Skip to main content

Review: Botswana's foreign policy

Botswana's foreign policy has historically put a premium on economic and political integration in southern Africa. This has led to the development of the 12-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC), to which Gaborone is host. The SADC has been the primary vehicle for diplomacy in the region, as well as an instrument of regional development. Post-apartheid South Africa has been welcomed as a partner in these regional initiatives.

The Southern Africa Costums Union(SACU):

The Southern African Customs Union (SACU), which includes Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, and South Africa, dates to 1910. The SACU has provided duty-free access for Botswana's exports to the larger market in South Africa. However, South Africa's dominant role in the union became increasingly troublesome to other members. Barriers to the import of non-South African capital and consumer goods have caused a good deal of controversy. In 1995, an effort was made to renegotiate the terms of the SACU agreement.

Botswana maintains friendly diplomatic relations with most African nations, as well as with many European and Arab nations. The country is a member of the UN, where it established a reputation for consensual, constructive participation during its term on the Security Council. Botswana tends to exhibit solidarity with the African consensus on most international matters and was a member of the so-called "front-line states" that gave crucial support to the independence movements in Zimbabwe and Namibia, as well as in the opposition to apartheid in South Africa. In early 2002, Botswanan disaster relief agencies assembled tents and other supplies in anticipation of an influx of refugees from neighboring Zimbabwe after the controversial reelection there of Robert Mugabe. International observers described the elections as not "free and fair," and it seemed likely that citizens would flee the country and his repressive policies.

United States-Botswana relations have been warm since independence, with the United States viewing Botswana as a force for stability in Africa. The United States has had a significant presence in the country, providing development aid since the 1960s. In December 1997, after 30 years, the U.S. Peace Corps ended its mission in Botswana, leaving behind a legacy of assistance in education, business, health, agriculture, and the environment. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) also closed out its programs in 1996, although as of 2000 Botswana continues to benefit from USAID's initiative for southern Africa as a whole.

Nonetheless, several organizations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Merck Pharmaceutical Co., and Harvard University maintain presences in Botswana to combat the AIDS epidemic. While the government continues to seek financial investment for economic development, Botswana's most urgent need is for medical aid to stem the tide of the AIDS epidemic. Botswana is the only nation in Africa that has pledged to provide AIDS drugs to all citizens who need them; the country is among those likely to benefit from the pledge U.S. president George W. Bush made during his 2003 State of the Union address to provide aid to African nations struggling to cope with the AIDS epidemic.


Country profile of Botswana.

Also read how Morocco is helping human development in Africa.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading!

Popular posts from this blog

The Rise and Fall of LEHMAN BROTHERS

Lehman Brothers’ stock was selling at $86 a share in February 2007, giving the company a market capitalisation of nearly $60 billion. For the year, the company reported a new record high in net income, over $4 billion. In January 2008, Lehman Brothers was the fourth-largest investment bank in the U.S. In March, immediately after Bear Stearns (the second largest holder of mortgage backed securities, right after Lehman Brothers) almost collapsed, Lehman stock dropped by almost 50%. In June, the company reported a quarterly loss of $2.8 billion, its first quarterly loss since being spun off from American Express way back in 1994. By the end of 2008, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. had vanished from the investment banking landscape, the largest corporate bankruptcy filing (with $619  billion  in debt) in U.S. history.   The Beginnings of Lehman Brothers            Source: HBS Lehman Brothers was founded in t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Progress in Public Health

Progress in Public Health has been quite challenging, owing to terrible disasters.... both natural and those initiated by man. The loss to life and property has been tremendous. Ex- Bombing at a graduation ceremony at a Medical College, in Mogadishu has been ranked as the most devastating loss of human life in recent history. Natural disasters such as earthquakes, famines, floods, landslides, etc, have also led to serious destruction to life and property.* The problems that generally arise after a disaster lead to diseases associated with poor water supply and sanitation. At times health centres too are damaged and erratic delivery of medicines and care lead to further problems. The W.H.O. in the past and present facade has made immense progress in the nature of dealing with emergencies in public health during disasters. They aim at: 1) Assessing the nature and magnitude of the disaster 2) To treat the injured 3) To recover bodies 4) To set-up surveillance for infectious diseases 5) Pr...
2 comments
Read more

The Constitution of India

India is a 'Union of states' and is a sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic, having a parliamentary type of government. The Indian Constitution is considered as the absolute law of our country, on the basis of which our country is ruled.     We all know that India got freedom from the British on 15th August, 1947. After independence, the first and foremost thing to be done was to create it's own Constitution. In order to create the constitution, a legislative body was formed that contained the people's elected representatives and was named as the 'Constituent Assembly'. A sub-committee was set up for drafting the constitution called the 'Drafting Committee'. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was the chairman of this committee. He studied approximately 60 nations before drafting the Indian Constitution. That is why he is called the 'Father of Indian Constitution'.     The Indian Constitution has 448 articles, 103 amendments and 12 sche...
Post a Comment
Read more