Botswana Society for Human Development

21/08/2026

A takeaway from yesterday: 'You are the asset".
At the ICIW 2026 Entrepreneurship Forum in Gaborone yesterday, Ruby Sechele delivered a powerful session on mental fitness for sustainable performance — reminding a room full of entrepreneurs and changemakers that the most valuable resource in any organization isn't a system or a strategy. It's the person behind it.
"You are the asset" landed as more than a soundbite for us. Mental wellbeing has been part of BSHD's work for years — most directly through our Loss & Damage Workshop Series, where one session was themed "Remedying Declining Mental Health Due to Flooding Disruptions". The sessions addressed the psychological toll of climate-related displacement on affected communities. This work continues today e.g. by targeting communities facing environmental loss special.

We are grateful to have attended Ruby's session, and we are even more energized to keep centering mental fitness in how we show up for our teams, volunteers, and the communities we serve.

Yesterday was also made memorable by the Startup World Cup Botswana Regional Finale, where finalists pitched their brilliant ideas to a room of industry leaders and investors. Congratulations to overall winner Orion X, who will represent Botswana in Silicon Valley this November to compete for the ultimate prize. We wish you the very best!

19/08/2026

Excited to be part of Innovation & Capital Investment Week (ICIW) 2026 today in Gaborone! 🇧🇼
As BSHD, we are particularly thrilled to be participating in the Health & One Health Innovation Forum, chaired by Dr. Boga Fidzani, Managing Director of Mudslide Pty Ltd.
Conversations like these — bridging health innovation, capital investment, and community impact — are exactly the kind of cross-sector dialogues that drive sustainable development forward. As a grassroots NGO working directly with communities on health and development outcomes, we believe partnerships between innovators, investors, and grassroots organizations are key to lasting change in Botswana.
We are grateful to the Thrive Development Initiative and all the organizers and partners — Startup World Cup Botswana, Republic of Botswana, and BONELA — for convening this important forum.

19/08/2026

Excited to be part of Innovation & Capital Investment Week (ICIW) 2026 today in Gaborone! 🇧🇼
As BSHD, we are particularly thrilled to be participating in the Health & One Health Innovation Forum, chaired by Dr. Boga Fidzani, Managing Director of Mudslide Pty Ltd.
Conversations like these — bridging health innovation, capital investment, and community impact — are exactly the kind of cross-sector dialogues that drive sustainable development forward. As a grassroots NGO working directly with communities on health and development outcomes, we believe partnerships between innovators, investors, and grassroots organizations are key to lasting change in Botswana.
We are grateful to the Thrive Development Initiative and all the organizers and partners — Startup World Cup Botswana, Republic of Botswana, and BONELA — for convening this important forum.

14/08/2026

Protecting the Giants That Sustain Our Ecosystems

As the world marked World Elephant Day on Wednesday (August 12), ClimateFeatures turns its attention once again to one of nature’s most important species.

We have chosen to continue the conversation at this point in the week because elephants are particularly significant to Botswana. Botswana has the largest elephant population in the world, with over 130,000 elephants!!

13/08/2026

World Elephant Day 2026 was celebrated yesterday,12 August 2026, under the theme 'Bringing the world together to help elephants'

Global Sanctuary for Elephants noted it as a time when we can look realistically at what’s happening to the global elephant population, the role sanctuary plays in conservation, and talk about how you can stand for elephants in a meaningful way today.

Elephant populations have decreased by 62% in the past ten years, according to the World Elephant Day organization. There are just 400,000 African elephants left after poachers murder an estimated 100 of them every day in search of ivory. Less than 40,000 Asian elephants—roughly a tenth of the African elephant population—remain in the globe, despite their habitats spanning across 13 Asian countries.

How did you celebrate World Elephant Day?

03/08/2026

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED!

Thank you to all the incredible Botswana journalists who applied to our Biodiversity, Environmental & Solutions Journalism Training Program. A ClimateFeatures initiative supported by the Internews Network.

We received a plausible number of responses from a diverse group of reporters eager to strengthen reporting on biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, and sustainable solutions.

What happens next?

Our selection committee is currently reviewing submissions. Successful applicants will be notified via email as we prepare to embark on our training workshop and field trips to the Okavango Delta, Gantsi, Makgadikgadi Salt Pan, and Mopipi Village.

Stay tuned to our pages as we prepare to announce our selected fellows.

For any inquiries, reach out to us at [email protected] or DM our social media pages.

16/07/2026

Last week Friday we had the privilege of presenting our paper titled: Centering wellbeing in climate action: A disability, development, and social justice nexus at the Development Studies Association 2026 Conference hosted by the University College Dublin's UCD Centre for Sustainable Development.

The study was motivated by the fact that climate change intensifies existing inequalities for persons with disabilities, yet their well-being remains marginal in climate and developmey debates. The study, thus, examined how centring wellbeing in climate policy and adaptation can advance disability-inclusive development and social justice.

Drawing on lessons from across high, middle and low-income countries and across sectors, the paper panel we presented in explored the potential for centring the global challenge of promoting wellbeing to help us reimagine and offer alternative paradigms for development and social justice.

Thank you Keetie Roelen, Jennifer Agbaire, and Alison Buckler for convening this panel.

Thank you Lesedi Komi for representing the team 🙌🏽

We couldn't have done this without our study participants of course. So, a huge thank you to all who granted us interviews 🙏🏽 🙌🏽 ❤️ Le kamoso! God Bless.

14/07/2026

Calling all Botswana Journalists

This exciting project is about...

Strengthening Reporting on Biodiversity Loss, Environmental Degradation, and Sustainable Solutions

You will be required to:

*Attend one training workshop (Maun)
*Participate in one field trip (Okavango Delta, Gantsi, Makgadikgadi, or Mopipi)
*Produce one full length feature article
*Submit one project experience blogpost

Benefits:
*Free training and certificate
*Accomodation and workshop expenses covered
*Stipend to cover your article expenses

Eligibility criteria:

*Open to all, but preference will be given those with prior experience in reporting on biodiversity, climate change, environment and other related subjects.
*An unwavering commitment to deliver within set project timelines

Apply by July 31, 2026
To apply, email a cover letter and CV to: [email protected]

Powered by BSHD, this ClimateFeatures project is supported by Internews.

For more information visit bshdngo.org and follow our social media pages.

11/07/2026

Its indeed a wrap🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳, though this chapter closes, the rest of us are already thinking about future partnerships, future collaborations, ways to carry the learnings from this chapter back to grassroot levels.
We would still like to unpack findings, work with innovators and policymakers towards making a difference in our communities, feel free to reach out
[email protected] to continue the conversations

16/05/2026