08 Dec 2021

The poverty eradication coordinating unit on Tuesday received 15 tablets from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to be used in the poverty profiling exercise.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Mr Dumezweni Mthimkhulu said the profiling exercise would provide a base for tracking progress in multidimensional approach to combating poverty, both nationally and in fulfilling international obligations under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Mr Mthimkhulu further said the profiling would identify the poor, the deprivations they experience and poverty types  as well as establish critical success factors for different locations in the country.

It was therefore expected that the exercise would result in the provision of more relevant and specific interventions per area, hence more impactful, he said.

He said the exercise would also ensure that no one was left behind, as all those that deserved to be assisted would be known and therefore assisted accordingly.

The assistant minister highlighted that in 2019, Botswana adopted the multidimensional approach to addressing poverty, which was about combating all the deprivations experienced by the poor, that was both monetary and none monetary ones such as health, education and living standards.

“…the exercise was piloted in the Okavango sub-district, and is currently being extended to other areas with high poverty levels such as Ghanzi, Kgalagadi, Kweneng West and Central districts,” he said. BOPA