Botswana

Human Development Report 2004 Launch - Botswana

Gaborone, July 2004: Human Development Report 2004 under the heading "Cultural Liberty in Today's Diverse World" was successfully launched in Botswana on Thursday 15th July 2004. The Minister of Labor and Home Affairs, Mr Thebe Mogami, and the UNDP Resident Representative, Mr Bjoern Foerde, launched it at the UN Place.

	The Minister of Labour & Home Affairs Hon Thebe Mogami (right), when officially launching the report. With him is UNDP Resident Representative Mr Bjoern Foerde

Over one hundred participants, including academics, civil society organisations, NGOs, government institutions and departments, and the media, attended the launch. The launch was divided into two segments. The Minister and an overview slide presentation by the Resident Representative made up the first part of formal speeches.

In his presentation UNDP Resident Representative debunked myths in the report that policies that encourage the flourishing of cultural identity and diversity do not fragment and result in conflict and weakening development or authoritarian. He added that as a human right, cultural liberty is as important as politics and the economy because people should live and be what they choose.

The second part included panel discussions on the subject of culture and civil governance. There were two groups of panelists. The first group of panelists, made up of well-known opinion makers tackled the issue of Culture, society and development. This group was made up of:

• Professor Lydia Nyathi-Ramahobo, a well-known spokesperson and advocate for the Kamanako Association - a cultural group in northwestern Botswana. She's also a Professor at the University of Botswana. She argued that while she as an individual does not have a problem associating with anybody in the country she feels the constitution of the country discriminates because it only mentions eight principal tribes and excludes the so-called minor tribes.
• Dr Mmualefe Raditladi, an elder and renowned newspaper columnist who writes in both English and Setswana. Raditladi writes extensively on culture, politics and development in general. He presented that some of the culturally excluding practices were a colonial inheritance whereby citizens were taught to think that everything western was superior to their own cultures.
• Mr Phorano, the Director of Youth and Culture in the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs. Mr Phorano on the other hand argued that the government tries hard and recognizes the cultural diversity of the country, which is why in the Cultural Council various stakeholders are brought aboard including the youths. During the discussions one of the participants from the floor, Mr Phenyo Mogae, one of the two youths who has recently returned from the Pan African Youth Summit in Dakar, Senegal, had asked as to how the youths are involved in Culutre policy formulation in Botswana. He had argued that because there is always a clash of interests between the youths and parents on matters of culture it is very important to include youth when formulating any policies relating to culture because they are future leaders.

	Part of the audience who attended the HDR 2004 launch

The second group which addressed the issue of Religion, Law, Culture and Development, was also made up of well known social commentators in the country:

• Reverend Prince Dibeela, the Principal of a local theological college in the city.
• Mr Omphemetse Motumise, the chair person of the Botswana Law Society
• Mr Rahim Khan, a board member of the Botswana Centre for Human Rights.

In all there was a lot of interesting the subject of cultural diversity and how nations can make use of their differences for national unity.

Earlier on when giving his keynote address the Minister mentioned that to have the debate about culture at this point in time is very appropriate because some of the most disturbing turmoil in the world today is related to it. He said that even in parts of the world such as Botswana, where there is relative peace and stability civil debates take place around it. He noted that because Botswana recognizes the importance of culture in national development the country has since the end of the UN's World Decade for Cultural Development decade that ran 1988 -1997, the country has declared May 21 its National Cultural Day and the theme for this year was "Culture and Democracy".

The Minister noted, "we welcome the Human Development Report 2004, not necessarily because we agree with everything it says, but rather because it provides relevant intellectual input towards a debate that virtually all contemporary societies are engaged in".