30 Jul 2019

SADC Regional Poverty Reduction Framework was never formally adopted for implementation by the member states.

Answering a question in Parliament, Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Mr Nonofo Molefhi said that the draft framework advocated for member states to develop their respective policies to address poverty, and guided in the critical areas of focus.

He said the basis was that most of the member states did not have policies in place to guide the endeavor.

The minister said  in 2011 the government made a deliberate decision to move from poverty reduction and alleviation policy direction to eradication of poverty.

He said the poverty eradication programme was drawn from the framework and other international knowledge. However, the minister said countries worldwide including the

United Nations were still talking about alleviation and reduction. He said it was until 2015 with the Sustainable Development Goals that poverty eradication was adopted as a policy direction internationally.

Mr Molefhi said Botswana had  participated at the SADC Poverty Observatory and therefore contributed to the development of the framework.

Furthermore, he said the draft framework was also linked to other SADC tools such as the Regional Indicative Strategy Development Plan (RISDP) which Botswana was fully part of.

He said on its part the SADC Secretariat does not mobilise specific financing arrangements, but rather provides technical assistance by way of identifying resources for sector-specific studies and analyses and development of frameworks that may be contextualised by member states for use.

The minister said the framework was premised on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the target was to halve the proportion of the population living on less-than US$ 1 per day between 1990 and 2015.

He said through her own efforts, Botswana had been able to reduce the proportion of people living below the national poverty datum line from about 30.6 to 16.3 per cent between 2002/03 and 2015/16, and also from 23.4 per cent to 5.8 per cent for those living in absolute or extreme poverty below the poverty datum line of US$1.90 a day.

MP for Kanye South, Mr Abram Kesupile had asked the minister to state Botswana’s achievements on poverty eradication through SADC regional plan intended to eradicate poverty in member states, and specific activities Botswana had to undertake or is undertaking under the SADC regional plan.

He also wanted to know the level of financial and technical contribution Botswana received under the plan and when the plan envisaged to have eradicated poverty in all its forms in Botswana and other member states. Ends