19 Jan 2017

The outgoing United Nations (UN) resident coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resident representative has been applauded for his achievements during his tenure in Botswana.

Mr Anders Pedersen has been working in the country since 2011.

Bidding him farewell on Wednesday, permanent secretary in the Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation, Mr Gaeimelwe Goitsemang said when Mr Pedersen arrived in Botswana; it was at a crucial juncture of the country’s development agenda.

He said Botswana, having adopted the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2010-2015, the country was at that point in the middle of its review of NDP10, to find synergy in achieving jointly set targets and goals.

“Your arrival was most opportune, as we were able to move forward together to resolve the teething problems we were experiencing at that time.  It is indisputable that the adoption of the UNDAF 2010-2015 was indeed a clear demonstration of the UN’s commitment to support the home grown developmental aspirations of the people of Botswana,” he said.

Mr Goitsemang noted that the UN’s contribution to the development of Botswana had a long history and the country had benefited significantly from Mr Pedersen’s vast years of experience as an international public servant within the UN system.

Some of the achievements that the country shall fondly remember Mr Pedersen for, include the significant role played by the UNDP in enhancing national capacity towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as well as to usher in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“The instrumental role played by the UNDP in the realisation of the creation of Legal Aid Botswana which has resulted in the ability of many indigent Batswana to have access to justice is also a notable achievement,” he said.

Another achievement, he added included the promotion of evidence based research to inform policy intervention, culminating in the creation of Statistics Botswana.

Mr Goitsemang assured Mr Pedersen that Botswana remains committed to working with the UN in order to achieve the agreed targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Framework (UNSDF) 2017-2021. BOPA