02 Mar 2017

Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation, Dr Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi has told Parliament that there are currently 16 professional Batswana working for the United Nations and its specialised agencies.

Dr Venson-Moitoi said the 16 were engaged through the quota system, of which Botswana presently had 14, thus exceeding the quota by two.

She also indicated that there were five non-professional grade employees attached to the various United Nations programmes and missions around the globe.

Currently, she added 107 Batswana are working for the SADC Secretariat; nine as regional staff members, 25 as projects staff and 73 as local staff.

She said there was no quota system for employment in the SADC Parliamentary Forum and the policy was to ensure regional representation in the organisation.

Again, she said there were 13 Batswana working for the in the African Union (AU) and that three of the 13 were engaged on short-term basis.

The minister also said the quota for Botswana was 10 for regular positions and it had been fully utilised.

She said in the International Criminal Court (ICC) there was currently one Motswana serving as a judge and that only one position had not been utilised to utilise the quota.

Dr Venson-Moitoi further said Batswana nationals serving in regional and international organisations had continued to acquit themselves well as international civil servants.

“I can only encourage them to continue to make us proud and hoist our flag high,” she said.

She further said the ministry considered the employment of Batswana across the international system as one of its strategic objectives in the quest to contribute towards the betterment of humanity, as well as make Botswana a respected and influential player in world affairs.

Dr Venson-Moitoi was responding to a question from MP for Selebi Phikwe West, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse, who wanted to know the number of Batswana working for the UN headquarters, organs and agencies.

Mr Keorapetse also wanted to know the number of Batswana working for SADC, SADC Parliamentary Forum, AU and ICC.

Further, he wanted to know if Botswana was able to exhaust its quotas where applicable and whether participation of citizens in these organs was satisfactory. ENDS