Botswana

Please provide us with your views on the state of peace in the country you will represent at the One Young World Summit. 

Botswana has long been considered ‘an African miracle’ with a stable democracy, rapid economic growth and relatively low levels of corruption. Over the past years it has enjoyed sustained levels of peace, security and prosperity. Since gaining independence a lot of African states have gone through fragile and at times very nasty undemocratic experiences which include war and internal or external conflict. However, Botswana is the oldest democracy in Africa and has never fought a conventional war, which makes it the most successful democracy in Africa. While  corruption, lack of respect for rule of law and human rights violations are all common reasons heard for some of the causes of Africa’s problems, Botswana has been an exception resulting in the country receiving a number of accolades and being termed as Africa`s shining example of stability of democracy.  However we need not to be distracted by the country`s long record of ‘free and fair’ elections and the relatively sound management of its diamond reserves. We need not overlook the centralisation of power in the country and the substantive democracy which has been increasingly challenged since the 2000s, which could be a threat to its peace and stability.

How do you think your work and/or activism contribute to a sustainable peace? 

As a Project Officer (Poverty Eradication Programme), I facilitate the establishment of small enterprises or income-generating projects for people from disadvantaged backgrounds and rural areas to improve their livelihoods. I am also a founder of the social enterprise Tshwaragano, which is a federation for small entrepreneurs that brings underprivileged people, especially women, together to develop enterprises, engage in capacity-building initiatives and explore savings and investment mechanisms (through credit and savings cooperatives / savings groups) to foster financial stability and economic growth at community level while building on the spirit of cooperation and promoting socio- economic empowerment. In my work I reach out to women, the poorest and the most excluded and marginalized part of the population in Botswana, to promote equitable economic opportunity, inclusiveness and combat abject poverty. Through the social enterprise, I have partnered with organizations from different sectors of society, to harness varying levels of expertise, leading to greater impact in bolstering sustainable development and combating inequality and social polarization. Also, as a member of International Development Innovation Network, we conduct hands-on design experience that brings together innovators and people living in poverty to create technologies, enterprises and engage in productive activities that improve their livelihoods and enhance their local economies.