17 Jul 2024

Botswana reaffirms commitment to reinforcing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises.

Speaking during the ministerial segment of the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development held in New York on Tuesday, Assistant Minister for State President, Ms Boitumelo Gofhamodimo said the commitment ‘underscores the need for an urgent paradigm shift, away from the business-as-usual approach to embracing innovative solutions’.

Ms Gofhamodimo reported that Botswana’s SDG Statistical Monitoring Capacity had increased significantly, from 34.8 per cent in 2018 to 63.4 per cent in 2023.

She said to accelerate SDG implementation, Botswana launched its National Commitment for Adolescent Wellbeing in October 2023 and had developed comprehensive strategies to prevent and respond to Gender Based Violence, including scaling up child-friendly policing, established dedicated support services for victims and launched standard operating procedures to ensure that adolescents received effective referrals for medical and psychological support.

Ms Gofhamodimo said Botswana adopted several support programmes for the poor, adding that the social protection system covered 59 per cent of the population nationally, with higher coverage of 68.3 per cent in rural areas.

She also said Botswana adopted the Multi-dimensional Poverty Index as an additional measure of poverty to allocate resources more efficiently and ensuring that no one was left behind.

Meanwhile, she highlighted that Botswana continued to grapple with issues of undernourishment and food insecurity.

“Recent data shows that 32 per cent of the population is undernourished, and 50.8 per cent experience moderate or severe food insecurity,” she said.

In the pursuit for zero hunger, she said Botswana remained committed to improving agricultural productivity and food distribution to all Batswana.

Regarding climate action, Ms Gofhamodimo said Botswana established comprehensive, legislative and policy frameworks, as well updated its Nationally Determined Contributions to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “We continue to implement community-based capacity-building initiatives across the country to empower local communities with the knowledge and skills needed to adapt to changing environmental conditions,” she said.

She said unemployment in Botswana remained a challenge, ‘and has been on an upward trajectory for some time now, peaking at 26 per cent in 2021, and slightly declining to 25.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022’.

She highlighted that it was significantly higher among the younger population, but to address it, government had prioritised upskilling adolescents and young people in the National Commitment and initiatives such as the Generation Unlimited to continue to provide them with essential soft skills for employability.

Ms Gofhamodimo said Botswana needed strong partnerships at all levels to amplify efforts.

She said Botswana was developing its 12th National Development Plan, which would cover five years from 2025-2030, adding that the plan would strategically align the national development priorities with Agenda 2030, as well as accelerate implementation of the SDGs.

The High-Level political Forum on Sustainable Development was held from July 8 to July 17.

The High Level Political Forum on SDGs is the central United Nations platform for the follow up and review of the 2030 Agenda for SDGs at a global level.

It is the apex of the architecture for follow up and review of the 2030 Agenda established by the 2030 Agenda and General Assembly resolution. ENDS