15 Feb 2024

The United States of America has pledged to support Botswana’s ambition of becoming a high-income economy through the development of human capital resources. 

The two countries share a longstanding bilateral relationship, focusing on trade, health, communications technology, and security, built on shared values such as respect for democracy and the rule of law.

According to United States Ambassador Mr Howard Van Vranken, who recently visited  Tsabong district, Botswana has an ambitious development agenda that centered around human resource capital development, directly linked to economic development. 

Mr Van Vranken said it was  imprtant for the two countries tostrenthen  relations in skills development.

“When you talk about economic development, there is a direct linkage to skills developmen,” he said.

He noted that brigades had potential to contribute to the development of technicians and other critical trades necessary for economic growth.

Thus, he said US was working in collaboration with local brigades, to impart solar energy production skills to promote green energy. This , he said include efforts with Florida International University to teach local technicians to design and install solar energy systems.

The Ambassador lauded Botswana for its strong education system, acknowledging its significant contribution to economic prosperity. 

The United States is focused on human resource capital development and offers various training and exchange programs to impart skills and knowledge both in Botswana and the United States, he said.

To augment support, he mentioned that the United States had placed five English teaching assistants in Botswana of which two were currently teaching at Tsabong Unified Senior Secondary School, one at Maun, one at Shakawe while one was based in Mogoditshane.

“We recognise that education is an incredibly important tool to bring Botswana to a higher income economy to achieve vision 2036. We invest in skills training. We do placements on request in collaboration with government,” he said.

In addition to education, the United States also supports Botswana in health-related initiatives. 

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) budgeted P689m for Botswana, reflecting ongoing collaboration to combat HIV/AIDS and support health systems. 

“I am pleased that Botswana is making headway and has achieved the UNAIDS 90-90-90 target which stood at goal 95-98-98. We are still figuring out how we can help to do more to combat HIV. Botswana’s trajectory is very clear on fighting HIV as it states that by 2030 HIV will be eliminated as a public health threat,” he said. 

Ambassador Van Vranken said the United States continued to support scientific research cooperation, as well as leverage donor support to deal with HIV in a concerted effort. 

Further, he said scientists continued to discover ways of fighting the virus and had recently made breakthrough with Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) injection.

“I do not think we are at a point of finding HIV cure yet, we are approaching a point where we have prophylaxis injections and after getting a shot you would not be able to transmit HIV/AIDS for a couple of months, it is not a vaccine, it is a treatment,” he said.

The US Ambassador also highlighted efforts to fight non-communicable diseases and collaborate on the ‘One Health’ programme with the Ministry of Health.ENDS