24 Apr 2013

Botswana is committed to developing a comprehensive human rights strategy and national action plan on human rights, says the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Dikgakgamatso Seretse.

This follows the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) working group of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, where Botswana, among 47 member states who attended, accepted to develop the strategy.

Speaking at a two-day consultative workshop on April 24, Minister Seretse said Botswana sees the review mechanism of the Human Rights Council as living proof of its success, as an effective global human rights body.

He said Botswana, as a responsible and responsive member of the Human Rights Council, has a duty to renew and strengthen her institutional framework in a manner that reflects the spirit of consultation and inclusiveness.

“We consider the review of our human rights situation under the UPR mechanism an important and necessary check on our commitment as a country to issues of promotion and human rights protection,” he said.

Mr Seretse noted that the ultimate product must be reflective of the wider national aspirations and must not be the sole product of the government or civil society.

“It is therefore necessary that we should engage objectively and guard against paternalistic approaches from either side,” said Mr Seretse.

In an interview, Ditshwanelo director, Ms Alice Mogwe said they will focus on sketching the conceptual framework within which the comprehensive strategy and action plan on human rights will be crafted.

She said it will ensure a clear, common understanding of a comprehensive human rights strategy and action plan on human rights amongst key stakeholders from government, civil society and the private sector. “This will be a national project whose participants have been drawn from a broad spectrum of organisations and government to make the strategy as inclusive as possible,” she said.

Feedback from discussions of the workshop will be given to the council in June. Ms Mogwe pointed out that the workshop is facilitated by Mr Andrien-Claude Zoller, a Geneva based human rights icon who is the president of Global Training.

 Mr Zoller is said to have assisted many countries set up national structures to address human rights issues, notably Mexico, Nepal, Burundi and Colombia. ENDS