Message from Ms Kristan Schoultz
UN Botswana Resident Coordinator
Thank you for visiting our website! The website highlights the programmes and activities of the UN System in Botswana. It presents information about the work of UN organizations represented here, and provides links to existing global UN sites.
The UN Country Team is currently intensifying collaborative programming through the preparation of the Common Country Assessment (CCA)(508kb) and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for the period 2009-2014, and we look forward to our continuing work with the Government and people of Botswana to achieve the country’s remaining development goals. This website is a window into this support and the work of the United Nations in Botswana. Welcome! Pula!
The United Nations’ partnership with Botswana dates back to the years immediately after independence in 1966. The role of the United Nations in Botswana is to support the country in meeting its continuing development challenges. At independence Botswana was one of the poorest nations in Africa, experiencing serious development challenges including prolonged periods of drought and lack of basic infrastructure such as roads, schools, hospitals, and telecommunication networks.
Through good governance and prudent macro-economic management, Botswana, once one of the least developed countries of the world, has emerged as one of Africa’s few middle income status nations. Rapid economic growth, coupled with democratic governance and multiparty politics, have been the hallmarks of Botswana’s success story over the past forty ears. The United Nations system, collectively and through the efforts of individual agencies, has accompanied Botswana through this transformative period.
However, as in other countries with stellar development successes, many UN organizations, as well as other development agencies, have de-linked from direct residency-based support to the country and have relocated elswhere, though they remain ready to assist the country as necessary The current Country Team of the United Nations in Botswana comprises: UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNAIDS, UNHCR, WHO and FAO.
Despite the many achievements the country has made in the last decades, Botswana continues to face very real challenges of poverty and unemployment. The HIV and AIDS epidemic, which is rapidly depleting the much-needed human resource for development, threatens to reverse the economic advances made so far. Botswana has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world. As a result, a substantial part of UN assistance to the country focuses on the fight against the epidemic. In using its diverse expertise and experience, as well as networks involving other players all over the world, the UN strives to offer coherent and synergistic support to Botswana in her development challenges, particularly in the fight against AIDS. This website is a window into this support and the work of the United Nations in Botswana.
History
Policies and Framework
Partners
Immediately after negotiating a peaceful independence from Britain in September 1966, Botswana sought membership of the United Nations while it faced violence emanating from its neighbouring states. The nation was soon welcomed into membership of the General Assembly on October 17, 1966, as liberation wars were raging in then Rhodesia and South West Africa, and in Mozambique, Angola, and South Africa.
The United Nations membership assured the country some protection against outside attacks and military incursions. The UN has seen the country through those difficult times of severe underdevelopment and prolonged drought, but also has witnessed its impressive development, economic growth, and growing social prosperity, while helping to make such changes both positive and sustainable.
The work of the UN system in Botswana during those first decades of independence was spearheaded by WFP - the World Food Programme and UNDP. Today, five other UN organizations provide continuous support to the country. These agencies are WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNAIDS and UNHCR.
The UN's working philosophy has been applied through the Country Strategy Note, whose main objective is to promote excellence in United Nations support to Botswana. The strategy notes, which were prepared alongside the National Development Plans, include all major national development issues and ensure proper coordination between the UN system and the Government of Botswana
Botswana’s current six-year National Development Plan (NDP 9) ends in March 2009. Consequently, the Government of Botswana (GoB) is preparing for the development of the next National Development Plan (NDP 10), which will span the period April 2009 to March 2015. The National Development Plan is the Government’s basic planning document. It outlines the government’s development priorities for the plan period and the policies, programmes and projects the Government will implement in pursuit of these priorities.
For purposes of synergy, optimal responsiveness, and relevance, the UN Country Team (UNCT) in Botswana has decided to align its planning cycle with the NDP cycle, beginning with the next United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). The current UNDAF (2003-2007) ends two years before the commencement of National Development Plan 10 in 2009. Consequently, it will be extended for a two-year period to allow the next UNDAF - the second for Botswana – to take effect on January 1, 2010.
In preparation for the next NDP, the GoB will embark on a consultative process which, together with the findings of the MTR of NDP 9, will constitute the core of the Government’s situational analysis for NDP 10. The UN System will similarly be conducting a situational analysis, referred to as a Common Country Assessment (CCA)(508kb), in preparation for the next UNDAF. It is envisaged that these UN and GOB processes would be mutually reinforcing.
The CCA(508kb) is a strategic tool for conducting country specific situation analyses to generate information and data that engenders a deeper understanding of national development as a basis for advocacy, policy dialogue, and capacity building. It is also expected to promote more widespread awareness of problems associated with development and their causes, as well as the needs and priorities of the country.
The next step is to use the CCA(508kb) in the development of a Botswana specific planning tool: the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). The UNDAF is intended to ‘bring greater coherence to the UN programmes of assistance with common objectives and time frames in close consultation' with the government of Botswana. The process of creating an UNDAF in Botswana is founded upon participation of all partners, building upon previous experience and reaching consensus.
Besides government agencies (i.e. Ministries, Departments and Units), the United Nations system works with a number of cooperating partners such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) community-based organisations (CBOs) and donor agencies.
To learn more on the areas of intervention of the United Nations in Botswana click here.
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updated 13.08.2007