of Social Welfare
2019 she returned to SWAGAA as the Executive Director where she brought wealth of experience having worked as a Politician and a Chief of Party (COP) for an International Organization. Her work has been recognized both locally and international and has been decorated with various awards
