𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘈𝘧𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘒𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘐𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯
In recognition of the importance of empowering parents and care givers to be better at parenting and raise children more positively, UNICEF Botswana recently marked the UN International Day of Parents by convening a high-level dialogue on ‘Innovative and Sustainable Investments for Children’. The dialogue involved stakeholders from the private sector, non-governmental organisations and government. The essence of the dialogue was that while government plays a central role in the raising of children, the private sector has an increasing responsibility and opportunity to contribute meaningfully through direct financing, family friendly policies, impact investments, public-private partnerships, and corporate social responsibility initiatives.
Keamogetse Samson shared impactful investments that Debswana is making on the child rights agenda through Social Impact initiatives and the partnership models that the company has adopted towards empowering children and young people. She also unpacked the learnings, successes and challenges that Debswana faces in formulating and rolling out education and STEM programs, life skills and psychosocial initiatives.
Other panelists sharing on what the different sectors are doing in the space of early childhood development included Kimanzi Muthengi – UNICEF Botswana Representative and Dennis Mambure – Director, Marketing and Corporate Affairs at ABSA Botswana.
The dialogue was preceded by a keynote address by Minister of Child Welfare and Basic Education Honourable Nono Kgafela-Mokoka, who spoke passionately about children as the foundation of business profitability and the importance of Child friendly policies as building block for child welfare.
