With guidance from the UNDP Strategic Plan 2022 – 2025 to render support towards three directions of change of a) structural transformation, including green, inclusive and digital transitions; b) leaving no one behind; and c) building resilience, this portfolio seeks to support Botswana’s efforts towards ‘achieving prosperity for all’ and realise her key development goal of attaining a high-income country status by 2036. The portfolio’s objective, therefore, is to support Botswana’s efforts to, alongside recovering from COVID-19, chart a development pathway that enables building forward better than the pre-COVID period. It recognizes that the pre-COVID development path was not fully sustainable, and that the level of development then was not adequate to sustain the attainment of the aspiration of a high-income country status. The support to Botswana will focus on addressing key development challenges, notably the low level of economic diversification and high levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality. All of these have been reinforced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The portfolio is, of necessity, aligned with key policy and strategy documents such as the Vision 2036, the National Development Plan (NDP) 11, the Mid-term Review of NDP 11 and the Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan (ERTP which was adopted as an addendum of the Mid-term Review of NDP 11. The portfolio’s implementation will need to support the formulation of NDP 12 and be aligned with it.

The portfolio will be a contribution to the overall support that UNDP renders Botswana to achieve the 2030 development Agenda. The support will be provided through three major projects in this portfolio. The projects build on the success of the past UNDP support which was anchored on three pillars of developing institutional capacity to design integrated diversification and inclusive growth policies; to implement the policies; and to use high-quality and timely data to inform planning, monitoring, evaluation and decision-making. The past UNDP support also brought useful lessons from the UNDP Business Supplier Development Programme, which successfully developed and nurtured partnerships to strengthen the capacity of the SMEs to integrate their activities with those of the larger private sector businesses to build resilient value chains.

Therefore, the projects will be implemented through the existing partnerships in the private sector, government and state and civil society to effect the critical transformation needed to achieve prosperity for all. The projects will focus on:

1. Developing the capacity of the private sector, especially the MSMEs to contribute more towards the growth and diversification of the economy. That is, the realisation of the expansion of the private sector and improvement of its capacity to create more quality jobs, access better markets and effectively participate in supply-chain linkages through increase in productivity and competitiveness. The Sustainable Private Sector Development (SPSD) project is a flagship project which will be delivered through an internal UNDP partnership that brings together the three portfolios of Prosperity, Green, and Justice.

2.  Providing support to the different stakeholders to productively use research and development, innovative and digital approaches to harness the available capabilities, skills and knowledge, and enhance benefits from existing opportunities in the domestic and foreign markets. This project will support the development of effective and inclusive policies and strategies and the optimal use of the existing ones to develop an ecosystem of agile and productive public institutions. It will also seek to propel the realisation of benefits by the vulnerable and disadvantaged groups to address their challenges and reduce poverty and inequality.
3. Provision of support to transform the social protection system to make it efficient, sustainable and inclusive to cater for the needs of all vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in order to ensure that no one is left behind. This project will aim to strengthen governance of the decentralised local governments and improve their efficiencies through innovative and digital approaches to effectively deliver public services to the communities. It is a joint project between the Prosperity and the Justice portfolios.

Projects Included in the Portfolio:

1. Sustainable Private Sector Development (SPSD) (Flagship) Project: Towards a strong, inclusive and sustainable business sector
2. Inclusive Economic Diversification Project
3. Joint Justice - Prosperity Project: Inclusive social protection systems and efficient local public service delivery