11 Sep 2019

 Institutions of higher learning can play a major role in quest for sustainable development, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has said.

Officiating at the 12th Southern African Nordic Center (SANORD) conference, President Masisi therefore urged the leadership of institutions of higher learning to commit themselves to proactively address different challenges faced by communities.

 “Highly trained and experienced staff, the resources for advancing frontiers of knowledge through research and education, as well as the support they receive from governments, commit universities to be at the forefront to empower communities to sustain their own livelihoods,” he said.

To achieve sustainable livelihoods, President Masisi said a holistic diagnosis and analysis was necessary. Countries therefore needed to take into account the social, economic, political, historical and demographic trends that were likely to influence the likelihood options of a given population.

He said there was also need to assess the risks to which communities were exposed, resources at their disposal and institutions and organisations that were in the context.

Dr Masisi expressed gratitude that this year’s SANORD conference was hosted by the University of Botswana, saying it reflected the confidence that the international and regional community had in Botswana.

“And I want to, from the onset, pledge my government’s unwavering commitment to ensuring that the hosting of such events becomes a norm. So, when in doubt about venue or place, come to Botswana,” he added.

Dr Masisi said the conference theme, “Role of Higher Education in Forging Sustainable Livelihoods”, was relevant and timely “given our increasingly fractured world”.

He said the theme was also a clarion call to higher academic institutions such as UB to ensure that they were responsive to the needs of societies and the universe within which they operated.

“The use of the word sustainable is extremely important. The focus is not just on livelihoods, but also on the sustainability of such livelihoods,” he said.

In his welcome remarks, UB vice chancellor, Prof. David Norris encouraged participants to reflect on how best they could maximise resources for sustaining community livelihoods.

Livelihoods, Dr Norris said,  could only become sustainable when communities were empowered to mitigate the numerous challenges they encountered.

“Knowledge innovations, health and development are necessary to successful stories in sustainable livelihoods and universities have central roles to play in forging sustainable livelihoods in our countries,” he said.

About Botswana, he said the transitioning of the country from a resource-based to a knowledge based one could not be done by government alone.

“Its institutions, such as ourselves, that can really drive this. This transition to a knowledge economy can be done by institutions of higher learning in partnership with the industry and civil organisations,” he added.

SANORD chairperson, Prof. Yohana Mashalla, expressed gratitude to President Masisi for gracing the occasion and to government for playing host.

The centre was launched in 2006  as a non-profit university network committed to providing a forum to advance strategic, multilateral academic collaboration between Nordic and southern African  universities. ENDS