16 Feb 2020

 Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development together  with  Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) have signed a Memorandum of Agreement, which will provide policy advice for human resource development in Botswana.

Speaking at the signing and handover of the memorandum on Thursday, permanent secretary in the local government and rural development ministry, Mr Boipolelo Khumomatlhare said the agreement would assist both parties to share information and requisite skills towards development of labour market information systems.

Mr Khumomatlhare said the agreement was guided by reliable statistical data and information support needs that would go towards sustainable service delivery within the ministry as a key strategic player in local governance and rural development.

He also said the ministry was committed to strategic resourcing initiatives that were coupled with growing commitment to inculcate the culture of research and development, adding that collaborations with HRDC would further enable them to achieve mileage in their mandate of ushering social developments to Batswana.

Also, he said growing human capital in Botswana was one of government’s concerted efforts into growing knowledge capital that would become a great asset for the country, hence the agreement would set the country in the right trajectory.

“The agreement cements our ties to promote socio-economic development to make our nation globally competitive with skills and knowledge that are critical inputs premised on private sector development and industrialisation,” he added.

Meanwhile, HRDC chief executive officer, Dr Raphael Dingalo said the milestone that the collaboration between HRDC and the ministry would mean for human capital development in the country.

Dr Dingalo said the relationship would also provide important linkages between welfare issues and skills and knowledge development in the country, which were critical to policy formulation on human resource strategy.

He noted that lack of comprehensive data in the past had provided a significant problems in labour market information.

However, the partnership will provide general frameworks for socio-economic development of the country.

Again, he said the signing was a consolidation of partnerships that recognised National Vision 2036 pillars of sustainable human development. ENDS