Stakeholders from key sectors gathered yesterday for a strategic workshop hosted by the Ministry of Youth and Gender Affairs to strengthen the implementation and monitoring of youth development programmes. The workshop focused on establishing a unified Monitoring and Evaluation framework that can track progress, improve accountability and ensure that policies translate into measurable results for young people. Discussions centred on the need for stronger cooperation between government ministries, development partners, civil society and the private sector. Stakeholders also examined how better data collection and regular reporting can help identify gaps in youth programmes and guide timely interventions. The meeting comes as Botswana works to turn the newly adopted National Youth Policy 2026–2036 into practical programmes that respond to the country’s most urgent youth challenges.
Addressing participants during the welcoming remarks, Director of Extension Services in the Ministry of Youth and Gender Affairs, Mr Imon Moreetsi Bogosi, stressed that successful policy implementation depends on structured data collection, consistent progress reporting and effective cooperation between ministries. He explained that the proposed monitoring framework would provide institutions with a coordinated approach to tracking whether planned interventions are achieving their intended objectives. The framework is also expected to improve the flow of information between collaborating institutions and strengthen accountability for agreed targets. This approach is particularly important because youth challenges often extend across several areas of government responsibility and cannot be addressed by one institution working alone. Stronger coordination between sectors such as health, basic education and higher education will therefore be central to measuring and improving the impact of youth programmes.
Bogosi said the framework is intended to ensure that interventions respond directly to major socio-economic challenges affecting young people. These challenges include youth unemployment, mental health concerns, child marriages and gender-based violence. Addressing these issues requires institutions to work from shared priorities and establish measurable targets that can be monitored over time. The proposed framework is expected to help stakeholders determine whether programmes are reaching the young people they are designed to support and whether those interventions are producing meaningful outcomes. It will also provide a basis for identifying areas where implementation needs to be strengthened or adjusted.
The workshop builds on the adoption of the National Youth Policy 2026–2036, which provides a long-term policy direction for youth development in Botswana. Acting Director of Youth, Mr Kristian Mmusi, outlined the policy’s implementation roadmap and highlighted the importance of ensuring that young people understand labour laws and public sector regulations. The policy seeks to address the social and economic barriers faced by young people through five core pillars covering education, skills development and innovation, health, wellbeing and social protection, economic empowerment and employment, civic engagement, peace and governance, as well as monitoring, evaluation and accountability. These pillars provide a broad framework for addressing youth development while ensuring that economic opportunities, social support and participation in national development remain connected. Effective implementation will depend on translating these policy priorities into specific programmes with clear responsibilities, timelines and measurable targets.
Mmusi also outlined several partnerships supporting the implementation of the policy, including initiatives focused on digital skills and employability training. The Ministry is working with UNICEF and Generation Unlimited to expand opportunities that can help young people develop skills relevant to employment and changing economic conditions. The ministry is also coordinating with Business Botswana on mentorship initiatives intended to strengthen support for young people entering the workplace and developing their careers. These partnerships demonstrate the role that government, development organisations and the private sector can play in expanding youth opportunities beyond traditional public programmes. Building stronger links between skills development and actual labour market needs will remain important as Botswana seeks to improve youth employment outcomes.
Health and wellbeing also form a significant part of the National Youth Policy implementation strategy. Mmusi said the health pillar includes measures addressing mental health as well as HIV and sexually transmitted infection prevention among young people aged 15 to 24, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. These areas require consistent education, accessible services and reliable information that can help young people make informed decisions about their health and wellbeing. Coordinated monitoring will allow participating institutions to assess whether services and interventions are reaching the intended age groups and communities. Better data can also help policymakers identify gaps in service delivery and determine where additional resources or targeted programmes may be required.
Economic empowerment remains another major priority under the policy, particularly as the government seeks to create more opportunities outside the public sector. Mmusi highlighted plans to modernise the Youth Development Fund to strengthen its contribution to job creation and youth enterprise development. The changes are intended to make youth economic support more responsive to current opportunities and the needs of young entrepreneurs. Stakeholders also stressed that youth support should extend beyond government funding programmes through stronger partnerships with private sector initiatives. Programmes such as Kgalagadi Breweries Limited’s Kickstart initiative were cited as examples of private sector support that can complement government efforts to expand opportunities for young people.
The policy also places greater emphasis on youth participation in civic governance and the development of stronger accountability systems. Mmusi said the ministry is working towards an International Labour Organization supported Monitoring and Evaluation framework that will include a Youth Development Scorecard for 2026–2027. The scorecard is expected to provide a structured way of tracking institutional performance against agreed youth development commitments. Such a system can help move monitoring beyond broad policy statements by connecting implementation responsibilities to specific indicators and measurable outcomes. It can also provide stakeholders with a clearer basis for identifying progress, delays and areas requiring corrective action.
Mr Moses Keetile, representing UNFPA, emphasised the importance of developing a robust Monitoring and Evaluation framework capable of connecting policy formulation with effective implementation. He noted that although Botswana has experience in developing comprehensive policies, the challenge is ensuring that policy commitments translate into practical and measurable results. A strong framework can help address this gap by establishing clear indicators, responsibilities and reporting requirements for institutions involved in youth development. Keetile stressed that accountability must extend across all participating stakeholders rather than remain concentrated within a single ministry. This approach would create a more coordinated system for tracking whether resources, programmes and interventions are producing the intended results.
Keetile also highlighted several risks that could affect the effectiveness of the proposed framework, including the need for accurate baseline indicators. Without reliable baseline information, it can become difficult to measure whether programmes have produced meaningful changes over time. The involvement of multiple sectors also creates coordination challenges because institutions may have different reporting systems, priorities and operational structures. To address these challenges, stakeholders discussed the need for clearly defined profiles of participating institutions, standardised tools for youth officers and established procedures for routine reporting. Financial accountability mechanisms will also be important to ensure that resources allocated to youth programmes can be tracked and assessed against planned activities and outcomes.
Another key issue raised during the workshop was the need to refine performance indicators, baseline measurements and targets for youth development programmes. Stakeholders discussed the importance of aligning youth training with actual market requirements so that skills programmes improve access to meaningful economic opportunities. Vocational training and access to relevant skills are expected to remain important areas of focus through 2029. The framework will also need to capture cross-cutting issues that affect youth development but may not always appear in official government data. Information from civil society organisations and the private sector could help provide a broader understanding of the challenges young people face and the effectiveness of existing interventions.
Stakeholders further emphasised the importance of strengthening the role of partnerships in youth development. Government initiatives such as the Youth Development Fund can provide important support, but private sector programmes and other partnerships can expand the range of opportunities available to young people. Stronger collaboration can create additional pathways into entrepreneurship, mentorship, training and employment while reducing reliance on a single source of support. Participants also highlighted the need to align ministry structures so that youth-related programmes operate within a coordinated institutional system. Establishing a certified youth work cadre was identified as another important step towards strengthening professional capacity and improving the delivery of youth services.
The workshop also reinforced the need to connect youth development monitoring with broader national development priorities. Stakeholders called for realistic Monitoring and Evaluation indicators that can be directly linked to National Development Plan goals while remaining practical for institutions to collect and report. This will require clear definitions of responsibilities, achievable targets and reporting schedules that allow progress to be assessed consistently. A well-designed system should also make it easier to identify implementation problems before they become long-term barriers to youth development. Regular reviews can then provide an opportunity for stakeholders to adjust programmes based on evidence rather than relying solely on assumptions or broad policy commitments.
The discussions concluded with a shared emphasis on cross-sector collaboration and stronger accountability as Botswana moves forward with the National Youth Policy 2026–2036. Stakeholders recognised that sustainable youth development requires more than the adoption of policies and the establishment of individual programmes. It requires government institutions, development partners, civil society and the private sector to work towards shared objectives and measure their progress using reliable information. The proposed Monitoring and Evaluation framework, supported by clear indicators, reporting mechanisms and the Youth Development Scorecard, is expected to provide a stronger foundation for tracking implementation. By connecting policy commitments to measurable actions and economic opportunities, the framework can support more coordinated efforts to address unemployment, health challenges, skills gaps, social protection and youth participation in national development.
