Botswana realises MDGs- UNDP

EPHRAIM KEORENG
Staff Writer | Tuesday January 19, 2010 00:00

Speaking ahead of an oncoming progress country report that will be published on Botswana's performance in attaining the MDGs, Sakaeyo Baitshepi said that Botswana has covered milestones in the fight against HIV/AIDS, especially through the country's interventions and policies in place, boosted by very strong political will. He added that child mortality has also been significantly reduced through expanded feeding programmes for under-five year olds.   

'There has also been expanded immunization and integrated management of child illnesses, coverage of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) increased to 95 percent,' he said.

Baitshepi said despite her success, Botswana is still grappling with the poverty challenge.He however noted that government has put in place a lot of programmes to cushion Batswana from poverty. Some of them include Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development  (ISPAAD), Ipelegeng, Internship program, Social Safety Nets, and others.

The official noted that the most challenging MDG is Global Partnership in terms of trade with other countries. 'Ours is a very small economy and will always find it difficult to compete with others for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). We are doing our best though, through Botswana Export Development and Investment Authority (BEDIA),' he said.

Baitshepi emphasised that the UN expects countries to produce reports that will update or appraise them (UN) on the achievements and challenges in meeting the MDGs. Botswana produced her first report in 2004 and will publish its second report in about two months, he said.