Botswana

Botswana is located in Southern Africa and borders Namibia, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. The Capital is Gaborne. In 2004, its population was estimated at 1.6 million with a loss rate of 0.89 percent. English is the counrty's official language, however Setswana is also spoken.

The age expectancy in Botswana is only 30.76 years, primarily because of the impact of the HIV/AIDS virus. More than thirty-seven percent of the population has the HIV/AIDS virus and it is responsible for over 33,000 deaths last year. Many programmes working with street children in Botswana focus on this crisis in the form of prevention and/or medical care.

Despite the existence of HIV, the presence of mineral extraction, diamond mining, and tourism give Botswana one of the most dynamic economies in Africa. Real economic growth is 7.2 percent, however the population living below the poverty line is estimated at 47 percent. The country's external debt is £220 million and Botswana is receiving £40.5 million in international economic aid. However, it is now considered a middle-income country with a per capita GDP of £4 thousand.

Members

SOS Children's Villages

Publications

A Civil Society Forum for East and Southern Africa on Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Street Children
This report documents The Civil Society forum for East and Southern Africa, the second in a series of regional forums organised by the Consortium for Street Children with the aim of bringing together key NGOs and government representatives from selected countries to exchange experiences and formulate recommendations for the promotion and protection of the human rights of street children within each region.

Africa's Orphaned and Vulnerable Generations: Children Affected by Aids
'Africa's Orphaned and Vulnerable Generations: Children Affected by AIDS' is an update of the 2003 report 'Africa's Orphaned Generations'. It incorporates new and refined estimates of the number of children orphaned in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as current research on the impact of AIDS and orphaning. Information about orphans in the region has increased significantly in recent years and research has become more rigorous. And, while information on other vulnerable children in the region lags far behind, the situation of some well-defined groups, such as children living with chronically ill parents, is now being studied more systematically.

Born to High Risk: Violence against Girls in Africa
The African Child Policy Forum believes that ending violence against girls in Africa is one of the most pressing challenges facing Africa today. Hence, this report which has been prepared to inform the discussions at the Second International Policy Conference on the African Child: Violence Against Girls in Africa (May 11 and 12, 2006). The report pulls together information from three sources: existing literature in violence against girls; thematic studies on five settings in which African girls experience violence; and retrospective surveys of young girls' experiences of violence. This rich and revealing information has been analysed to give an overview of the magnitude of the problem, its causes and consequences, as well as the elements of a possible strategy for the way forward.

Building Resilience A Rights-based Approach to Children and HIV/AIDS in Africa
As the vulnerability of children living in communities affected by HIV/AIDS becomes a clear challenge, governments, international agencies, civil society, neighbourhoods, and families have mobilised to try to tackle the issues these children face. This report provides a brief overview of the responses of the international community and governments in rising to these challenges, the roles of the private and civil society sectors, as well as the responses of families and communities dealing directly with the children.The report argues that a Rights-based approach can rectify many of the distortions that have arisen from a crisis-driven response to children affected by HIV/AIDS, poverty, and conflict, and can provide a beacon for moving forward. The underlying principles of universality, indivisibility, responsibility, and participation provide a firm foundation for framing priorities and responses to vulnerable children and families.

Difficult Circumstances: Some Reflections on “Street Children” in Africa
This article cautions against the dangers of adult-centered approaches in child research, calling for more child-centred research methodologies.

Gender-based Violence and Property Grabbing in Africa: A Denial of Women's Liberty and Security
Property grabbing is a new form of gendered violence against women, threatening the security of women across Southern and East Africa. Forced evictions are often accompanied by further acts of violence, including physical and mental harassment, and abuse. Widows are particularly vulnerable, partly as a result of weakened customary practice and social safety nets that used to provide support to widowed women and their children, a situation made worse by the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Defending their property has cost some women their lives, while other women have lost their shelter and source of livelihoods, and have become destitute. The harassment and humiliation that often accompany property grabbing further strip women of their selfesteem, affecting their ability to defend their rights.

HIV/AIDS and Child Labour. A state-of-the-art review with recommendations for action.
A study on the pressure of HIV/AIDS and its exacerbating effects on child poverty, pushing many of them onto the labour market.

Life without Basic Service ''Street Children Say''
This study builds on the learning of Street Diary (Save the Children UK, 2001), giving theopportunity for a group of children to represent their own analysis of their situation. Itexamines the human and emotional dimension of life on the street. This is not astatistical or quantitative research but is representative of the feelings of children livingon the street about their lives and organisations working with them.

List of Countries which have Signed, Ratified/Acceded to the African Union Convention on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

Mkombozi Census 2006: The Rhetoric and Reality of Tanzania's Street Children
This paper presents the findings from Mkombozi's October 2006 Census, which assessed the trends and situation of vulnerable children on the streets in the Tanzanian towns of Arusha and Moshi.

Networking for Policy Change: An Advocacy Training Manual

Organizational Diagnosis for Advocacy
When groups are considering advocacy, it is helpful for them to assess what advocacy actually can offer their organization, what some of the benefits and risks might be and what organizational barriers might influence their success.

Policy Paralysis: A Call for Action on HIV/AIDS-Related Human Rights Abuses Against Women and Girls in Africa
Human Rights Watch has documented many gender-based human rights abuses in Africa that fuel the epidemic and make unbearable the lives of women and girls already living with HIV/AIDS. Their research is based largely on the moving and often horrifying stories told to us by African women and girls who have suffered abuse; many such stories are featured in this report. It is our hope that some understanding of the human reality of these abuses will lead to greater protection of the rights of the girls and women like those who have courageously told us of their experiences at the center of a deadly epidemic.

Reclaiming Our Lives: HIV and AIDS, Women's Land and Property Rights, and Livelihoods in Southern and Eastern Africa
This collection of narratives from East and Southern Africa aims to raise awareness not only about the heavy impact of HIV and AIDS on women's property rights and livelihoods in the region but also about the active steps being taken by grass roots organisations to respond to the crisis.  

Social Protection of Africa's Orphans and other Vulnerable Children
This paper reviews initiatives for orphans and vulnerable children by governments, NGOs, and the World Bank, with a view toward delineating good practices. Designing and implementing appropriate interventions to protect orphans in Africa is a daunting task. This paper examines some of the issues in program design, especially those bearing on targeting. It also assesses the advantages, disadvantages, and costeffectiveness of various program interventions, including education and health subsidies, fostering, orphanages, and children's villages.

Street children and Gangs in African Cities: Guidelines for Local Authorities
The objective of this report to provide guidelines for local authorities in Africa on how to deal with street children in their cities. This is done by: 1) Providing an overview of the issue of street children in general 2)Providing an overview of the issue of different roles local authorities can play when addressing the issue of street children.

Street Children in Gaborone, Botswana: Causes and Policy Implications
The broad objective of the study is to identify areas of habitation of male street children in Gaborone, their origins aswell as previous and current socio-economic characteristics. Their reasons for being on the street as well as their attitudes towards family health issues were also examined.

Street Children: The Situation in East and Southern Africa
Statement by Andy Sexton, International Director for Children at Risk OAS!S, to the House Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Africa, Human Rights and Global Operations Hearing; 'Protecting Street Children: Vigilantes or the Rule of Law?' This statement examines the situation of street children, using case studies from Ugnada and Zimbabwe,  and concludes with recommendations for international action.

Street Youth in Southern Africa
This article aims to systematically identify and describe contributions social scientists have made to our understanding of street youth in Southern Africa. The article points to problems of defining and doing research on street youth, and to areas in which there are difference of view point. Understanding the phenomenon of street children is needed for designing and fine tuning policy and programmes towards them  

To Have and to Hold: Women’s Property and Inheritance Rights in the Context of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Sahara Africa
This paper seeks to examine the link between HIV/AIDS and women's property rights - if women's lack of rights increases household poverty and women's own vulnerability to infection, and if securing these rights can mitigate the impoverishing impact of the epidemic. The first section of this report explores the relationship between HIV/AIDS and women's property and inheritance rights, and how women may be better able to prevent infection or mitigate its consequences if these rights are protected. The second section discusses the ways that women can obtain access to and control over property and how these rights are often denied in practice, and then provides several country examples. The third section explains de jure and de facto rights to ownership and inheritance and discusses how to bridge the gap when the two differ. The fourth section highlights some "best practices" in efforts to ensure women's property and inheritance rights. The report concludes with lessons learned and suggested next steps.

Trafficking in Human Beings, Especially Women and Children, in Africa
The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of key issues related to the trafficking of human beings, particularly women and children, in Africa. The report presents a preliminary mapping of trafficking patterns and provides an indication of emerging good practices on the continent.

Youth on the Streets: The Importance of Social Interactions on Psychological Well-being in an African Context
This study reflects four months of research including a two-week field assignment to Ethiopia, with the overall goal of gaining greater understanding of the impact of street youth programming on psychosocial well-being. The research was conducted through a partnership between the Displaced Children and Orphans Fund (DCOF) and the George Washington University (GWU). It contains three deliverables, including a new framework for child well-being, the identification of five key program components of street children interventions that are most likely to successfully contribute to psychosocial well-being, and the development of indicators to measure outcomes and impacts within these five domains.

Resources