20 Feb 2013

Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development says issues affecting children cut across because of the various developmental and survival needs.

Giving a key note address at the start of a three-day National Childcare Forum in Gaborone on February 19, Mr Olebile Gaborone said as a result, his ministry had come up with comprehensive policies and programmes that complemented those of other partners.

He said as service providers, they should all be constantly informed on policies and programmes that affected children for their implementation of the same programmes. Therefore, he said it was worth noting that they could no longer afford to provide service on the basis of passion alone.

Mr Gaborone said there was need to know and appreciate that there were standards and ethics that governed all service providers and the need to fully understand policies that were in place for children before they could even start working on them.

He explained that National Childcare Forum came as a result of a concern about initial fragmented approach towards addressing the issues related to impact of HIV/AIDS amongst children. He said on realising this gap, his ministry carried out a rapid assessment of civil society organisations working with children.

The results of the study showed that there was limited understanding of key child welfare policies and legislation; poor networking and information exchange and uncoordinated programming both within sectors and across areas.

Based on the findings of the said rapid assessment, it was identified that there was a dire need for a forum of this nature where critical stakeholders on child protection would be afforded the opportunity to interact and identify areas of mutual support and opportunities for enhanced partnerships, whilst providing the impetus to map a way forward on the coordination of provision of child protection services in a more comprehensive manner.

Mr Gaborone said the theme of this year’s forum: Implementing a coordinated and sustainable programme for children, came at the time when duty bearers were drawn to enhance coordination structures and mechanisms for the provision of quality service to all children.

He said for a long time, most stakeholders maintained the silo mentality where efforts were confined within their own individual spaces, adding that in some instances they witnessed the breakaway of organisations and this created duplication of efforts and competition amongst stakeholders.

He noted that in such instances, some organisations were alleged to have directed more funding to salaries and other personal emoluments rather than directing those resources to programmes which were intended to improve the lives of children. 

Mr Gaborone, who is also MP for South East North, implored participants to seriously reflect on issues he raised, more especially when they discussed the issue of coordination at the district level.

 He thanked the ministry’s partners such as Project Concern International (PCI) for technical support and Marang Child care Network Trust for facilitating the districts. In addition, he thanked USAID for their unwavering support towards the protection and care of children, more especially vulnerable ones.ENDS