21 Nov 2024

The European heads of Mission comprising of ambassadors from Spain, France and Germany visited Ghanzi District to get first-hand information on how they can contribute to local communities’ development.

Speaking during a media engagement session held at Ghanzi kgotla on November 20, EU ambassador, Ms Petra Pereyra said it was through strong bilateral relationships Botswana and the European countries continued to enjoy, that they saw it fit to expand social services to different parts of the country, particularly the disadvantaged communities.

She said they were committed to implementing programmes that were mainly focused but not limited to diverse areas such as education, agriculture and technology.

Ms Pereyra said their core mandate was mainly on building skill exchange networks that would aid in empowering communities to be industrious and be able to create more job opportunities for locals.

In addition, she said the established economic activities would aid in accelerating the economic diversification drive that would eventually lead to expansion of the economic status of the country to bloom.

Furthermore, she said in their quest to achieve their missions, they usually collaborate with district leadership and civil society organisations based in the district in order to reach large base of targeted clientele.

Ms Pereyra therefore, said through collaborations, they would be able to address societal ills such as gender based violence (GBV), drugs and substance abuse among others and work together to find a holistic approach to transform the affected communities.

Moreover, she implored all identified civil society organisations to ensure compliance with the sponsors’ commitments to maintain transparency in their operations with the aim of promoting sustainable livelihoods in less privileged communities.

Earlier in her welcome remarks, Kgosi Annah Rankho, applauded the heads of mission for their visit that she said would afford the district leadership  an opportunity to deliberate extensively on issues affecting their district thereafter, share far-reaching ideas that would bring a massive impact to the lives of their constituents.

In his closing remarks, Ghanzi Deputy Council Chairperson, Mr Gabobofane Mbwe called for strong collaborations with all other key stakeholders to address societal issues besieging the district with a common understanding of improving the livelihood of their communities by formulating approaches that would produce expected outcomes.

Meanwhile, the heads of mission visited EU supported civil society organizations such as Stepping Stone International and Impact fund as well as Kuru Museum and Art Centre. ENDS