05 Sep 2021

Parliament has adopted the draft National Employment Policy for Botswana which is aimed at addressing the high unemployment rate in the country.

Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Ms Peggy Serame said development of the National Employment Policy (NEP) would inspire and raise national aspirations of achieving high economic and employment growth for Batswana.

The policy is anchored on building a strong, diversified and competitive economy that will provide adequate and sustainable employment opportunities.

Ms Serame said since commencement of NDP 10, the economy had experienced high levels of unemployment, with annual growth rates in employment not exceeding 1.5 per cent. 

However, she noted that such was below the labour force growth rate in that both government and the private sector experienced decreased employment growth rates.

She stated there was a compelling case for government to take urgent measures to address unemployment.

Ms Serame said the need to address such a challenge was highlighted in NDP 11, with the theme: Inclusive Growth for the Realisation of Sustainable Employment Creation and Poverty Eradication.

She observed that the private sector was expected to lead efforts towards job creation through export-led growth, and the development of value chains while government would continue to ensure a conducive environment for such growth.

Minister Serame explained that policy’s goal was to promote productive, gainful and decent employment for Batswana to rid them of poverty. 

Further, it would contribute to the reduction of the income inequality, with the aim of reducing the unemployment rate to less than 10 per cent by 2030, she noted.

In addition, Ms Serame outlined five strategic focus policy areas which include strengthening employment in the private sector, reforming the education and training system as well as improving information flow between job seekers.

Other focus areas are strengthening employment programmes and developing a framework for coherent and coordinated policies with systematic monitoring and evaluation.

Specific policy objectives include, among others, creating a favourable environment for employment promotion, establishing a coordination framework for all key actors in the field of employment creation, promoting skills development and employability, including technical and soft skills.

Other objectives are creating conditions for and removing obstacles to employment creation by the private sector, providing public goods such as education and training as well as labour market information and addressing market failures in the labour market.

Regarding implementation of the policy, Ms Serame said it advocated for appropriate institutional mechanism coordinated at the right level, effective monitoring and evaluation system to track the contribution of various programmes and initiatives to the overall policy goal.

She said there should be timely response by either reviewing, redesigning or discontinuation of programmes that do not have impact.

Supporting the policy, MPs decried poor implementation of government policies.

They called for an implementation plan with timelines and capacity building. The legislators underscored the need for high productivity and the notion of working smart as part of the policy framework.

Other MPs wanted to know how many jobs the policy was expected to create to offset economic challenges some of which were COVID-19 induced. ENDs