Principle 10 National Profile and Action Plan Project in Botswana

The Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism of Botswana and UNITAR signed a Memorandum of Agreement concerning the project “Preparation of a National Profile and Action Plan to Implement Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration” in March 2009.

The national project coordinator is Mr. Stevie Monna, Director of the Department of Environmental Affairs, with Mrs. Arabang Kanego, Chief Natural Resource Officer, serving as focal point. A National Coordinating team was established to guide and oversee project implementation.

National Planning Workshop

A National Planning Workshop took place on 9 September 2009 in Gaborone. Some 80 participants from a range of government agencies and stakeholder groups participated in the event. The workshop was opened by Mr. Stevie Monna, Director of Environment, Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism of the Government of Botswana who referred to the importance of the project for strengthening environmental governance in the country. The meeting contributed to identify relevant stakeholders and solicit their support for project implementation. A central objective of the event was to develop a common workplan to prepare a National Profile on in the implementation of Principle 10. [read more]

National Profile Development
A National Profile to assess Botswana’s capacities for implementation of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration was completed in January 2011. Regarding access to environmental justice, the study highlighted that there is no court specifically designated to determine disputes with an environmental dimension and that existing environmental laws lack effective implementation and monitoring. Access to environmental information is available but often inadequate as its dissemination is frequently not timely, regular and transparent. Positive examples of public participation in environmental decision-making processes exist. However, the level of participation which is determined by factors such as capacity building activities and the inclusiveness of the participation process was considered rather unsatisfactory.

National Priority Setting Workshop

A National Priority Setting Workshop on Principle 10 Implementation took place from 3-4 November 2010 in Gaborone. More than 80 participants from different governmental and non-governmental organizations attended the workshop. After reviewing and endorsing the National Profile, participants identified national priority issues and ranked them according to the level of concern. Botswana priority issues include:

address the lack of legislation on access to environmental information,
the shortcomings of the actual information dissemination methods,
the fragmentation of environmental law,
the lack of skilled personnel,
as well as the obstacles to public participation caused by the traditional system of decision-making.

Specific activities to address these priorities were identified to inform the development of the Action Plan. In his concluding remarks Mr. Stevie Monna, Director of the Department of Environmental Affairs, pointed out that proposals made at the workshop would be incorporated into the Ministerial strategy for attaining the Millennium Development Goals under Botswana’s Vision 2016. [read more]

National Action Plan

A National Action Plan on Principle 10 implementation was drafted in the first quarter of 2011.

Targeted Capacity Development

Taking into account the priorities and capacity needs identified through the National Action Plan, UNITAR will explore opportunities to support selected capacity development activities.

Publications

All project documents are also available on our publications page, including:

National Planning Workshop report
National Coordination Team members’ list
National Priority Setting Workshop report
National Profile