GABORONE - The global economic meltdown is threatening to reverse the gains Botswana has made over the years including its dream of attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Speaking at a reception in honour of Crown Prince of Norway on Wednesday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Phandu Skelemani said the crisis has compounded the challenges in economic diversification, poverty alleviation and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

All these combine to undermine our efforts at attaining the MDGs, he lamented.

Minister Skelemani said Botswanas economy depended on minerals especially diamonds but as commodity prices drastically dropped, revenues accrued from diamonds decreased significantly while closure of main diamond mines at Jwaneng, Orapa and Letlhakane were inevitable.

He said against that background, government had to re-prioritise development projects, adding that while the extent of the impact on MDGs could not be ascertained at present, special attention was needed to ensure that human development priorities for the most vulnerable groups, especially the estimated 30 per cent of the population who lived under poverty datum line were protected.

The minister said despite the challenges, Botswana made remarkable progress notably in the areas of poverty reduction, health, education, infrastructure and provision of services.

He said the United Nations has collaborated with the government in some of the areas, as in UN Assistance Programme (UNDAF) and Governance Programme.

Minister Skelemani said under the UNDAF for the period plan commencing next year, the UN country team would assist in five key areas aligned to the National Development Plan (NDP) 10.

The areas include governance and human rights promotion, economic diversification and poverty reduction, health and HIV/AIDS, environment and climate change, children, youth and women empowerment.

In the governance programme, the team is assisting in addressing challenges of limited human capacity and government structures and systems for increased efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of service in the public sector.

The minister said the classification of Botswana as a middle income country has led to diminishing international support, saying that has deprived the country the assistance it needed as it grappled with the varied economic and development challenges.

He said Botswana faced development challenges it could not tackle without international cooperation and development assistance in areas such as HIV/AIDS, economic diversification, arid and fragile environment, persistent poverty and multiple impacts of climate change.

For his part, Crown Prince Haakon who is also the UN MDGs Goodwill Ambassador said the world has five years to fulfill on our promises where all people could live a dignified life.

He said Botswana was exemplary as it had a democratic government with responsible policies and further, it has sound microeconomic management and its investment on people has produced good results.

Botswana has transformed its mineral wealth by investing in infrastructure and has given HIV/AIDS the highest priority.

We must adapt to challenges and take measures to avoid drastic degradation of environment, he said when talking about environment and climatic challenges faced by the world. BOPA