09 Nov 2021

Government continues to forge collaboration with the global community to strengthen efforts to tackle youth issues.

Delivering the State-of-the-Nation Address on Monday, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi stated that as a result of these efforts, he was appointed Generation Unlimited Leader and its Champion for Southern Africa, by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) early this year.

“Through this initiative, I am able to work in partnership with other African and global leaders to empower our youth through skills development and mentoring programmes.

“This will therefore prepare them to become innovators for the now and the future,” he said.

He also informed the nation that Botswana would host the first Forbes Under-30 Summit in Africa, in Gaborone and Kasane in April 2022, which would attract more than 600 young people across the world.

The summit, he added, would create a conducive environment for young entrepreneurs to share their business ideas with the global business community and investors.

Furthermore, he said it would promote Botswana as a tourist destination.

Dr Masisi also said he would be participating and co-hosting a high-level Global Forum for Children and Youth to be held virtually from December 7-9.

The forum would convene children and youth alongside leaders in government, business and civil society, to discuss their urgent needs and propose ideas that would help secure their future, he said.

He said a series of initiatives were introduced to address youth character development.

As such, a youth radio programme focusing on mental health and psycho social support was started in January 2021, he said.

Furthermore, government introduced youth counselling on air to provide counselling, psycho-education and referrals for adolescents and youth aged between nine and 35 years.

Meanwhile the President encouraged young people to participate more in challenging activities as they have potential to drive the knowledge economy.

He noted that Youth Connekt Botswana competed in the African Youth Connect Clusters Challenge 2021, involving 23 countries and won a grand prize for one of the best project proposals under, ‘Digital Skills for the Future’ category. ENDS