1. Executive summary
172 countries, including Botswana, approved a series of recommended actions commonly known as Agenda 21, at the UN Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The objective of Agenda 21 is to strive for sustainable development worldwide. Botswana also ratified the Conventions on Biodiversity and on Climate Change (CBD/UNFCC) at the Rio Summit.
Ten years later, in Johannesburg in August-September 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) will assess progress made since Rio. The Intergovernmental Summit will include a Civil Society Forum, as well as interactions between both fora. The Government of Botswana and Civil Society will send a delegation to participate.
The Botswana Government has held consultations and prepared a comprehensive assessment of implementation of activities related to Agenda 21. Civil Society has organised itself in a WSSD steering committee. During a workshop in September 2001 it was decided to prepare a position paper to complement the Government assessment. It was agreed that ‘Civil Society’ would be taken to include NGOs, CBOs, Youth Organisations, Media Institutions, Farmers Association, Special Interest Groups, Women Issues, Churches, Health Organisations, and the Private Sector.
This document therefore attempts to provide a cross-section of the involvement of these actors in the themes of Agenda 21; issues identified as critical and suggested required action. A sample of case studies addressing different critical issues is attached to illustrate actions being taken by various stakeholders from Civil Society. To allow the document to be in line with assessments produced by other countries, the format utilised is the Earth Council’s Rio+5 assessment format.
The first section provides an assessment of the implementation of Agenda 21 in Botswana, both in terms of implementation strategy and of implementation structure, the latter with focus on consultations and stakeholder participation. This section also includes an assessment of implementation of the CBD and UNFCC in Botswana.
It is acknowledged that Botswana has not established an Agenda 21 implementation structure or strategy. Nonetheless, the various stakeholders have undertaken many important and commendable –albeit scattered- initiatives. Coordinating attempts have increased with the preparations for the WSSD, but are hampered by the erroneous impression that Agenda 21 is limited to environmental issues. The Government’s Vision 2016 is a potentially ideal vehicle to implement the agenda of sustainable development, but currently lacks an implementation plan.
Initiatives regarding Biodiversity and Climate Change have followed the ratification of the Conventions. Botswana’s biodiversity is an important resource and there is an urgent need for comprehensive data on it. In Botswana, climate change is closely related to water supply and desertification. The latter has its own Convention, which was ratified but has not yet been translated into the necessary action.
The second section of this report deals with critical, emerging and regional issues, as well as with the global critical issue of education, training and awareness.
There is a general consensus within Civil Society that Poverty and HIV/AIDS are currently Botswana’s most critical issues. Approximately one in two Batswana lives below the poverty level, and the country’s HIV infection rate is one of the highest in the world; this despite the country’s image as a model developing country in the middle-income category.
Poverty and HIV infection are closely related, and both most severely affect disadvantaged groups such as women and minority groups. Lack of access to resources (e.g. land), collective denial and stigmatisation are among the components hampering successful tackling of these issues. Commendable actions have been undertaken, yet there is a need for participative identification of local poverty and HIV patterns and indicators, and for establishment of a national strategy, inclusive of tasks, objectives, goals and milestones.
Regional and emerging issues of concern include shared natural resources such as water required to meet future needs. In the absence of regional agreements, dams and other schemes involving shared rivers, and transboundary ground- or surface water pollution or contamination could be future sources of conflict. Since accurate information is crucial, there is a need for unrestricted reporting by the media. Currently however, there is a disquieting trend of press freedom being undermined within the region.
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are a worrying emerging (and regional) issue, resulting in unknown health risks, biodiversity erosion and increased dependency.
The final part of this document looks at suggested ways forward.
In the immediate future, the main focus will be on sustainable development to reduce poverty.
Specific issues that should also be on the agenda are regional issues of concern such as the need for a sustainable water supply and the risk of desertification; as well as the global critical issue of the AIDS pandemic and the emerging issue of GMOs.
The WSSD will provide an opportunity to reinvigorate Agenda 21 in Botswana. A national body –Government and/or Civil Society- should be mandated to coordinate the development of a localised Agenda 21 strategy, with specific tasks, goals, timeframes and milestones. The creation of a Ministry of Environment should provide an excellent opportunity to establish Agenda 21 as the core mandate for this Ministry.
It is recommended that after the Summit has been held, Civil Society should continue the co-operation established to prepare for the Summit. A joint task for NGOs will be to co-operate, establish joint programmes and strategies and lobby for funding. As international funding is diminishing, a national funding mechanism needs to be negotiated with all stakeholders. The private sector will have to play an important role in implementing Agenda 21, by ensuring sustainable management of operations and increasingly take on social responsibility. The environmental industry needs to develop and market adequate technology, and provide expertise to carry out assessments and audits.
| Key figures for Botswana |
| Population |
584.644 (1971) -> 1.7M (2001) |
| Ethnic groups |
>20 ; 8 recognised in the Constitution |
| Children under 15 |
38.4% |
| Urbanisation |
30% |
| Poverty |
59% (1985/86) below poverty datum line -> 47% (1993/94) |
| Health facilities |
141 (1966) ®1324 (1998) |
| Maternal mortality |
3.3 per 1000 |
| Life expectancy |
65.2 (1993) -> 46.2 (2000) |
| HIV/AIDS |
38.6% of 15-49 year olds. (2000) 20-29% among 15-19 y.o. (1999) |
| HDI |
0.5 (1975) -> 074 (1974) -> 0.58 (1999) |
| Average annual GDP growth since 1966 |
6% |
| Per capita GNP |
$3300 (2000) (2001 CCA) |
| Education |
92% enrol in primary school |
| Literacy |
34% (1981) to 75.6% in 1998 |
| Export |
79% diamonds 8% copper and nickel |
| Agriculture share in GDP 42.7% (1966) |
(1966) -> 2.6% (2000)) |
| Labour |
3.5% mining; 2% agric.; 35% informal; 47% Govt; 15% unemployed |
| Cattle |
1.2M in 1966 2.4M in 1999 |
| Goats |
0.5M in 1966 2.4M in 1999 |
| Plant species |
2700-2800 (17 endemic) |
| Red data list mammals |
5 (0 endemic) |
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