Towards a Safe and Secure Nation: The First Consultative Conference on Firearm Control, Ownership and Administration in Botswana, 13-15 May, 2003

The role of civil society in the Implementation of Commitments on Fireams Control, Ownership and Administration in Botswana by Bocongo
Mr K Moletsane

Civil Society in the broad context means the citizens of a country. You and I present here are a component of civil society. In Botswana, civil society has always been equalled to the civil society organizations who have been mainly concerned with issues that are traditionally classified as developmental, humanitarian, charity and/or aimed at improving the quality of life of the citizens. In Botswana, for instance, NGOs are in most cases working around the areas of disability, human rights, environment, sustainable agriculture, education and training, science and technology, youth development, gender and development, just to mention a few.

Whereas civil society is quite broad as it involves, among others, religious or faith-based organizations, trade unions, academia, traditional leadership, community-based structures such as crime prevention committees, village development committees, farmers' organizations, voluntary movements, and even political institutions. This is a diverse representation of civil society present in Botswana.

This presentation will focus on what civil society organizations can do or may do, especially non-governmental organizations to actively engage in issues pertaining to small firearms control, ownership and administration in Botswana.

One cannot deny the fact that the civil society organizations work closely with the communities and or societies who are largely affected by escalating crime rates in the country, especially murder, family violence, rape, burglary, car theft, poaching and livestock theft. In most cases, the use of small arms, illegally or legally possessed, is prevalent.

It is our concern as civil society that unlike the previous years, one can no longer pride oneself in claiming that Botswana is a peaceful country. This is because we as civil society take peace not to only mean the absence of war. You will agree with me that the increasing rates of the so called 'love killings', of robbery, rape, incest, violence against women and the girl child, drug and alcohol abuse, poverty and scourges such as HIV/AIDS have an acute impact on this country's peace, security and democracy.

Our day-today work as civil society includes the prevention of these ills, advocacy for holistic realisation of the rights of citizens, education and training or awareness creation on citizens' rights and responsibilities, provision of curative and rehabilitative services for members of the community, lobbying for a conducive environment for living and bilization of community support and control over the national resources. Human life and security are part of these national resources. It is, therefore, imperative that the civil society in Botswana is identified as a crucial partner in the realisation of the national vision, especially the quest to ensure that Botswana remains a safe and secure nation, hence sustenance of true democracy, good governance and peace.

Because of our values, principles and commitment to sustainable development, democracy, peace and security; our role as civil society in Firearms control in Botswana is therefore centred around a commitment to prevent and control the proliferation of small arms; being party to the formulation and implementation of the national control and management strategies of firearms ownership in Botswana.

At our civil society pre-consultative meeting on the issue at hand, we identified some of our roles to include:

undertaking awareness creation and education measures among the public on issues of firearms control, ownership and administration. The success of our work depends on community participation. Therefore, we feel that making the community aware of all the implications of firearms prevalent to national development is essential. We identified the need to educate mainly the youth and children about the dangers associated with small arms. Like Commissioner of Police, Moleboge, we view the supply of "firearms" toys, be it knives or gun toys, to our children, as a threat to the sustainable security of Botswana. What we need is training of the youth and children on the issues pertaining to small arms control and prevention; not movies and toys which provide conflicting and destructive messages on the use of firearms.
Establishing of partnerships with government, research institutions and bilateral institutions to conduct research on the issue of small arms. The advantage of these partnerships is that civil society organisations have a track record of positive interaction with communities, especially through the use of participatory methodologies and approach to development; therefore, it is easy to acquire organic and/or indigenous knowledge on the control mechanisms of firearms from the communities through these partnerships.
Working with the government of Botswana, in particular the Botswana Police Service, to identify capacity needs on the issues of firearm control, prevention and combatting in Botswana.
Community mobilization against the use of small arms, especially the use of knives because guns are not the only small arms used especially in family violence, is one other area where our role is crucial. We may not be involved in the disarmament and destruction of small arms, but we commit our technical expertise in the area of community mobilization for a sound involvement of communities in small arms issues.
Information dissemination on firearms issues.
Being active parties to the Formulation, Implementation, monitoring and evaluation of firearms control, prevention and combat strategies.

Our role is not, however, limited to the above areas I have just mentioned. More will be identified in the processes of formulation and implementation of the National Plan of Action on Firearms Control, Ownership and Administration.

We thank the government of Botswana, the Botswana Police in particular, and SaferAfrica for involving us in this process. Our hope is that our involvement in this process is not because of the dictation by the international and regional frameworks; but that our involvement as civil society arose from a felt need. We assure you, that if indeed our involvement is due to a felt need by our government, the effective processes of firearms control, prevention and management will be sustainable!