22 Mar 2021

Botswana Red Cross Society and its partners are set to mitigate the impact of drought and COVID-19 on five of the country’s districts,  says the head of country cluster delegation for Southern Africa, Dr Michael Charles.

Dr Charles was speaking in Letlhakane during an event to disburse funds to support the food assistance and COVID-19 preparedness response programme.

He said the programme would focus on Maun Sub-district, Okavango Sub-district, Tutume Sub-district, Boteti Sub-district and Bobirwa. He also noted that 1 600 households in the five sub-districts would be provided with P650 for six months from March 2021. He noted that Letlhakane had 320 beneficiaries.

Dr Charles said thousands of people needed support to rebuild their lives as they had lost livelihoods since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Charles also said climate change had had an impact on communities.

He said the International Federation of the Red Cross for the European Union was happy to provide assistance to communities.

Botswana Red Cross Society is collaborating with the international federation and Crescent Societies and European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) in the programme.

Botswana Red Cross secretary general, Mr Kutlwano Mukokomani said the COVID-19 pandemic has had a wide-ranging impact beyond the health implications.

He noted that the pandemic had affected livelihoods and food security, adding that the hardest hit was the vulnerable groups.

He stated that a thorough assessment was done before selecting beneficiaries.

Chairperson of Boteti Sub-council, Mr Molemi Galeragwe said battling an invisible monster such as COVID-19 was not easy as it required limited resources.

He noted that a number of government operations and plans had been affected and that some projects had been put on hold while some delayed. He added that resources had been directed towards the COVD-19 fight.

He also stated that Botswana Red Cross Society had played a pivotal role in complementing the government in the fight against COVID-19. ENDS