24 Feb 2020

Government is keen to strength partnerships with religious institutions for nation building purposes, says Minister for Presidential Affairs Governance and Public Administrations, Mr Kabo Morwaeng.

Welcoming Salvation Army Church’s General Brian Peddle during a courtesy call on him,  Mr Morwaeng said churches played a role  in nation building and morality promotion  hence the need to strengthen and nurture partnership with the institution.

The church not only focused on the spiritual welfare of its members but also on transforming communities and instilling the spirit of self-relief, he said. Mr Morwaeng said the partnership between government and churches in the provision of health services demonstrated the church’s alignment to national principles of self-reliance and unity.

The church, he said, was strategically positioned to deal with humanitarian crisis by virtue of its mandate and ability to reach the population at grassroots structure.Mr Morwaeng  said government remained committed to the partnership due to its cost effectiveness and potential to improve access to services, especially in the remote areas.

He applauded Salvation Army Church for making a valuable input in communities through direct economic contributions and volunteering as well as for providing psycho social support to more than 500 orphans and vulnerable children since 2002.

He called on the church to further consider other opportunities where they could partner with government in the envisaged economic transformation.

Minister Morwaeng said General Peddle’s visit to Botswana could not have come at a better time as it would add value in the development agenda of the country.

For his part General Peddle expressed delight over the partnerships the  church had established with certain NGOs.

 “The Salvation Army  entered into a partnership with Mmokolodi Nature Reserve from 2002 to 2016 to provide children and young people with life skills camps which enrolled over 350 young people,” he said.
 

General Peddle said another collaboration was with the Ministry of Basic Education  through the Kick-Start Programme aimed at providing early childhood education to Old Naledi children.

Currently 92 children were benefitting from the programme, he said. He said the church was also part of the Men Engage Botswana Alliance, a network of 26 organisations working together to  involve men and boys in reducing gender inequalities and ending gender based violence.

He further said the church remained steadfast in finding other avenues for partnering with government to improve the livelihoods of Batswana. ENDS