09 Sep 2013

The Botswana government has signed a memorandum of agreement with the Norwegian Federation of Organisations of Disabled People which would help in the undertaking of a survey on conditions for People Living with Disabilities.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, the acting Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Mr Vincent Seretse said collaboration between the two countries started in the mid-1970s, when Norway assisted Botswana in areas like health, transport and other infrastructure development. 

Mr Seretse said the $406 306 (P3. 047 million) Norwegian grant would help finance a Survey on Living Conditions for People with Disabilities in Botswana. He said the grant was another milestone by Norway, since the Government of Norway through Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) has been offering scholarships to Batswana students to study medicine in various universities in Norway since 1995.  

“The grant will go a long way to develop and build capacity for our people especially those with disabilities, and Botswana as a middle income country has seen most of the development partners withdrawing their assistance to us”, he said. 

Mr Seretse thanked the Norwegian Federation of Organisations of Disabled People for extending a helping hand to Botswana. 

For her part, Development Advisor of the Norwegian Federation of Organisations of Disabled People, Ms Hanne Witsoe said they have learnt that data on people living with disability was scarce because disability research does not come around as often. .ENDS