02 Feb 2026

The office of the Ombudsman held the inaugural North West Human Rights Lecture Series in an  effort to promote dialogue on human rights, governance and accountability within the North West District.
The platform seeks to foster cooperation and strengthen working relationships with civil society organisations, the tourism sector and other key stakeholders in the promotion and protection of human rights and good governance.
 Held in Maun on Thursday, the lecture series attracted representatives from diverse sectors including civil society organisations to share their perspectives on advancing human rights, broadly defined in all its aspects with all communities.
Delivering the inaugural lecture series, the deputy Ombudsman –Human Rights, Ms Beaulah Mguni stated that the meeting was a build-up on the important work done by the Maun Regional Office following  a discussion dubbed: Voices of Maun: A Community-Based Situational Analysis of Human Rights in May 2025. The platform brought together stakeholders to engage in dialogue on community focused, rights-based practices.
“It is through this platforms, that the Office of the Ombudsman can enhance its contribution to the strengthening of democratic governance, accountability and a culture of human rights in Botswana. Our strategy is to establish these stakeholder engagements as a permanent forum for evidence-based informed discussion, critical reflection, and knowledge exchange on the human rights issues that were identified during a situational analysis conducted in May last year,” she added.

She also revealed that the platform would support national development priorities, institutional reform efforts, and ongoing initiatives to enhance compliance with international human rights standards.
 She acknowledged that the office of the Ombudsman had played a significant role in the advancement of administrative justice since its establishment, citing that following the conferment of the human rights mandate on the Office of the Ombudsman, they had already developed a 5-year strategic plan to run from 2024 to 2029.
The strategy reflects the dual mandate of promoting administrative justice and the promotion and protection of human rights.
Through this strategy, the office has set up systems, processes, procedures, programmes and practices to resolve complaints of human rights violations and promote a human rights culture as mandated by the Ombudsman Act, she said.
 Ms Mguni challenged stakeholders to understand that their institutions were classified as duty-bearers because  of their duty and responsility toward rights-holders, with the state, represented by the various government departments, being a primary duty-bearer.
In that regard, the state, she said had a legal duty to respect, protect, promote and fulfil human rights and that private sector institutions, such as companies, are also duty-bearers because they also have a legal duty to respect and fulfil human rights, and to avoid infringing upon the rights of others, and to address the impacts of their business activities or projects.
The civil society was also commended for reaching out to vulnerable groups and marginalised communities and enhancing accountability in relation for the violations they experience.
 Ms Mguni said promoting a human rights culture also required the Office of the Ombudsman to acknowledge and validate the best practices that had been adopted by stakeholders, by giving credit where it is due, and not just shining light upon instances of human rights violations.

“Therefore, regular interaction in this type of forum will create an opportunity for each of our stakeholders to showcase the best practices that they have adopted to promote, protect and enhance the enjoyment of human rights, as well as an opportunity for others to benchmark and implement such practices,” she said. ENDS